Solar Wind Forecast (WSA-Enlil)

This view shows the solar wind conditions over the current week. Watch the video for the whole forecast.

The Sun is the small yellow dot in the middle, Earth is the green dot to the right of the Sun. The other dots are robotic space probes called STEREO A and STEREO B. The swirling material is "solar wind"—charged particles that are released from the Sun into space. The swirling pattern happens because the Sun is rotating on its axis, so the particles are spread out in a pattern similar to a rotating lawn sprinkler.

The forecast above is known as WSA-Enlil, a computer-based prediction model of the space in and around the Solar System (i.e. the heliosphere). It is used to provide advance warning of solar activity that might be a problem for us, for example, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that could cause geomagnetic storms.

Data source: WSA-Enlil Solar Wind Prediction