Solar Bulletin July, 2001

• Editor's Note
• Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Report
• Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances Supplement

Click image to enlarge. Fig.1 Comparison of Ri (provisional) and Ra estimates for July. (Ri Source: http://sidc..oma.be/index.php3)

Click image to enlarge. Fig.2 Monthly Ra and Smoothed Mean Sunspot Numbers (Waldmeier method).

Click image to enlarge. Fig.3 Maximum, mean, and minimum Ra Values for Each Month from January 2000 to Present.

Editor's Notes

In 1986 Danie was presented with the AAVSO's 26th Merit Award in recognition of his variable star work, his guidance of observers in South Africa and his service on the AAVSO Council. He received a second award in 1999, this time in recognition of his contributions to the work of the Solar Division.

Danie was truly a dedicated observer in the very best tradition of the AAVSO. He will be sorely missed.

SolObs Program
Several observers who have downloaded and tried the SolObs program have asked how to enter the locations of groups and spots in the program. The answer is that the program is not currently able to hold that information, and a note has now been added to the website to advise users of the limitation. If the program proves otherwise attractive to potential users, that capability will be added. In the meantime, please continue to use SUNKEY or its related text version in order to enter spot/group locations if you typically collect this information.

Related note: Although monthly spot/group location information is not reported in the Bulletin or on the website, these data are archived along with the other data contained in observers reports so that they remain available for later analyses if desired.

Website Photo Gallery
In earlier years, photos contributed by observers were occasionally published in the Bulletin, and a number of observers have recently indicated an interest in continuing the tradition. The AAVSO/Solar Division website provides what I regard to be an ideal medium for such contributions because it affords better image quality than can be achieved with photocopying, does not inflate the costs of producing and mailing the Bulletin, and enables the material to reach a wider audience.

Accordingly, we have begun a new section on the website called the "Photo Gallery, which this month contains a fine set of disk and flare images that were contributed by Jean Dragesco (DRAJ). A photo of the disk, contributed somehat earlier by A. Gonzalo Vargas (VARG), is also included on the Solar Division page.

I encourage all observers who enjoy photographing the sun and who are able to achieve good results to send their images for posting to the website. Although I cannot promise that all contributions will appear there, I will do my best to incorporate as many as possible.

Photos may be sent either electronically or in print form. All submissions should contain, at a minimum, annotations indicating the day and UT of the exposures. Additional information that may be of interest to others interested in taking solar photographs (film/speed, special filters, etc.) may be included. Photos sent electronically should be scanned at 300 dpi, formatted as JPG or GIF documents, and transmitted to the solar@aavso.org address. Prints should be sent to the AAVSO headquarters in Cambridge, MA.

New Observer
This month I want to welcome Dimitri Matsnev (MAV) of Moscow, Russia to the corps of solar observers. Dimitri has been a member of the AAVSO since 1991 and, although he reports spending most of his time observing variable stars, he has recently renewed his interest in solar observations at the urging of his colleague, Mikhail Kuzmin (KUZM).

Welcome to the AAVSO's Solar Division, Dimitri. We look forward to receiving your monthly reports.

Clear Skies
CEF

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