A large hole in the Sun’s atmosphere caused a violent geomagnetic storm, alerting satellites and delivering Northern Lights to lower altitudes. And now there’s another. Another surge in the solar wind is expected near the end of this week, allowing another possibility to see these gorgeous aurorae. The massive hole is sending solar winds of 2.9 million kilometres per hour towards Earth, which will strike our planet possibly today or in the coming days soon.
The condition is being observed to determine the influence of these solar winds on Earth. The Sun’s continual influx of charged particles is known to have an impact on the Earth’s magnetic field, satellites, mobile phones, and Global Positioning System.
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spotted the coronal hole on March 23 near the South Pole of the Sun. These openings allow solar wind (or geomagnetic storms) to exit and flow more easily into space, which is categorised as G1 to G5, with G5 being the most fierce one. The current coronal hole, which is the biggest one right now, is 300,000 to 400,000 kilometres wide. That is roughly 20-30 times our planet’s size.
The coronal hole is a spot in the Sun’s corona – its outer atmosphere – that is cooler than the surrounding due to the unipolar magnetic fields that are exposed. The magnetic fields permit the solar wind – the flow of charged particles departing the Sun – to move more freely and hence faster. This could lead to a rise in the geomagnetic disturbance.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Center forecasts an upsurge in geomagnetic activity today. In the following days, we will have a better understanding of the impact of this hole on our planet. Although these holes can form anywhere on the Sun at any time, they are more common and stable in the solar North and South poles.
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