Stress is the liminal passage
between caterpillar and butterfly...
An interpretation of these pictures is near each one's Center
Plain and simple ☝🏾💯
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SUNSPOT: Sunspot 4055 is seething with activity, producing at least 8 M-class solar flares during the past 24 hours alone. On April 12th, David Wilson of Inverness, Scotland, recorded hot plasma currents surging around the sunspot's magnetic canopy:
"I always check Spaceweather before I start my captures, and today it said AR4055 had flaring potential, so I followed their advice and caught this video," says Wilson. "I used my homemade solar telescope to observe the sunspot for nearly two hours."
This sunspot is potentially dangerous for two reasons: (1) It has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. (2) It is moving toward the sun's western limb where it will connect itself to Earth via the magnetic Parker spiral. Any eruptions in the next few days could accelerate a hailstorm of energetic protons toward our planet.
THE CME HAS ARRIVED: Arriving hours earlier than expected, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field on April 15th (1700 UTC), and a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm is underway as a result of the impact. It's too soon to say whether this is just the first of two expected CMEs -- or perhaps a cannibal combination. NOAA forecasters say the storm could intensify to category G3 (Strong) in the hours ahead, depending on the strength and orientation of magnetic fields in the CME's wake. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
These data from NOAA's DSCOVR satellite show how the CME's arrival altered Earth's solar wind environment:
The density of solar wind plasma abruptly jumped by a factor of almost ten. This means the CME delivered a relatively heavy blow to Earth's magnetosphere. Stay tuned for updates as Earth's moves deeper into the CME's wake.
"Remember, if you don't stand up for something, you'll fall for just about anything..."
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