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Earth-Facing Coronal Holes

Nov. 9, 2016
Two good-sized coronal holes have rotated around to the center of the sun where they will be spewing solar wind towards Earth were observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory on Nov. 8-9, 2016.

Two good-sized coronal holes have rotated around to the center of the sun where they will be spewing solar wind towards Earth (Nov. 8-9, 2016). Coronal holes are areas of open magnetic field from which solar wind particles stream into space. In this wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light they appear as the two dark areas at the center and lower portion of the sun. The stream of particles should reach Earth in a few days and are likely to generate aurora.

Movies
PIA16909_Cor_hole193_big.mp4
PIA16909_Cor_hole193_Nov_sm.mp4

SDO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Its Atmosphere Imaging Assembly was built by the Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL), Palo Alto, California.

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