Earth is currently under attack from a barrage of solar winds which are hitting at breakneck speeds. The storm, which burst from a coronal hole in the Sun’s upper atmosphere, is smashing into Earth at a staggering 400 kilometres per second, or 1,440,000 km per hour.
Space forecasting site Space Weather said: “A minor stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth’s magnetic field today.
“With wind speeds barely exceeding 400 km/s, the stream is not causing geomagnetic storms.
“Nevertheless, Arctic sky watchers may see an uptick in aurora activity after nightfall.”
Auroras, which include northern lights – aurora borealis – and southern lights – aurora australis, are caused when solar particles hit the atmosphere.
As the magnetosphere gets bombarded by solar winds, stunning blue lights can appear as that layer of the atmosphere deflects the particles.
However, researchers also note the consequences of a solar storm and space weather can extend beyond northern or southern lights.
For the most part, the Earth’s magnetic field protects humans from the barrage of radiation which comes from sunspots, but solar storms can affect satellite-based technology.
Solar winds can heat the Earth’s outer atmosphere, causing it to expand.
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However, a recent study has found that these solar storms should happen every 25 years on average, meaning we are well overdue.
Research from the University of Warwick and the British Antarctic Survey analysed the last 14 solar cycles, dating back 150 years.
The analysis showed that ‘severe’ magnetic storms occurred in 42 out of the last 150 years, and ‘great’ super-storms occurred in 6 years out of 150.
The researchers said that if it had hit Earth, it could have downed technology on our planet.
Lead author Professor Sandra Chapman, from the University of Warwick’s Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, said: “These super-storms are rare events but estimating their chance of occurrence is an important part of planning the level of mitigation needed to protect critical national infrastructure.
“This research proposes a new method to approach historical data, to provide a better picture of the chance of occurrence of super-storms and what super-storm activity we are likely to see in the future.”