SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image

What about 'Enlil', the 'Triangle', and the 'Second Sun'?? http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/wiki/index.php/Solar_Photospheric_Magnetogram_with_FL_Tracing_(GONG,_WSA,_ENLIL)

Earth is inside a high-speed stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA. SOLAR WIND: A high-speed strem of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, setting the stage for possible geomagnetic activity. NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% chance of polar geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours.


[color=red]Solar wind
speed: 702.7 km/sec

orthodoxymoron wrote:What about 'Enlil', the 'Triangle', and the 'Second Sun'?? http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/wiki/index.php/Solar_Photospheric_Magnetogram_with_FL_Tracing_(GONG,_WSA,_ENLIL)

Thanks Oxy. Interesting.

SUBSIDING SOLAR WIND: A fast stream of solar wind that has been buffeting Earth's magnetic field is beginning to subside. Nevertheless, NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of geomagnetic storms around the poles on June 8th. Sunspot 1494 poses a continued threat for M-class eruptions.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWaJ6aGM3I0
Solar flare - Eruption in the southwest of the Sun, with CME (June 8, 2012) - Video Vax


Une belle éruption a eu lieu au sud-ouest du Soleil le 8 juin 2012 entre 21h30 et 00h30 TU. Celle-ci a produit une EMC (éjection de masse coronale). Elle est visible sur les images des sondes spatiales SOHO et STEREO (voir liens ci-dessous). Etant donné la sa position et sa direction, elle n'atteindra certainement pas la Terre.

Quelques images sont manquantes et c'est très dommage car cela provoque une coupure dans la vidéo.
Ces Images proviennent de la NASA et ont été prises depuis l'instrument AIA du satellite SDO (Solar Dynamic Observatory), avec la longueur d'ondes de 304 angströms.


A pretty eruption occurred southwest of the Sun June 8, 2012 between 21h30 and 00:30 UT. This has produced a CME (coronal mass ejection). It is visible on the images of SOHO and STEREO spacecrafts (see links below). Given the position and direction, it certainly does not reach the Earth.
Some images are missing and this is very bad because it causes a break in the video.
These images are from NASA and taken from the satellite instrument AIA SDO (Solar Dynamic Observatory), with the wavelength of 304 angstroms.

SOHO & STEREO images :
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov//data/REPROCESSING/Completed/2012/c2/20120609/...
http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/browse//2012/06/08/ahead/cor2/512/20120608_215424...

This movie was produced by Helioviewer.org. See the original at http://helioviewer.org/?movieId=fw555 or download a high-quality version from http://helioviewer.org/api/?action=downloadMovie&id=fw555&format=mp4&...

M-FLARES: A fast-growing active region near AR1499 is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares, including two on June 9th (1132 UT and 1650 UT). This development could signal an uptick in solar activity. "These solar active regions are producing M-class and C-class flares that are easy to see through my H-alpha telescope," says Stetson.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of more M-class flare today, although this is probably an underestimate considering the rapid pace of development of magnetic fields near AR1499.

CHANCE OF MAGNETIC STORMS: NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms during the next 48 hours as a pair of CMEs pass by Earth, possibly delivering glancing blows to our magnetic field.

SHAPE-SHIFTING SUNSPOT: As it pops and crackles with low level solar flares, sunspot AR1504 is rapidly evolving. During the past 24 hours the active region has shape-shifted from an irregular dumbbell into a dark ring of magnetism wide enough to circumscribe a half-dozen planet Earths: NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of M-class solar flares today as the sunspot's magnetic field shifts and destabilizes. Eruptions later this week could be geoeffective as the sunspot turns to face Earth. Sunspot 1504 is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares.

CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forcasters estimate a 40% chance of M-class solar flares today as a phalanx of sunspots turns toward Earth. The most likely source of geoeffective eruptions is sunspot AR1504, which has grown into an active region almost 10 times wider than Earth.

As predicted, the sunspot has flared. Magnetic fields above AR1504 erupted on June 13th at 1319 UT, producing a long-duration M1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme UV glow of the blast: The ongoing explosion is taking hours to unfold, which means it is very powerful despite its middling M1-peak. Long duration flares often hurl coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space, and this one is probably no exception. Stay tuned for updates about a possible Earth-directed CME.

June 14, 2012 – SPACE - On June 14th, for the second day in a row, sunspot AR1504 erupted and hurled a CME toward Earth. The fast-moving (1360 km/s) cloud is expected to hit our planet’s magnetic field on June 16th at 14:00 UT, possibly sparking a geomagnetic storm. –Space Weather, www.SolarHam.com

CHANCE OF FLARES: Big sunspot AR1504 has developed a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.

INCOMING CMES: On June 14th, for the second day in a row, sunspot AR1504 erupted and hurled a CME toward Earth. The fast-moving (1360 km/s) cloud is expected to sweep up a previous CME and deliver a combined blow to Earth's magnetic field on June 16th around 10:16 UT. This animation shows the likely progression of the approaching storm:

According to the forecast track prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the CMEs will also hit Venus on June 15th and Mars on June 19th. Because Venus and Mars do not have global magnetic fields to protect them, both of those planets will probably lose tiny amounts of atmosphere when the CMEs strike.

Here on Earth, the impact is likely to trigger a geomagnetic storm around the poles. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on June 16th.

GEOMAGNETIC STORM ALERT: A geomagnetic storm is in progress in the wake of a double CME impact on June 16th. The hit, which strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field, lit up both poles with bright auroras. CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1504 has a complex 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong solar flares--and the huge sunspot is almost directly facing Earth. NOAA forecasters estimate a 65% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares from AR1504 during the next 24 hours.

SUBSIDING STORM: A geomagnetic storm that began on June 16th when a double CME hit Earth's magnetic field is finally subsiding. At the height of the disturbance on June 17th, Northern Lights descended as far south in the USA as Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah, Maryland, Nebraska, Washington, and the Dakotas. Brad Goldpaint sends this picture from Crater Lake, Oregon:

Although the storm is mostly over, it could re-ignite as magnetic knots in the wake of the CME drift past Earth. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of more high-latitude geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours.

TRIPLE SUNSPOT: Sunspot 1504, the source of many auroras on June 16th and 17th, is decaying. Nevertheless, the behemoth is still an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. The dark cores in Emond's image are about twice the size of Earth. Floating in a sea of hot plasma, these vast islands of magnetism are surrounded by boiling granules big enough to swallow Texas.

It should come as no surprise that such a structure, while decaying, still poses a threat for explosions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of M-class fllares during the next 24 hours.

HAPPY SOLSTICE: Today, the sun crosses the celestial equator heading south. The moment of crossing or "solstice" occurs at 7:09 pm EDT and marks the beginning of northern summer. This is the longest day and shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Meanwhile In the Southern Hemisphere, winter begins. Happy solstice!

SOLSTICE IN A SODA CAN: To commemorate the 2012 summer solstice, astronomer Rijk-Jan Koppejan has made an image of the sun--with an exposure time of six months. Every day from Dec. 2011 to June 2012, he used a solargraph to record the sun's motion across the skies of his observatory in Middelburg, the Netherlands:
A solargraph is a simple pinhole camera made from a soda or beer can lined with a piece of photographic paper. Koppejan deployed his solargraph in time to record last December's solstice (the lowest track in the image) and let it continue passively recording until June 19, 2012.

"Here in the Netherlands we think we didn't have much sunlight the last 6 months, but looking at this picture it wasn't too bad after all!" Koppejan says.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

A bright CME billowed away from the blast site. Because of the explosion's location on the NW edge of the solar disk, the cloud will not hit Earth. This event was photogenic but not geoeffective. Small sunspot 1511 poses no threat for strong flares. Solar wind flowing from this northern coronal hole could brush against Earth's magnetic field on June 28-29.

CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot 1512 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of such an eruption during the next 24 hours.

X THREE MILLION: On the Richter Scale of Solar Flares, X3 is considered to be a big explosion. How about X3 million? NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has seen what happens when a planet gets hit by such a flare. This artist's concept, released today by the space agency, illustrates the impact of an X300000-class stellar flare on exoplanet HD 189733b: The flare, detected by NASA's Swift satellite, scorched the top of the planet's atmosphere with a powerful blast of ultraviolet radiation and X-rays. Hours later, Hubble detected more than 1,000 tons of gas every second flying away at 300,000 mph. HD 189733b is a gas giant about 14% more massive than Jupiter, so it hardly misses the atmosphere it lost. Millions of years of these flares, however, will eventually make a dent even in such a massive world. So the next time there's an X-flare here in the solar system, just remember, it could be worse.

HIDDEN PORTALS IN EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD: A NASA-sponsored researcher at the University of Iowa has developed a way for spacecraft to hunt down hidden magnetic portals in the vicinity of Earth. These gateways link the magnetic field of our planet to that of the sun, setting the tage for stormy space weather. [video]

CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-class solar flares today. The likely source would be either sunspot AR1512 or AR1513. Both have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for strong flares. The impulsive M2-class solar flare illuminated Earth's upper atmosphere with a pulse of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation. This, in turn, created a wave of ionization over Europe, which altered the propagation of low-frequency radio transmissions around the continent. Using a receiver tuned to 23 kHz, Dave Gradwell detected the disturbance over Ireland. More ionization waves are in the offing as AR1512 and AR1513 crackle with flares.

MASSIVE PROMINENCE: Amateur astronomers around the world are monitoring a massive, active prominence dancing along the sun's southeastern limb. If you have a solar telescope, take a look. The latest images suggest an eruption might be in the offing.

DARK HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: Ultraviolet telescopes onboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory are monitoring a vast dark hole--a "coronal hole"--in the sun's upper atmosphere. It has just turned directly toward Earth: Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this particular gap is en route to Earth, due to arrive on July 2nd or 3rd. The impact could spark geomagnetic storms and auroras. Sunspots 1513 and 1515 have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class solar flares.

Big increase in Solar wind: speed: 613.5 km/sec density: 2.1 protons/cm3

ALMOST X-FLARE: Big sunspot AR1515 erupted on July 2nd at 10:52 UT, producing an M5.6-class solar flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory. The eruption hurled a CME into space, but not directly toward Earth. The south-traveling cloud could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere on July 4th or 5th. POLAR MAGNETIC STORMS: Auroras are dancing around the poles in response to a high-speed solar wind stream buffeting Earth's magnetic field.

CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1515 continues to grow and crackle with magnetic eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class solar flares and a 10% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. X-flare alerts: text, voice.

ALMOST X-FLARE: Big sunspot AR1515 erupted on July 2nd at 10:52 UT, producing an M5.6-class solar flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash: A pulse of x-rays and UV radiation from the flare illuminated Earth's upper atmosphere, producing waves of ionization over Europe. Such waves alter the propagation of low-frequency radio transmissions. In Lofoten, Norway, Rob Stammes recorded the ionospheric disturbance using a 60 kHz receiver: data.

The eruption also hurled a CME into space, but not directly toward Earth. The south-traveling cloud could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere on July 4th or 5th.

4TH OF JULY FIREWORKS: Chances of an X-flare today are increasing as sunspot AR1515 develops a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for the most powerful explosions. The sunspot's magnetic canopy is crackling with almost-X class flares, the strongest so far being an M5-flare at 09:54 UT. Each "crackle" releases more energy than a billion atomic bombs, so these are 4th of July fireworks indeed.

The sunspot itself is huge, stretching more than 100,000 km (8 Earth-diameters) from end to end. This movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the behemoth growing and turning toward Earth over the past five days: Another picture that dramatically illustrates the size of AR1515 is this 4th of July sunrise shot from Stefano De Rosa of Turin, Italy.

If any major eruptions do occur today, they will certainly be Earth-directed. The sunspot is directly facing our planet, so it is in position to cause radio blackouts, sudden ionospheric disturbances, and geomagnetic storms.

HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY: Behemoth sunspot AR1515 is crackling with M-class solar flares and appears to be on the verge of producing an X-class explosion. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 10% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.

INCOMING CME: On July 4th, sunspot AR1515 hurled at least four minor CMEs into space. Most flew south of the ecliptic plane (the orbital plane of the planets), on track to miss everything. One of them, however, appears to be heading toward Earth.

According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, who prepared the forecast, the cloud will reach Earth on July 7th around 0600 UT. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on that date.

SOLAR STATIC: Sunspot AR1513 erupted on the 4th of July, producing an M2-class solar flare and a burst of shortwave radio noise that roared out of the loudspeakers of receivers on Earth. Amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico recorded the solar static at 21 MHz:

"While waiting for a potential X-flare in AR1515, I captured this 'radio-active' M-flare in AR 1513," says Ashcraft. "The audio sample contains two types of solar radio emission: The Type III solar bursting starts at 15 seconds and the Type V kicks in at around one minute or so." These radio sounds are caused by beams of electrons accelerated by the flare. As the electrons slice through the sun's atmosphere, they generate a ripple of plasma waves and radio emissions detectable on Earth 93 million miles away. More radio bursts are in the offing as AR1515 and AR1513 crackle with magnetic explosions.

HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY: Behemoth sunspot AR1515 is crackling with M-class solar flares and appears to be on the verge of producing an X-class explosion. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 25% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.

NEW SUNSPOT: A new sunspot is emerging over the sun's southeastern limb, and it appears to be a big one. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory caught a first glimpse of the spot's dark cores during the early hours of July 6th:

Solar activity is already high. The addition of this new active region could boost the chance of flares even more. Check back later today as the sunspot turns more squarely toward Earth, affording a better view of its size and potential for eruptions.

X-FLARE: For days, giant sunspot AR1515 has looked capable of producing a really strong explosion. On July 6th it finally did: The sunspot's magnetic canopy erupted, producing a brief but potent X1.1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash: The explosion hurled a CME into space. According to this movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, the cloud appears to be heading south and away from Earth. Update: Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the CME will miss eveything. Look at the CME movie one more time. http://www.spaceweather.com/images2012/07jul12/cme_anim.gif The speckles near the end are caused by energetic protons accelerated by the flare. Guided toward Earth by solar magnetic fields, the protons are peppering Earth-orbiting satellites, causing "snow" in imaging systems and posing a slim threat for single-event upsets (computer glitches). Sunspot 1515 has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole.

ANOTHER BIG SUNSPOT: As one big sunspot (AR1515) turns away from Earth, another one is turning toward our planet. AR1520, now emerging over the sun's southeastern limb, stretches more than 127,000 km (10 Earth diameters) from end to end: AR1520 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. So far, however, the sunspot's magnetic canopy is crackling with lesser C-flares. The calm before the storm? NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares during the next 24 hours

MANY CMEs: During the late hours of July 8th, a series of rapid-fire explosions on the sun propelled three coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded their exit: Despite the number of eruptions and the breadth of the billowing ejecta, Earth is little affected. All of the clouds appear set to miss our planet. Nevertheless, this flurry of CMEs highlights the currently-high level of solar activity. It is only a matter of time before a significant CME comes our way. Stay tuned for stormy space weather. A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole cold reach Earth on July 10-11.