Scientists have found that a giant coronal hole appeared in the sun with a width of 800,000 km, which directed the high -speed solar wind towards our planet. The coronal hole arose in the atmosphere of our star and a discarded stream of charged solar particles can cause geomagnetic storm on Earth on January 31, writes Space.

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Coronal holes are called areas in the atmosphere of the Sun, where the magnetic field of our star opens, which allows the sun wind, that is, the flow of charged particles of the sun, freely fly into space. Coronal holes on the images look like dark areas in the sun, because the hot luminous plasma, which is usually held inside the magnetic fields, is no longer held, and instead bursts out into space.

The coronal hole, the size of which is 62 times larger than the diameter of the Earth, released a powerful sunny wind, which flies towards our planet at a speed of more than 500 km/s. Astronomers believe that this stream of charged particles will reach the Earth on January 31 and may cause the appearance of a not very strong geomagnetic storm of level G1. Depending on the power of geomagnetic storms, they are divided into 5 levels, where the G5 is the most extreme and strongest geomagnetic storm, and G1 is the weakest.

Despite the fact that the appearance of a geomagnetic storm of level G1 is expected on Earth, it can strengthen the polar radiance, making it brighter and more visible even in the middle latitudes, that is, much south of the polar regions of our planet.

Polar glow arises when the solar wind interacts with the magnetic field of the Earth. Charged particles that flew out of the Sun encounter gases in the upper layers of the atmosphere of our planet, such as oxygen and nitrogen, transmitting energy to them. This energy is released in the form of light and this is what we see as a polar radiance. The stronger the solar wind, the more bright and vast polar radiance can become.

At the same time, cosmic weather is unpredictable and it is difficult to predict as the weather on Earth. Therefore, a geomagnetic storm can be much stronger, or not to arise at all January 31.

As Focus already wrote, the astronomers discovered a huge asteroid and there is a high probability that it will crash into the ground. 60-meter asteroid 2024 YR4 may encounter our planet in December 2032.

Focus also wrote that astronomers discovered the planets similar to the Earth, which evaporate under the influence of their stars. It turned out that this process turns planets into objects similar to comets.