☕️📶 F-Layer Café by Steve — February 01 2026

🌞 Good Day!

Good day friends! The past four weeks have been a whirlwind of solar activity, reminding us of the immense power of our nearest star. Whether influencing satellite operations or planning outdoor adventures, staying informed about space weather helps us all navigate its impacts with confidence and curiosity.

📡 Major Space Weather Events

Notable events from the last two weeks

foF1 — Major January 2026 Space Weather Event: An X-class solar flare recorded on January 18 resulted in a severe S4 radiation storm and geomagnetic disturbances affecting satellites and power grids globally. Learn more.

foF2 — NASA's IMAP at L1: NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) arrived at the L1 Lagrange Point on January 10 to study the boundaries of the heliosphere, improving insights into solar wind interactions with interstellar space. More information.

foF3 — High Solar Activity from RGN 4366: During the first week of February, Region 4366 on the Sun produced multiple X-class flares, resulting in R1 to R3 radio blackouts across different areas. Monitoring remains key. Details here.

☕️🛰️ Research & Defense Highlights

Latest science + DoD focus

Research Shot – A recent study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society leverages photochemical modeling and data from MAVEN's NGIMS, uncovering surprisingly higher densities of protons like ArH+ in Mars' dayside ionosphere (published January 30, 2026). Understanding these discrepancies could revise models predicting plasma environments on Mars, critical for future missions. Read study.

DoD Shot – Space weather's reach extended to terrestrial weather as well, with NASA postponing the planned Artemis II Moon launch due to an arctic outbreak in Florida connected to a polar vortex (January 28, 2026). The event highlights the interconnectedness of space weather phenomena and Earth-bound operations, critical for both NASA and the DoD. Full report.

📡 What’s Coming Up?

Upcoming events are key for collaborative advancements in space weather understanding and technology.

• ISEA-17: International Symposium on Equatorial Atmospheres, February 9, 2026, by IAP-Kborn in Liberia, Costa Rica.

  Details

• GNEISS Auroral Sounding Rocket Campaign, January/February 2026, organized by AGU affiliates, focusing on auroral ionosphere research.

  Learn more

✨ Stay Connected & Get Involved

We invite you to stay engaged with our space weather community by sending your questions and experiences. Whether you’re curious about the latest solar flare activity or have photos of the auroras to share, reach out by replying here or connect via our event page.

📖 Quick Glossary

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) — Large eruption of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona, capable of impacting Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere when Earth-directed Solar Flare — Sudden burst of radiation from the Sun's surface, often X-class for strongest events, causing radio blackouts and radiation storms Geomagnetic Storm — Disturbance in Earth's magnetosphere due to solar wind interactions, rated G1 to G5, affecting ionospheric F-layer and auroras Radiation Storm — High-energy particle events (S1-S5 scale) from solar flares, impacting satellites and aviation by penetrating the ionosphere F-Layer — Uppermost region of Earth's ionosphere (150-500 km altitude), critical for HF radio propagation, heavily influenced by solar activity Lagrange Point 1 (L1) — Stable position ~1.5 million km sunward of Earth, used for space weather monitors like IMAP to provide early warnings Heliosphere — Bubble-like region created by solar wind protecting the solar system, its boundaries studied for ionospheric particle interactions Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) — Magnetic field carried by solar wind; southward Bz component enhances geomagnetic activity and auroral ionospheric effects

By Steve Brown — Space Weather & SDA Technical Advisor