Active geomagnetic conditions, Coronal hole faces Earth

Friday, 28 October 2022 17:36 UTC

Active geomagnetic conditions, Coronal hole faces Earth

We are currently seeing enhanced auroral conditions here on Earth. Hard to say what is causing it but the north-south direction of the interplanetary magnetic field has turned southwards which fuels auroral activity. Active conditions (Kp4) have been observed already and minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions are not impossible. High latitude sky watchers should be alert of possible aurora in the hours ahead.

Coronal hole faces Earth

But that is not all, we also have a trans-equatorial coronal hole facing our planet today. A high speed solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole is on its way to our planet which could cause some nice auroral displays over the weekend . Minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions are expected from this coronal hole solar wind stream late tomorrow (29 October) into the early hours of Sunday, 30 October.

Updated Kp-index and color scheme

A bit of housekeeping also: we are following the updated Kp-index and G-scale color scheme as layed out by the NOAA SWPC. The Planetary K-Index will show green Kp values of 4 or lower then follows the G-scale colors which begins with yellow for Kp5. Kp values will now also be displayed in decimal format (e.g., 1.33, 1.67, 2.00).

Thank you for reading this article! Did you have any trouble with the technical terms used in this article? Our help section is the place to be where you can find in-depth articles, a FAQ and a list with common abbreviations. Still puzzled? Just post on our forum where we will help you the best we can! Never want to miss out on a space weather event or one of our news articles again? Subscribe to our mailing list, follow us on Twitter and Facebook and download the SpaceWeatherLive app for Android and iOS!

Latest news

Support SpaceWeatherLive.com!

A lot of people come to SpaceWeatherLive to follow the Sun's activity or if there is aurora to be seen, but with more traffic comes higher server costs. Consider a donation if you enjoy SpaceWeatherLive so we can keep the website online!

100%
Support SpaceWeatherLive with our merchandise
Check out our merchandise

Latest alerts

Get instant alerts!

Space weather facts

Last X-flare2024/11/06X2.39
Last M-flare2024/11/20M1.1
Last geomagnetic storm2024/11/10Kp5+ (G1)
Spotless days
Last spotless day2022/06/08
Monthly mean Sunspot Number
October 2024166.4 +25
November 2024142.7 -23.8
Last 30 days156.1 +4.7

This day in history*

Solar flares
11998X5.37
21998X3.59
32001X1.41
42001M5.51
51998M2.7
DstG
11991-139G2
21982-114G2
31975-97G2
42003-87G2
51960-76G2
*since 1994

Social networks