The Soleil is reconnecting with a growth phase of activity and movements of its outer layer signal the preparation of powerful solar windstorms.
They will make pretty northern Lights but they could above all disturb electrical and electronic equipment, and in particular satellites, in particular GPS, creating service interruptions or even breakdowns.
Geomagnetic Storm Risk
In the present case, a second coronal hole was spotted by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), shortly after a first formed two weeks ago that had already sent out a wave of solar winds not long ago.
If the first being 30 times the size of the Earth, this second solar phenomenon measures this time 20 times the size of our planet and released bursts of particles capable of reaching 2.8 million km/h (780 km/s) which touched the Earth between Thursday March 30 and Saturday April 1, 2023.
A coronal hole that catches our eye
The case of this second coronal hole is particular because it formed at the equator of the Sun rather than at the poles where these phenomena are more frequent. This particular position leads it to expel its fast particles in the direction of the Earth while the polar holes send them from other directions less impacting on our natural magnetic shield.
A coronal hole appears when the lines of the solar magnetic field do not close and no longer hold the plasma which disperses in space. Its dark color comes from a lower temperature than the rest of the solar corona plasma.