Space Weather: Dangerous Coronal Hole Facing Earth
European magnetometers are responding violently at the moment due to the coronal hole solar wind stream and indicate very active auroral conditions.
On Friday 13, October 2017 a big, dark hole in the sun’s atmosphere, called a “coronal hole”, faced directly toward Earth spewing solar wind. Coronal holes are places where the sun’s magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. Solar wind flowing from this region can reach Earth possibly stirring geomagnetic storms. The picture above is a composite image taken by the Solar Dynamic Observatory in 211, 193 and 171 wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
Live updates are appearing at www.spaceweatherlive.com
Global geomagnetic activity
The map below shows the estimated position of the auroral oval in the next 30 minutes based on solar wind data from DSCOVR. Locations at least 1.000 kilometers (600 miles) away from the oval will have a chance to see aurora towards the horizon. Note that this is a computer model which doesn’t take into account your local weather or the altitude of the Sun at your location. Use this model as a guide.
The Kp-index
The Kp-index is a global auroral activity indicator on a scale from 0 to 9. You can use it as a guide to estimate how active the aurora is and at what latitude aurora might be visible. This graph is based on the USAF Wing Kp-index. The latest observed Kp-value comes from the most recently available magnetometer measurements and the currently predicted Kp-value is an estimate of what the Kp-index might be right now based on data from DSCOVR.
Real-time auroral activity
Below you will find the latest solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field data covering the past two hours as measured by the DSCOVR spacecraft. These parameters are the first parameters used to predict auroral activity. The redder the plots get, the better it is for auroral activity! With the current speed, it will take the solar wind 53 minutes to propagate from DSCOVR to Earth.
Speed: 471.3 km/sec
Density: 5.37 p/cm3
Bz: -1.94 nT (South)
Magnetometers
Kiruna Magnetogram
This magnetogram gives you the values measured by the ground station of Kiruna (Sweden, Europa). For European middle latitude auroral activity the deflection in the magnetometer data should be more than 1300nT. If you are not located in Europe, please consult a magnetometer near your location for a more accurate representation of the current geomagnetic activity.
Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM)
The Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (EPAM) particle instrument on the ACE satellite measures the low energy electrons and protons carried with the solar wind. This is a very useful tool to find out if a CME could be Earth-directed and when it might arrive.
Solar protons
This plot shows us the amount of high energy solar protons at Earth as measured by one of the GOES satellites. It can indicate if there was a significant eruption on the Sun. These high energy protons can cause all kind of problems here at Earth. Press “help” for more information.
Solar protons
Real-time solar activity
Sunspot regions
Sunspot number: 0 – New regions: 0
| Region | Number of sunspots |
Class Magn. |
Class Spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| No sunspot regions on the visible disc today | |||
Solar flares
Events on the Sun today
| Region | Start | Maximum | End | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | ||||
Far side
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