Sunlight takes
–Readings from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. For general interest only: for anything that matters, use NOAA’s own forecasts.
ISunspots today
Sunspots are cooler, darker patches where tangled magnetic fields hold back the heat rising from inside. Flares and eruptions start in them.
From NOAA’s daily sunspot-region report. Region sizes are drawn from their measured area; the small tilt of the Sun’s axis is left out. Flare chances are NOAA’s, for the next day.
IIWhere the aurora may be
- Chance of an aurora overhead: the deeper the colour, the likelier
- Night side
NOAA’s OVATION forecast for the next half hour to hour and a half. An aurora needs a dark, clear sky; near the edge of the band it may show only low on the horizon.
IIIThe sunspot cycle
NOAA’s own monthly sunspot count since 1997 (thin) and its 13-month running average, computed here (bold). The Sun’s activity rises and falls about every eleven years.