A hole has opened in the sun’s atmosphere, which could cause a solar storm to hit Earth on Wednesday, experts predict.
The G-1 class geomagnetic storm was predicted by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Nature World News reported.
The center made the prediction after observing “gaseous material flowing from a hole in the sun’s southern atmosphere,” which appears as a dark spot when X-rays are taken from the sun.
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Although coronal holes can form at any time, experts say that as we move toward a time when the sun’s activity increases in intensity, the effects on Earth could be increasingly damaging.
These patches are cooler, less dense parts of the sun, meaning the solar wind is thrown out of the star and has the potential to hit Earth in the form of a solar storm.
“On planets with strong magnetic fields, like ours, this shower of solar debris is absorbed, causing geomagnetic storms,” LiveScience explained.
Spaceweather predicts the storm will hit Earth’s magnetic field on August 3 (Wednesday), potentially disrupting radio and satellite technology and affecting global positioning systems.
It comes after a small solar storm hit Earth late last month, and while impacts on human life were minimal, GPS and radio signals were disrupted.
According to experts, solar storms could become more frequent in the coming years. Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
However, experts say that even the smallest storms are capable of releasing 100,000 times more energy than all the power plants on Earth can generate in a year.
According to Australian National University astrophysicist and cosmologist Dr Brad Tucker, we are likely to see more of these types of storms due to the current cycle of the sun.
“These types of storms are not uncommon,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
“Because the sun has an 11-year cycle, with periods of more or less activity, and at the moment there is more activity.”
Tucker explained that while last month’s storm was minimal, there are concerns for larger storms in the coming years.
“So while the disruption from this particular storm should be minimal, we are concerned that these larger storms will result in satellite interference,” he said.
“And that’s a concern because obviously there are a lot of satellites up there.”
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