 Space weather this week is really beginning to ramp up and it finally looks like the Sun got that solar maximum memo As we take a look at our earth-facing disc. Look at all the activity We have at least nine active regions on the earth-facing disc Including a whole cluster of them that are just beginning to rotate into earth view and you can see how bright the Sun looks In fact the solar flux just over the last few days has finally crept up past 200 mark and that is a record for solar cycle 25 and a lot of amateur radio operators are definitely clapping and cheering But this along with this solar flux increase also comes a lot of activity in fact back on the 14th You can see region 31 82 wham that old friend fires off a big solar flare Along with the solar storm and that solar storm is partly earth-directed We'll talk more about that in a minute then not to be outdone region 31 91 in the east Fires off a big solar flare and another solar storm has launched that one looks like it's going to go north of earth But we might get some glancing passage from that and then not to be outdone 31 90 joins in the fray and fires off another big solar flare and that solar storm that along with that is Going to go east of earth But once again we're waiting for models to see whether that's going to give us a glancing blow So there is a ton of activity and we just are beginning to see some of these regions rotate into view Which means we could have more solar storms as well as big solar flares Radio blackouts at the r2 level are definitely on the menu and as old friend region 31 82 Rotates off of the Sun's West Limb we're going to have to be dealing with a higher risk of radiation storms over the next few days So overall it is a very active week and all eyes are on the Sun Now returning to that solar storm that was launched on the 14th. This is our prediction model Enlal This is Noah's version of the model the top panel's density the bottom panel's velocity You're looking down at the Sun from the North Pole with earth being off to the right And you can watch that solar storm being launched and it looks like that solar storm is definitely going to the west of earth But right around the 19th you can see it actually clipping earth It's going to be a glancing blow and that's when the solar storm itself hits But just prior to that there's actually kind of an enhancement And this is due to some fast solar wind that is kind of like a fast solar wind chaser of this storm So we're actually going to see a bit of an impact starting around the 18th So our war of photographers don't wait for the 19th because we could definitely see Some impacts and some aurora building on the 18th And we could actually have a show maybe possibly through the 20th before things calm down So enjoy that and keep your batteries charged because it could be a lot of fun For more details on this week's space weather Including how these big flare players and these big radio blackouts can affect space traffic and comms Check out my channel or see me at space weather woman calm