It’s Saturday the 31st August 2024 and I’m finally out at my Stardust Observatory at Leyburn for a weekend under the heavens :-)
 
The sky is perfectly clear, as I look to the western sky brilliant Venus can be seen going down low in the sunset coloured sky…it's very pretty.
 
I will try and capture an image of Venus with my Meade 10inch telescope tomorrow night but I think the turbulent might be too much with the atmospheric conditions…but I will try!
 
My image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm lens on a tripod at f4.5, with a 2-second exposure and ISO800 at 6.28pm.

I took these images of the Sun late yesterday afternoon with the little Seestar S50 smart telescope. I just love the detail it shows on the surface of the Sun. The active Regions AR 3790, 3792 & 3799 are quite large and active and may have a high change of producing a CME in the next couple of days…Images taken with Seestar S50 with attached solar filter, 20 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed n PS at full disc, 2x settings.
 
Sunspot numbers at a 20 year high as reported on Spaceweather.com on the 23rd August 2024.

SUNSPOT NUMBERS AT A 20-YEAR HIGH: For the second month in a row, the monthly-average sunspot number is cruising toward a 20-year high. The current value, around 230, would eclipse every month since Sept. 2001, which occured during the peak of old Solar Cycle 23. The current cycle (Solar Cycle 25) was not supposed to be this strong, and it may become even stronger before Solar Max is finished.

​Please read more at:
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=23&month=08&year=2024

Thank you so much for your explanation on how the unusual orange colour of Aurora is created, it helps me understand what I had captured in my images near Skagway in Alaska in May 2024.

I thought there was something wrong with my pictures,
​it looks like other people were also confused about what they had captured!
 
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=20&month=08&year=2024
 
I took this beautiful picture of the Aurora Borealis from the back of our Holland America cruise ship
called the Koningsdam between 1 to 2am on the morning on the 1st May 2024.
 
I was determined to try and capture the northern lights while we were in Alaska and the town of Skagway was the most northern point of our night-time journey at latitude 59.45’ North.
 
The sea was extremely calm as the ship cruised the inside passage and that is why I was able to take these images of the sky for up to 30 seconds to capture the beautiful aurora with the stars.
 
I come from Australia in the southern hemisphere so I was so thrilled and very excited to see and captured them :-)
 
Both images are just one photograph, using a Canon 70D camera and a Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 lens, on a tripod; exposures were just 30 seconds & ISO1600.
 
Link to my pictures on Spaceweather.com at
https://spaceweathergallery2.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=211648

~ The Sun: Our Spectacular Star at Runaway Bay Library ~
 
I had a wonderful time at the Runaway Bay Library presenting one of my lectures on our amazing star the Sun. This topic is very close to my heart as I’m an avid solar observer and I was able to share all my solar experiences with everyone who came along to the presentation.
 
These included showing all my images of the Sun, solar eclipses and beautiful aurora along with rare pictures of the two transits of Venus.
 
Everybody learnt how dynamic the Sun really is and how safely they can observe solar events themselves with the right equipment.
 
A great time was had by all and thanks you again to the librarians from the Runaway Bay Library who provided a safe and happy place for the event.
 
Please find some photos below from the evening, happy and safe solar observing, Noeleen Lowndes :-D

​~ The most sunspots on surface of Sun for Cycle 25 on the 10th August 2024 ~
With huge sunspot group AR3780
 
Today the solar surface has so many sunspots on its surface with the huge sunspot AR 3780 featuring prominently near the centre of the Sun.

My images were captured with a ZWO SeeStar S50 smart telescope with the solar filter attached, 20 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just made this statement below….Wow!
https://www.noaa.gov/
 
SOLAR CYCLE 25 LIKELY REACHED THE HIGHEST SUNSPOT NUMBER IN OVER 20 YEARS:
​published: Friday, August 09, 2024 18:27 UTC
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/solar-cycle-25-likely-reached-highest-sunspot-number-over-20-years
 
Solar Cycle 25 likely reached the highest sunspot number yet - a value of at least 299. The Space Weather Predicition Center (SWPC) non-official, estimated daily sunspot number for August 8th was 337, a value not observed since March 2001.
 
However, the official SSN is determined by the World Data Center - Sunspot Index and Long-Term Solar Observations (WDC-SILSO) and it's Solar Influences Data Center (SIDC) at the Royal Observatory in Belgium; and their initial daily estimate for August 8th was 299.
 
They will report out the official number by September 1st.
​Visit their webpage at: https://www.sidc.be/SILSO/home and as always visit our webpage for the latest space weather information and forecasts.