A Giant Hole In The Sun Is Throwing Out Charged Particles Towards Earth
The images were captured by NASA¡¯s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) that reveal a large ¡®coronal hole¡¯ in the Sun¡¯s outer atmosphere. The stream of ¡®gaseous material¡¯ originates from this coronal hole and was expected to arrive on Earth between Saturday and Sunday.
Earth could soon be subjected to another solar storm as researchers have found a hole to be opened up in the southern region of our Sun, that is now spewing a stream of charged particles towards our planet.
NASA
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The images were captured by NASA¡¯s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) that reveal a large ¡®coronal hole¡¯ in the Sun¡¯s outer atmosphere. The stream of ¡®gaseous material¡¯ originates from this coronal hole and was expected to arrive on Earth between Saturday and Sunday.
According to SpaceWeather.com, this could cause some minor geomagnetic unrest in the planet¡¯s magnetosphere. To the uninitiated, the plasma that it spews consists of free-flowing electrons and protons. They originate from the Sun¡¯s outermost layer, that¡¯s capable of reaching temperatures up to 1.1 million degrees celsius.
While the geomagnetic unrest won¡¯t really cause massive solar storms that could knock out our electronics, it is expected to put on a show for people residing at the poles, resulting in beautiful auroras.
Also Read: Strong Solar Storm Sparks Global Aurora On Mars, Big Enough To Be Detected On Earth
According to astronomers at SpaceWeather.com, ¡°Earth is exiting one solar wind stream. Another is on the way. Flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere, the gaseous material is due to arrive on November 21 to 22. NOAA forecasters say that a corotating interaction region (CIR) travelling just ahead of the stream could spark geomagnetic activity and Arctic auroras on November 20.¡±
Reuters
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In case you didn¡¯t know, corotating interaction regions or CIRs are essentially compression region that gets generated in front of a coronal hole stream. This happens due to slower solar winds that come in contact with the higher speed stream. according to the American Meteorological Society, they often form ahead of more persistent coronal holes.
What do you think about these solar storms and coronal mass ejections from the sun's surface? Let us know in the comments below, and keep reading Indiatimes.com for the latest science and technology news.
