Photo: Paul Haese/Blackwood, Australia/spaceweather.com
A very active sunspot, Sunspot 1035, hurled a packet of ionized particles towards Earth on December 16th. It will impact earth’s atmosphere the night of Dec 18-19 (Friday night).
A burst of Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is likely given the energy stream associated with the flare.
The image here shows intense magnetic filaments associated with the two “cores” (of about a dozen spots each) which together make up the sunspot group. Great fluctuations of this magnetic structure generate what is known as a “Coronal Mass Ejection”, or CME. When this zone of ionized particles (moving at about 100 miles per second) contact the magnetic field, the interaction between the two make for brilliant displays of the Lights.
There is a direct correlation between the intensity of the CME and Aurora brilliance and color. They will also appear further south (sometimes to Texas) as well as in polar latitudes with the stronger CME’s.
It is another plot along the continuing upsurge in sunspot activity since late September.
This three-month period of heightened activity is proof of a slow but sustained climb out of the Cycle 23/24 solar minimum.
The 10.7cm solar flux has also been on a general rising trend (with a hiccup or two), during this same time frame.
These data point to a high likelihood of further sunspot activity/solar flux increases as we move into 2010.
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