~ Space Weather Update~ Slight Chance of Flares, Unique Van Gogh Clouds Appear

SLIM CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1635 is crackling with low-level C-class solar flares. There is a slim chance of stronger flares: NOAA forecasters put the odds of an M-class eruption on Dec. 27th at 5%. Overall, solar activity is very low and is likely to remain so for the rest of the week. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

VAN GOGH CLOUDS: On Christmas morning, Gene Hart of Jonesport, Maine, woke up early to enjoy the sunrise before opening presents. What he saw may have been the best gift of all. "There was a cloud formation showing a remarkable series of wave shapes," says Hart. "They were backlit by the rising sun over Moosabec Reach." He snapped this picture of the harbor using a 14-megapixel digital camera:

"I also took some 28x zoom images of the wave structure," says Hart. The close-ups are a must-see.

These clouds, sometimes called "billow clouds," are produced by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability when horizontal layers of air brush by one another at different velocities. A better name might be van Gogh clouds: It is widely believed that these waves in the sky inspired the swirls in van Gogh's masterpiece The Starry Night.

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Credit: NOAA/POES

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 0 quiet
explanation | more data

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 3.5 nT
B_z: 1.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2216 UT

Coronal Holes: 26 Dec 12

Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on Dec. 28. Credit: SDO/AIA.