A Large Canyon-Shaped Hole Has Opened In The Sun’s Atmosphere And It Is Directly Facing Earth

A large canyon-shaped hole has opened in the sun’s atmosphere, and it is directly facing Earth. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory took false-color ultraviolet images of the structure on Oct. 26th. The emerging stream of solar wind will reach Earth on Oct. 27th bringing a 65% chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms, possibly intensifying to G2-class on Oct. 28th according to NOAA. Such storms can affect migratory animals that use magnetic cues for navigation and spark auroras visible in the USA as far south as a line from Maine to Washington. Coronal holes are places in the sun’s atmosphere where magnetic fields open up and allow solar wind to escape. Coronal holes are common, but this one is unusually large. It stretches more than 400,000 km into the sun’s atmosphere. Now that’s a grand canyon. Thanks for watching! #coronalhole #solarwind #spaceweather Images credit: AIA/SDO Music credit: YouTube Audio Library