The Sun Has a BIG Heart

[Friends just call me Ross]

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I HEART SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR2529 is now directly facing Earth, giving solar astronomers a clear view of the behemoth active region. This morning, April 13th, Karzaman Ahmad of the Langkawi National Observatory in Malaysia took a closer look and found that the sunspot is shaped like a heart:

 

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http://spaceweather.com/

Ahmad inserted a picture of Earth to show the scale of the sunspot. The primary dark core is several times wider than our entire planet. You have to love a sunspot with those kind of dimensions. It is an easy target for backyard solar telescopes.

Since it appeared less than a week ago, AR2529 has been mostly, but not completely, quiet. On April 10th it hurled a minor CME into space. That CME, along with another that occurred a few hours later, could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on April 13th. Solar flare alerts

 

Those living in the far FAR North 'could' get some great northern lights tonight.

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ARCTIC AURORAS: A high-speed stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and this is sparking intermittent geomagnetic storms around the Arctic Circle. Last night in the Finnish Lapland, "the sky exploded into many colors," reports B.Art Braafhart, who sends this picture from the Salla ski resort:

 

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"Winter is not yet over here in Salla," says Braafhart. "The temperature dropped to a nice cracking -7 C as the auroras danced across the sky."

Later today, a minor CME from sunspot AR2529 could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field. Such an impact would add to the effect of the solar wind stream, already here. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of moreG1-class geomagnetic storms on April 13th. Aurora alerts

 

 

[Stormswift]

This is sooo awesome! Thanks for sharing.