An Earth-Directed Solar Storm & A Holy Grail | Space Weather News 01.08.2020

This week our Sun shakes things up by launching its first solar storm of the year. Considering we are still waiting for Solar Cycle 25 to arrive officially, this solar storm launch is a welcome surprise. Along with a small pocket of fast solar wind expected to arrive near coincident with the solar storm in a few days, aurora photographers might be able to catch glimpses of the aurora even down to mid latitudes for a short while. In addition to the solar storm, we have yet another solar cycle 25 sunspot in Earth-view. These sightings are becoming more the norm than the exception, which means we could see flare activity pick up again over the next few months. As it is, solar flux is creeping up to the mid-70s, with radio propagation back well into the marginal range on Earth’s dayside. GPS users should also be enjoying decent GPS/GNSS reception early in the week, but should stay away from nightside aurora and from the dawn-dusk regions, especially once the solar storm hits. learn the details of the coming solar storm, see where and when aurora might be visible, and find out what else our Sun has in store. This week also has a special deep dive into the Parker Solar Probe discovery of magnetic switchbacks in the solar wind and what it means in terms of finding the holy grail of solar physics.