June 1 2012 Sunspots are Popping and One Gigantic Coronal Hole Growing B...

 

New Sunspots are still emerging with the existing sunspots crackling with activity.
A large coronal hole emerging over the sun's eastern limb is spewing solar wind, like a yawning dark fissure in the sun's atmosphere now turning toward Earth where the solar wind will head in Earth's direction and impact our geomagnetosphere around June 5th.

Sunspots generally group together in pairs to form the poles of solar magnets. One sunspot of each bipolar pair has positive ("north", or outward -directed) magnetic polarity. Its partner has the opposite negative ("south", or inward-directed) polarity. Notice that each spot group seems to contain red and blue members. Notice too that the groups are usually oriented roughly parallel to the Sun's equator.


Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole will reach Earth on June 5th - 7th, possibly stirring geomagnetic storms. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
Thanks you for watching and have a great weekend.