:Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2009 Nov 17 1851 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 09 - 15 November 2009 Solar activity was very low. No flares occurred during the summary period. Region 1030 (N25, L=046, class/area Cro/050 on 05 November) was observed to have a few spots without penumbra at the beginning of the period and rotated off the visible disk on 12 November. Old Region 1029 (N17, L=213, class/area Eko/380 on 29 October), which rotated off the disk on 1 November, returned into view on 14 November as a spotless plage area. New Region 1031 (N30, L=257, class/area Bxo/010 on 15 November) emerged on the disk on 15 November. A small CME from the west limb was observed to enter the LASCO C2 field of view at 1254 UTC on 15 November. EUV imagery from the STEREO-A spacecraft clearly showed the source was in the vicinity of Region 1030 which was three days behind the limb at the time of the event. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels during the period. The geomagnetic field was predominantly quiet throughout the summary period with the exception of a period of unsettled levels at high latitudes from 0600-1200 UTC on 09 November, a period of unsettled levels at some mid-latitude stations and active at high latitudes from 0900-1200 UTC on 14 November, and a period of unsettled levels at high latitudes from 1200-1800 UTC on 15 November. Solar wind observations from the ACE spacecraft showed a slow decline of solar wind velocity from about 450 km/s at the beginning of the period down to about 280 km/s by 2200 UTC on 11 November. In addition, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) showed a small increase between 2000 UTC on the 13th through 1840 UTC on the 15th, with peak Bt values around 8 nT and peak negative Bz values around -6 nT. Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 18 November - 14 December 2009 Solar activity is expected to be predominantly very low with just a slight chance for brief periods of low. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels through the period. The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet for 18-19 November. An increase to unsettled with a chance for active periods is expected between 20-22 November due to effects from a favorably positioned coronal hole. Quiet levels are expected to prevail for the remainder of the interval from 23 November through 14 December.