The prediction made for last week was for the solar flux index to increase, possibly reaching 155 by 1 December and 175 by 6 December. In fact, it hit 196 on 1 December and 200 on 2 December. This was no doubt aided by three large sunspot groups in the Sun’s southern hemisphere. We also […]

Last week was a mixed bag in terms of solar activity. Yes, we had geomagnetic disturbances but they were never really that bad, with a maximum Kp index of 5, and that was for only one three-hour period. This was mainly due to two large coronal holes on the Sun, which saw the solar wind […]

After the solar mayhem we reported in last week’s GB2RS News, the Sun has been relatively quiet over the past week. The maximum Kp index we saw was 4, on Monday, 17 November, but otherwise it was often below 1 or 2. The result is that the ionosphere has been more stable and DX has […]

Last week saw one of the most dramatic auroral events of this cycle. Three X-class solar flares, which sparked coronal mass ejections, joined together to give us a peak Kp index of 8.67, with a solar wind speed in excess of 950 kilometres per second. The result was extensive visible aurora in the US and […]