CORONAL HOLE: A dark gap in the sun's atmosphere--a "coronal hole"--has opened up

CORONAL HOLE: A dark gap in the sun's atmosphere--a "coronal hole"--has opened up, and it is spewing a stream of solar wind into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) photographed the opening during the early hours of Feb 24th:

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 particular coronal hole is expected to reach Earth on or about March 2nd. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on that date. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Bonus: The image also shows the magnetic canopy of a sunspot group approaching just beyond the sun's northeastern limb. The active region should emerge in the next 24 to 48 hours.

[link to www.spaceweather.com]