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Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP |
Propagation Report from Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP
24 April, 2011
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP reports that the solar activity is at moderate levels.
Numerous C-class flares are taking place around sunspots 1193 and 1195 and the new sunspot 1196.
The massive sunspot group 1193 stretches more than 130 000 km from end to end. Its leading dark core is more than three times wider than our entire planet. With such dimensions, you'd think the active region would be, well, more active; but the behemoth is quiet, producing no more than a few minor C-flares over the past several days.
So why is this giant so quiet? It has an uncomplicated magnetic field with relatively little mixing of polarities. Explosive magnetic reconnection is simply not happening. The situation could change if the sunspot's continued growth results in a tangling of magnetic field lines. For the people doing their own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week is about 60.
With the increase in the solar flux the improvement of the DX conditions are also very noticeable. DX openings are now once again occurring on a daily basis and even 6 m is showing signs of life.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
South African Radio League
• All propagation reports can be found at:
http://www.southgatearc.org/propagation
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