Aurora Watch / Solar Wind Above 650 km/s / Spotless Sun
THE SOLAR WIND CONTINUES TO BLOW: For the third day in a row, Earth is inside a stream of solar wind blowing out of a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. This is causing magnetic unrest and bright auroras around the poles. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of G1-class geomagnetic storms on Dec. 24th. http://www.spaceweather.com/
Solar Wind Speed: 662 km/sec
Solar Wind Magnetic Fields: Bt 6 nT, Bz 2 nT
Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from this large coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO.
Geomagnetic activity remains at enhanced levels (Kp4).
A high speed solar wind stream is currently above 650 km/s. A coronal hole responsible for delivering the stream is moving out of a geoeffective position and geomagnetic activity is expected to gradually decrease over the next 24-48 hours.
An isolated period of minor (G1) storming is still possible for locations at very high latitudes within the next 6-12 hours. Sky watchers should still be on the lookout for visible aurora tonight.
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SDO/HMI
The Earth facing side of the sun is void of sunspots once again.
Solar activity should remain very low for Christmas.
Clips, images credit: NOAA/SWPC & NASA/SDO
