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Earth-Directed Coronal Hole

Sept. 21, 2016
On Sept. 18-21,2016 NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spotted a dark coronal hole that was facing towards Earth for several days spewing streams of solar wind in our direction.

A dark coronal hole that was facing towards Earth for several days spewed streams of solar wind in our direction (Sept. 18-21, 2016). A coronal hole is a magnetically open region. The magnetic fields have opened up allowing solar wind (comprised of charged particles) to stream into space. Gusts of solar wind can generate beautiful aurora when they reach Earth. The video clip shows the sun in a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.

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PIA21067_Coronal_hole_193_best.mp4
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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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