Sol (Sun) and its phenomena

[Ellipse]

An interesting study was conducted to evaluate the impact of solar storms and how they make the Earth more hot. While the top down effect through the stratosphere can take days to weeks, the instant energization of the upper layer rapidly impacts the global system.

So it certainly do the same action of aerosols, volcanic ash and water vapor by impacting the electrostatic attraction between particles and then cloud formation and precipitation.

December 19, 2025

It is found that the Joule heating has a fast increase at the beginning of the storm main phase when the storm is initiated by HSS/SIRs (High-Speed Solar Wind Streams/Stream Interaction Regions) or by ICME (Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections) sheath regions, while a more gradual and longer lasting increase is found in storms driven by magnetic clouds within the ICMEs. In all the driver categories the Joule heating during the main phase is concentrated on the morning and afternoon auroral ovals, with the largest hemispheric median heating of 240-250 GW seen at the end of the main phase in storms driven by sheaths and magnetic clouds. Joule heating is highly correlated with the SuperMAG SME index ($R^2$values between 0.71-0.76), while correlation with the Newell coupling function is moderate ($R^2$ values between 0.52-0.56). Magnetic cloud driven storms have the highest geoefficiency in terms of solar wind energy input driving Joule heating.

Sources:

https://essopenarchive.org/doi/full/10.22541/essoar.176617176.64744728

Abstract EGU25-16944

meetingorganizer.copernicus.org

 

[Gaby]

View attachment 114546

I found a graph with the other side of the equation. Above, you can see the number of magnetic storms in red. In yellow, you can see the the total number of days with geomagnetic disturbances, in which the Kp index reached a value of 4 or higher (yellow and red levels).

The number of days with magnetic storms and the total number of geomagnetically disturbed days in 2025 significantly exceeded last year's figures and became one of the largest in the last 2 decades. Over the past 358 days since the beginning of the year, magnetic storms have been observed in 69 cases compared to 44 cases in 2024. Even more significant was the increase in the total number of days with geomagnetic disturbances, in which the Kp index reached a value of 4 or higher (yellow and red levels). There were 164 of them against 94, which is 75% more.

In the following graph, the annual number of magnetic storms is represented by each bar of the histogram. Superimposed is the smoothed sunspot number. The dashed lines indicate solar minima and the dotted lines indicate solar maxima. Note the correlation of magnetic activity with solar activity and the apparent increase in magnetic activity with time during the 20th century

 

[Gaby]

Caught Venus and Mars at one degree from the sun via the LASCO space telescope:

Xras.ru

The rare simultaneous approach of Venus and Mars to the Sun, which will not happen again until the second half of the 23rd century, was recorded from space by LASCO coronagraphs located on the SOHO spacecraft. The planets, which had been moving towards each other for several months, converged in the sky last night in a line with the Sun at a distance of about 1 degree and are now beginning to diverge. Venus, which passed closer to the Sun, is moving to the left of the solar disk and in two months, in March, will become visible in the Earth's sky as an evening star, setting below the horizon at sunset immediately after the Sun. At present, it is impossible to see it, as it, like Mars, is completely drowned in the sun's rays. Mars, moving to the right of the Sun, will, on the contrary, become the morning star in the spring, appearing in the sky at dawn.

The fact that the planets passed below the Sun rather than coinciding with it is due to the inclination of their orbits relative to Earth's orbit. For Mars, it is about 2 degrees, and for Venus, about 3.5 degrees. In some rare cases, however, Venus can pass directly across the Sun's disk. The last time this happened was in 2012, and the next time will be on December 11, 2117. Mars is an outer planet that cannot be projected onto the solar disk under any circumstances. At the moment of the conjunction, both planets were on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth: Venus at a distance of 256 million km, and Mars at a distance of 360 million km.

Alignments happen all the time, whether they're "energetically" significant, that's another thing.

Minimal G1 geomagnetic storm for tomorrow in the latest forecast:

Minimal magnetic storms, G1, are expected tomorrow at midday due to a medium-sized plasma ejection passing by the planet, which left the Sun on January 6. Given the strong lateral displacement of the plasma cloud, clearly visible in the video, the forecast is rather unstable. With even a slight deviation of the ejection to the left, it will pass Earth without any geomagnetic consequences, while an “error” in the other direction could cause a noticeable increase in geomagnetic fluctuations compared to the calculated values.

The level and number of solar flares since the beginning of the year remain low, with no signs of intensification in the coming days. Over the next two days, there may be a moderate increase in the speed of the solar wind due to the appearance of another coronal hole of a rather unusual shape on the side of the Sun facing Earth.

 

[Olivierlejardinier]

Spaceweather.com published an article on the topic of alignments and solar cycles which delves into tidal effects:

PLANETARY ALIGNMENTS AND THE SOLAR CYCLE: This week, Jupiter and Venus are on opposite sides of the sun. To some researchers, this geometry is more than a celestial coincidence. A small but persistent body of research suggests that planetary alignments help regulate solar activity.​

"A decade ago, I set out to to find a viable mechanism by which the solar cycle could be synchronised by tidal forces of the planets," says Frank Stefani, a physicist at the HZDR national research center in Germany. "These forces are known to be very small, yet we have developed a model that shows remarkable agreement with observed solar activity."

This is a controversial topic. Some researchers, like Stefani, have focused their careers on it, while others are vehemently opposed. The idea refuses to go away mainly because Jupiter, Venus, and Earth form repeating alignment patterns with a characteristic period near 11 years, similar to the average length of the sunspot cycle. Coincidence--or something more?

Mainstream solar physics holds that the tides of Venus and Jupiter are too weak to affect solar activity. Jupiter's tides on Earth are a million times weaker than the Moon's tides, and Venus's tides are even weaker than Jupiter's. How could these absurdly small forces affect the sun?

A 2019 study led by Stefani suggested a way: The sun's inner magnetic dynamo is exquisitely sensitive to external perturbations ("parametric resonances"). Regular "taps" from planetary tides could nudge the dynamo into an 11-year pattern like a metronome keeping a piano player on time.

​

Critics note that convective noise in the sun's interior (pictured right) dwarfs tidal stresses. Yet the coincidences are hard to ignore.

Stefani’s more recent work focuses on magneto-Rossby waves in the solar dynamo. "Our latest model shows that the natural periods of these waves fit amazingly well to the two-planet spring tides of Venus, Earth, and Jupiter: 118 days for Venus-Jupiter, 199 days for Earth-Jupiter, and 292 days for Venus-Earth."

These spring tides do not cause the solar cycle, clarifies Stefani. They help synchronize it. Tidal beat-periods match several well-known cycles of solar activity including the famous Schwabe cycle of 11 years, a Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) of 1.7 years, and the Suess-de Vries cycle of 193 years (plus two Gleissberg cycles at 90 and 58 years).

Again, critics have a counterargument: With so many cycles and harmonics to play with, you can always find a match. Indeed, this may be true.

But Stefani has a prediction: "The present alignment is happening only 40 to 60 days before the expected peak of a Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. If the alignment excites magneto-Rossby waves as our model predicts, we might expect a higher probability of strong solar activity 40 to 60 days from now."

That's science. Stay tuned for a follow-up story in two months.

 

[SasaM]

Alignments happen all the time, whether they're "energetically" significant, that's another thing.

There's also a 3rd dimension that might be good to keep in mind with these kinds of considerations.

For example, Jupiter's orbit is inclined to ecliptic cca 1.3°, which for an orbit of 5.23 AU translates to roughly 18 millions km distance from the ecliptic plane in its extreme, which is almost 13 times larger than the diameter of the Sun.
FWIW.

 

[mrtn]

The fact that the planets passed below the Sun rather than coinciding with it is due to the inclination of their orbits relative to Earth's orbit.

I wondered the same, and I think their inclination couldn't account for that to such a degree. Rather, LASCO/SOHO is in an halo orbit around L1, so it could be currently below the planetary plane, looking up at the constellation from below.

 

[Persej]

Alignments happen all the time, whether they're "energetically" significant, that's another thing.

I think that you need a third type of body, like a comet, that will act as a spark plug to ignite the alignments. Alignments are like conduits for electricity, but you need some other body to ground the Sun. Otherwise, we would be having "energetically" significant events all the time, because, as you said, alignments happen all the time.

 

[Gaby]

Spaceweather.com published an article on the topic of alignments and solar cycles which delves into tidal effects:

Very interesting.

Jupiter could activate the solar capacitor when it aligns with the sun and Earth every 13 months. It is assumed that the electron current powers the winds. In the event of a storm, these winds can become very violent. I have oticed weather forecasts are announcing strong winds these days in certain regions, coinciding with Jupiter's alignment.

I think that you need a third type of body, like a comet, that will act as a spark plug to ignite the alignments. Alignments are like conduits for electricity, but you need some other body to ground the Sun. Otherwise, we would be having "energetically" significant events all the time, because, as you said, alignments happen all the time.

Like the 3 body problem:

What is the 3-body problem, and is it really unsolvable?

The three-body problem is a physics conundrum that has boggled scientists since Isaac Newton's day. But what is it, why is it so hard to solve and is the sci-fi series of the same name really possible?

www.livescience.com

But with the caveat that the third body could well be a very active comet, electrically speaking. We're force to think outside the box beyond the "snowball comet theory", in order to connect the dots beyond what our eyes can see in the strictly material realm.

 

[Persej]

Like the 3 body problem:

What is the 3-body problem, and is it really unsolvable?

The three-body problem is a physics conundrum that has boggled scientists since Isaac Newton's day. But what is it, why is it so hard to solve and is the sci-fi series of the same name really possible?

www.livescience.com

But with the caveat that the third body could well be a very active comet, electrically speaking.

3 body problem is something that could explain the Venus:

But often, the orbits of the three bodies never truly stabilize, and the three-body problem gets "solved" with a bang. The gravitational forces could cause two of the three bodies to collide, or they could fling one of the bodies out of the system forever — a possible source of "rogue planets" that don't orbit any star, Quarles said. In fact, three-body chaos may be so common in space that scientists estimate there may be 20 times as many rogue planets as there are stars in our galaxy.

We're force to think outside the box beyond the "snowball comet theory", in order to connect the dots beyond what our eyes can see in the strictly material realm.

Yeah, sometimes we certainly need some inspiration to figure out what is happening on this planet.

 

[Gaby]

It's in the other side of the sun, I wonder if it was related to the comet "C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)". See January 8th, 2026 at 3D Solar System Viewer | TheSkyLive

xras

A large explosion was registered in the Sun in the middle of the day — the incoming images from the coronographs show the substance flying in different directions. The source of the explosion was on the far side of the Sun, and no satellites are currently observing. One can only guess what happened there. Two weeks ago, when the currently invisible side of the Sun was turned towards the Earth, nothing special seemed to be observed on it (https://xras.ru/database/sun_images/2025/hmiigr/202512/20251225_203000_hmiigr.jpg ) is a pair of medium—sized hotspot areas. If this is one of them, then, judging by the direction of the ejection, the flare occurred in a group of spots that was then located below the equator in the right part of the visible solar disk (the group number in the catalog was 4321). It will be possible to see the explosion site with your eyes only in about a week, when a group of spots will begin to reach the Earth from behind the left (eastern) horizon.

 

[SasaM]

But with the caveat that the third body could well be a very active comet, electrically speaking. We're force to think outside the box beyond the "snowball comet theory", in order to connect the dots beyond what our eyes can see in the strictly material realm.

Even in stricly material perspective, we usually have quite a hard time actually seeing the magnetic fields, especially on large scales where their characteristics are indirectly deduced from observations and measurements of other things, like cosmic rays flux and its direction distribution, that we think we know come from interactions with the magnetic fields.
Maybe good thing to also keep in mind would be that magnetism's invisible effects to the eye were considered magic not so long ago, as opening scenes in the Kardec movie nicely show.

 

[Gaby]

Last night, the second geomagnetic storm of January 2026, not surprisingly. There was a whole ensemble of factors discharging the solar capacitor.

The second magnetic storm of January occurred at night, accompanied by strong auroras

The second magnetic storm in the new year 2026 occurred last night and was accompanied by unexpectedly strong northern lights, the lower limit of which in places reached latitudes of about 50 degrees. The peak of the auroras was observed from 1 to 3 a.m. Moscow time and reached the highest level of 10 on the intensity scale (https://xras.ru/image/ai_RAL5_20260111.png ). The possibility of observing auroras at the same time was severely limited by weather conditions. A significant part of the European part of the country and the northeastern regions are now in a zone of low atmospheric pressure, and the sky is covered with clouds. The conditions for observation were in the Kemerovo and Chelyabinsk regions, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, in places in the Murmansk Region, as well as over a significant part of Europe — in the Scandinavian countries and even in Poland and Germany located to the south.

 

[Gaby]

More information on the plasma cloud favoring auroras in those Northern countries with clear skies. It's several tens of millions of km in size.

Intense auroras resumed

A very strong repeated surge of auroras in the central and northern regions of the country is being registered right now with a predicted peak from 19:30 to 21:00 Moscow time. The lower boundary will be at a latitude of about 50 degrees. Visual observations should be available in the range from 55 to 75 degrees (Moscow and north) in the case of clear skies. In the latitude range from 50 to 55 degrees — camera observations, including phone cameras.

The reason is the continued impact on the planet from a large plasma cloud with a size of several tens of millions of kilometers, which came to Earth last night around midnight Moscow time.

 

[Ellipse]

The Nigerian Institute of Physics conducted an interesting study about the effects of geomagnetic storms onto the troposphere (the part we live in). The study is untitled "Regional Characteristics of Geomagnetic Storms and Their Impact on Tropospheric Weather Parameters in Low-Latitude Regions".

They found there's a time-lagged effect occurring within 1-3 days of the event. Not sure our actual meteorological models take solar storms into account and even less the interval.

December 2025

The findings indicate a significant, time-lagged effect occuring within 1-3 days of geomagnetic storms on atmospheric dynamics in equatorial regions. These results enhance the understanding of space-weather–climate interactions, especially in the limited prior research areas.

[...]
Beyond technological implications, an increasing body of research suggests that geomagnetic storms can induce measurable effects in the lower atmosphere. Studies such as Vovk et al. (2000) observed delayed tropospheric responses in temperature, pressure and wind variability following geomagnetic disturbances. Liu et al. (2023) further demonstrated that energetic particle precipitation can modulate atmospheric circulation patterns. While most efforts have focused on high-latitude regions where geomagnetic forcing is strongest, recent findings suggest that tropical and low-latitude regions may also exhibit sensitivity to space-weather disturbances (Zhou et al., 2018).

Source:

View of Regional Characteristics of Geomagnetic Storms and Their Impact on Tropospheric Weather Parameters in Low-Latitude Regions

njtep.nipngr.org