~ Space Weather Update~ CHANCE OF FLARES: Big sunspot AR1890 rotating

CHANCE OF FLARES: Big sunspot AR1890 rotating over the sun’s southeastern limb has a ‘beta-gamma’ magnetic field that habors energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of M-class solar flares and a 10% chance of X-flares on Nov. 4th. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

WEEKEND SOLAR ECLIPSE: On Sunday morning, Nov. 3rd, the New Moon passed in front of the sun, producing a solar eclipse visible from the east Coast of North America to the western side of Africa. Photographer Ben Cooper experienced the event in a way few people ever have–by racing across the path of totality in a jet airplane. “We used a Falcon 900B jet to intercept this extremely short eclipse with a perpendicular crossing of the eclipse path,” Cooper says. He took this picture flying 43,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean:

Many eclipse chasers didn’t bother chasing this particular eclipse because it was so short–in some places lasting only a matter of seconds. Cooper was among a dozen on board the jet who were determined to experience totality. “There was zero margin for error, with the plane, traveling near 600mph and hitting the eclipse shadow where it touched down on Earth at some 8,000 mph, required to hit a geographic point over the ocean at a precise instant,” he says. “We arrived at our destination about 1 second late, so we observed even less of the eclipse than we expected. In total, we got an instantaneous totality of nearly zero seconds!” More information about the flight may be found here.

After crossing the Atlantic, the narrow path of totality touched several African nations including Gabon, the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Observers across a much wider area witnessed a partial eclipse. Particular beautiful were the sunrise scenes experienced by early risers along the east coast of the USA. Browse the gallery for many more images.

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Realtime Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery

FARSIDE SOLAR ACTIVITY: Solar activity remains high on the farside of the sun. On Nov. 4th a powerful eruption hurled a CME into space almost directly opposite the sun-Earth line. SOHO recorded the expanding cloud as it emerged over the sun’s limb:

The source of the eruption is probably old sunspot AR1875, which unleashed an X-flare last week while it was still on the Earthside of the sun. If the region remains active for another 7 or 8 days, it will return to the Earthside for another round of geoeffective flares. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 5.6 nT
B_z: 3.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2317 UT

Coronal Holes: 04 Nov 13

Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Nov. 6-7. Credit: SDO/AIA.