A ‘Dangerous’ Sunspot With Major Solar Flare Potential Is Facing Earth - Oct. 10. 2023.

Sunspots are giant islands of magnetism floating on the surface of the sun. Usually their magnetic poles are well separated, plus ( ) and minus (-) far apart. However, there is a sunspot now facing Earth with multiple poles mixed up and jostling together. Magnetic maps from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory show the magnetic architecture of sunspot AR3460. It has many magnetic poles with and - pressed together in close proximity. This could lead to magnetic reconnection and a strong, Earth-directed solar flare. POTENT CORONAL HOLE FACES EARTH A large equatorial coronal hole in the sun’s atmosphere is facing Earth and it is spewing a stream of fast-moving solar wind toward our planet. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the giant fissure on Oct. 10th. “Coronal holes“ (CH) -- are vast regions where the sun’s magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. A gaseous stream flowing from this coronal hole is expected to reach our planet during the late hours of Oct. 11th and could spark moderately-strong G2-class geomagnetic storms around the poles on October 11th or 12th. The coronal hole is potent because it is spewing solar wind threaded with “negative polarity“ magnetic fields. Such fields do a good job connecting to Earth’s magnetosphere and energizing geomagnetic storms. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras when the gaseous material arrives. Solar Activity Solar activity is at moderate levels today with a couple of M-Class solar flares. The largest of these events was an M2.3 flare around AR 3451 at 12:17 UTC (Oct 10). The active region continues to rotate closer to the west limb and any potential eruptions around the sunspot group would likely be directed away from Earth. The most interesting space weather event today was a coronal mass ejection (CME) originating from behind the east limb. Because the source region is not facing our planet, it will be directed away from Earth. Thanks for watching! #sunspot #coronalhole #solarflare Images credit: AIA/SDO, SOHO/LASCO, , NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Music credit: YouTube Audio Library