Big Coronal Hole Faces Earth - New Sunspot Growing Rapidly
- Jul 7, 2017
- 1 min read
A hole in the sun's atmosphere has opened up and it is spewing solar wind into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring the structure as it turns to face Earth.
Coronal holes are regions in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field peels back and allows solar wind to escape. Solar wind flowing from this hole should reach our planet on July 8th or 9th and could spark a minor G1-classgeomagnetic storm. Unfortunately, bright moonlight will interfere with the visibility of auroras, which might otherwise be seen at high latitudes.
SUNSPOT GROWING RAPIDLY: New sunspot AR2664, which appeared just yesterday, has already more than doubled in size. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory documented the sunspot's rapid development in this 36-hour time lapse movie:
So far the sunspot has not produced any strong solar flares, but this could change if the sunspot's breakneck growth destabilizes its magnetic field. Amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor this expanding sunspot. With one dark core twice as wide as Earth and many more cores larger than the Moon, AR2665 is an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.
Clips, images credit: NASA/SDO
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