Coronal hole faces Earth

Thursday, 18 February 2021 13:19 UTC

Coronal hole faces Earth

It's that time of the solar cycle again where coronal holes become more apparent at lower latitudes! Less than a week ago we already had a similar coronal hole facing our planet. The solar wind stream from that coronal hole caused active geomagnetic conditions on Tuesday. Right now we have yet another northward extension of the southern hemisphere polar coronal hole facing our planet today.

This extension stretches almost to the solar equator and a high speed solar wind stream from this coronal hole could arrive late on 20 February (Saturday) or early on 21 February (Sunday). Active geomagnetic conditions (Kp4) are likely on Sunday with a chance of minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions. For sure something to keep an eye on if you are a high latitude sky watcher!

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