IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCE:
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© Rudolf Slosiar
Magnetic fields above sunspot 1007 erupted yesterday, Nov. 3rd, sparking a B8-class solar flare. Although B-flares are considered minor, the blast nevertheless made itself felt on Earth. X-rays bathed the dayside of our planet and sent a wave of ionization rippling through the atmosphere over Europe. The sudden ionospheric disturbance (SID) disrupted propagation of VLF radio signals, a phenomenon recorded by Rudolf Slosiar of Bojnice, Slovakia:

"Solar Cycle 24 is already showing up on my SID monitor," says Slosiar. "Detecting a minor B8 flare is a good test of the sensitivity of this method of monitoring solar
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© SOHO/MDINew-cycle sunspot 1007 (upper right between one and two o'clock) is crackling with B-class solar flares.
Sunspot 1007 is indeed an apparition of the next solar cycle; the spot's high latitude and magnetic polarity associate it firmly with Solar Cycle 24. Active new-cycle sunspots like "007" are going to become more common in the weeks and months ahead as the sun climbs out of solar minimum. Stay tuned. The SIDs are just getting started.

More sunspot photos:

from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from M. Ugro et al. of South Portland, Maine; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Stephen Ames of Hodgenville, Kentucky; from Pavol Rapavy of Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Paul Maxson of Surprise, Arizona; from Guenter Kleinschuster of Feldbach, Styria, Austria;