As the Sun Turns: Solar Minimums and Maximums

[Maria]

Here is the daily sunspot plot for December 1, 2016.

Notice all the changes in the graph starting with November 8, 2016, where a spotless day on November 9th suddenly vanished.
On November 30, 2016, there was one reporter who stated that there were 122 sunspots, which was published at this Belgium website.
Then suddenly, his data was altered or even deleted as an outlier (outliar) when the numbers started coming in around 60.
Now how in this world, or on the sun, can sunspot numbers change from 122 to 60 in a matter of hours?

This seems so strange, like compromises are being made before publishing this graph.
Could it be that much like global warming, sunspot numbers are also being manipulated?

[Maria]

I am reposting the November 30, 2016 graph so you can compare the two more easily.

[Maria]

Here is one of the more recent solar images showing the now huge sunspot 2615 in the center of the disk.
There are two sections of AR2615 that are actively flaring with magnetic links. They look like two spiders sparing.

See more images at http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

[Maria]

Here is an image of AR 2615 actively B-flaring one hour after it launched a C1.8 solar flare.

[Maria]

EDIT: The image below is dynamic and will change at least once a day.

Sunspot AR2615 at center right is actively B-flaring and is moving left to right.
The magnetic lines look almost like an angel in flight.

AR2612 at the far right is exiting our view of the sun.
So, we may have a spotless sun within the next 4 to 7 days.

There is a huge coronal hole shown in deep blue that extends from the far left to the bottom center. Solar winds will be bombarding the earth from this coronal hole starting around December 8, 2016.

[Maria]

From http://www.spaceweather.com, this image, taken early on Dec. 4, 2016, has the coronal hole mapped out.

A stream of solar wind emerging from this coronal hole could reach Earth as early as Dec. 7th and influence the near-space environment of our planet for several days. G1-class geomagnetic storms and high-latitude auroras are possible when the solar wind arrives.

Note: The forecast will improve in the days ahead as the hole rotates into better view, revealing its form and dimensions. Stay tuned!

[Maria]

Here is another image taken on December 34 2016 showing the coronal hole: