In the coming days, a large stream of solar particles in the form of the solar wind will fall on Earth, causing a geomagnetic storm to appear.
A giant black hole has appeared in the Sun, located at the very center of our star. Scientists believe that on December 1 or 2, a stream of solar wind will emerge from this hole, which will cause a geomagnetic storm on the planet, writes Live Science.
in 24News Breaker. Technology emerged telegraph channel. Subscribe so you don’t miss the latest and exciting news from the world of science!
The black spot that recently appeared on the Sun is a coronal hole. Such holes are regions in the Sun’s upper atmosphere where the plasma is not as hot and dense as the surrounding regions, so they appear black.
Due to changes in the position of the magnetic field lines around these coronal holes, the Sun throws huge streams of plasma into space, sometimes rushing towards Earth in the form of a solar wind. This stream of solar particles should escape through this hole on December 1 or 2 and fly to Earth at 2.9 million km/s. As a result, it will reach the planet in about a day.
Basically, such a stream of solar particles absorbs our magnetic field, but as a result of colliding with it, geomagnetic storms appear on Earth. Some particles penetrate the upper atmosphere, breaking through Earth’s magnetosphere near the poles, where it is thinner. There they interact with oxygen and nitrogen molecules, releasing energy in the form of light and creating beautiful auroras.
According to scientists, the geomagnetic storm that may occur in the first days of December will not be very severe. However, it can cause slight fluctuations in power grids and interfere with some functions of satellites, including GPS systems.
Stronger geomagnetic storms can have much more serious consequences. Not only can they deform the Earth’s magnetic field so much that even satellites can begin to fall on the planet, disrupting the operation of all power systems and even disable the Internet.
Such geomagnetic storms on Earth also cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which are huge streams of plasma blown into space. According to NASA, some ejection from the Sun can reach Earth in 15 hours, but particularly powerful explosions from our star result in streams of particles traveling at the speed of light and reaching Earth in 8 minutes.
Scientists are still trying to understand the exact nature of the explosions on the Sun and what happens in our star during the increase in activity. Meanwhile, such an increase in the Sun’s activity begins slowly because the star enters its maximum activity phase during its 11-year solar cycle.
As already written FocusChina has built the world’s largest solar telescope, consisting of 313 plates, and is designed to study solar activity and predict the formation of geomagnetic storms.
Moreover Focus wrote about an unusual phenomenon that a spacecraft managed to see on the Sun. This phenomenon marked the emergence of a new explosion in our star.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.