Another “hole” 20 times the diameter of Earth appeared on the surface of the sun, and the solar wind blowing from it at a speed of 2.8 million kilometers per hour could reach Earth by Friday, March 31, 2023. The first “hole” formed on March 23: it was larger (30 terrestrial diameter) and the material it expelled really did produce stunning aurorae. The danger, with coronal holes, is that the solar wind coming out of them could be so energetic that, if arriving from parts of the Earth, it could damage satellites in orbit, with consequences for GPS, communication systems, etc. But fortunately, this coronal hole should not have major negative consequences.
Northern Lights. According to Matthew Owens, Professor of Space Physics at the University of Reading, in fact, the amount of material emitted from the last coronal hole that opened is not particularly high, and therefore, if there are no other violent solar explosions in the next few hours, with the emission of particles directed towards Earth Everything can be solved with the amazing Northern Lights.
What are coronal holes? Coronal holes are not true holes inside the Sun, but rather regions that have a cooler temperature than the holes around them and therefore appear darker, almost black. They form because solar plasma (i.e. the very hot gases inside the Sun) moving in the star create magnetic fields that rise from the interior toward the surface and then refract and sometimes fuse with each other. An atom hole appears when those magnetic fields reach the surface of the Sun and when they break they release large amounts of plasma which, if thrown towards the Earth, will collide with the atmosphere about 2-3 days after it was released.
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