Solar Storms impact our lives. When they happen, will you be aware?
AIA 304
This channel is especially good at showing areas where cooler dense plumes of plasma (filaments and prominences) are located above the visible surface of the Sun. Many of these features either can't be seen or appear as dark lines in the other channels. The bright areas show places where the plasma has a high density
Where: Upper chromosphere and lower transition region
Wavelength: 304 angstroms (0.0000000304 m) = Extreme Ultraviolet
Primary ions seen: singly ionized helium (He II)
Characteristic temperature: 50,000 K (90,000 F)

NOAA Scale | Past 24 hrs | Current |
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Geomagnetic Storms | ![]() | ![]() |
Solar Radiation Storms | ![]() | ![]() |
Radio Blackouts | ![]() | ![]() |
This plot shows the current extent and position of the auroral oval in the northern hemisphere, extrapolated from measurements taken during the most recent polar pass of the NOAA POES satellite.read more
Average over last 15 minutes
Geomagnetic storms are a natural hazard, like hurricanes and tsunamis. Severe geomagnetic storms cause communications problems, abruptly increase drag on spacecraft, and can cause electric utility blackouts over a wide area. This NOAA ACE information gives about a one hour advance warning of impending geomagnetic storm activity.
The GOES spacecraft each carry a sophisticated Solar X-ray Imager to monitor the Sun’s X-rays for the early detection of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other phenomena that impact the geospace environment on both minor and severe scales.