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.

Space Events

A Huge Black Mark Has Appeared On The Sun

A vast ‘hole’ has appeared in the sun - a black mark the size of 50 Earths, which is spewing out particles towards our planet.

At worst, the coronal hole, which materialised last week, can interfere with some satellite communications and high-altitude radio transmissions.

It has released a stream of particles towards our planet, travelling across space at up to 500 miles per second, which have caused days of Northern Lights around the world as they hit our atmosphere.

Coronal holes are magnetically open areas that are one source of high-speed solar wind. They appear dark when viewed in many wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light, such as seen here. At times, the solar wind can generate auroras at higher latitudes on Earth.