Guest guest Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 been awhile since we had one of these..... http://www.spaceweather.com/ INCOMING CME: This morning at 0120 UT, an eruption of magnetic fields around sunspot 1035 produced a long-duration C4-class solar flare and hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) in the general direction of Earth. High-latitude sky watchers should prepare for auroras when the CME arrives on or about Dec. 18th. STEREO movies: solar flare, CME. BIG NEW SUNSPOT: New sunspot 1035 is growing rapidly and it is now seven times wider than Earth. This makes it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Yesterday, Rogerio Marcon of Campinas, Brazil, photographed a maelstrom of hot plasma and magnetic filaments connecting the sunspot's dark cores: "Solar activity is picking up," he says. The magnetic polarity of the spot identifies it as a member of Solar Cycle 24--the cycle we've been waiting for to end the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. One spot isn't enough to end the lull, but sunspot 1035 could herald bigger things to come. Stay tuned for updates. sunspot photos: from Etienne Lecoq of Normandy, France; from Jean-Paul Rroux at the Pic du Midi Observatory; from Vahan Yeterian of Lompoc, California; from G.Harmon et al of South Portland, Maine; from John C McConnell of Maghaberry Northern Ireland; from Tom King of Watauga, Texas; from John Nassr of Baguio, Philippines; from David Gradwell of Birr Ireland The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Get it Now for Free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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