Solar activity reached a new peak for this cycle this week, with the solar flux index hitting 180 on Thursday the 19th. This was partly down to the very large active region 3014, which is almost big enough to be seen with the naked eye, if suitable precautions are taken. To put this into perspective, […]

Well, it looks like the US Air Force was more accurate than NOAA with their solar flux index forecast last week. While the week started with an SFI at 117, by Thursday it had grown to 133. It has been mostly quiet from a geomagnetic point of view with a maximum Kp index of three, […]

Last week was characterised by solar flares. At the time of writing, we have seen more than 50 since the 1st of May, including one high-energy X-class flare. This occurred on the 3rd of May at 1325 hours and caused a radio blackout over much of the Atlantic. Luckily, the Kp index has remained low, […]

A week of high solar flux indices brought good openings on the higher bands. With the SFI consistently above 140 all week—at the time of writing—there have been reports of 10 metre openings well into the evening. As Ian Goodier on the 10m UK Net Facebook group reported: “Tonight on 10m you could mistake the […]