Saturday, 5 December 2015

Space Events

Vast hole opens in sun's atmosphere

A vast hole in the sun's atmosphere - a "coronal hole" - has opened up in the sun's northern hemisphere, and it is spewing a broad stream of solar wind into space. Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape.

Hot plasma flows outward at speeds exceeding a million mph. Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole will reach Earth beginning ~Dec. 6th, and our solar wind environment will be dominated the stream for days after first contact. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

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