A Gash in the Sun's Atmosphere

Space Weather News for Feb 19, 2017 http://spaceweather.com https://www.facebook.com/spaceweatherdotcom A GASH IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: An unusually wide and sinuous hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is stretching like a gash across the sun's southern hemisphere. A roughly fan-shaped stream of solar wind flowing from the hole is gently buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and it could keep polar magnetic fields in an unsettled state for the rest of February.  Long range forecasts suggest the month could end with a moderately strong (G2-class) geomagnetic storm. This is all good news for Arctic sky watchers, who can expect regular episodes of Northern Lights in the nights ahead. Visit today's edition of Spaceweather.com for more information and sightings. Remember, SpaceWeather.com is on Facebook! Above: This image of a broad "coronal hole" (CH) cutting across the sun's southern hemisphere is based on data taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on Feb. 17th. Share Tweet Forward Copyright © 2017 Spaceweather.com, All rights reserved.