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Spaceweather.

HAPPY SOLSTICE! Today is the shortest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and the longest day in the south--that is, it's the "December solstice." The exact moment of the solstice is Thursday, Dec. 21st, at 10:27 p.m. EST, when the sun stops moving south and starts moving north again. This event marks the beginning of winter in the north and summer in the south.


BIG SUNSPOT ALERT: Sunspot AR3529 is still growing, quadrupling in size since Tuesday.

With two primary dark cores twice the size of Earth, AR3529 is an easy target for solar filtered telescopes. You can even see it through eclipse glasses no magnification required.
Of greater interest is the sunspot's 'delta-class' magnetic field. Within the sunspot + and - magnetic polarities are pressing together. Magnetic reconnection could produce an X-Class solar flare. Any eruptions today will be Earth-directed, as the sunspot is almost directly facing Earth.

Potential for hf (shortwave) radio blackouts in some areas and possible enhancement in others. At present the planetary indices are showing as quiet.