Scientists have described a “gaseous material” which has been ejected from the Sun and is on a crash course with Earth. Astronomers believe the solar wind could arrive on Thursday, July 23 or Friday, July 24, after being blasted out from a region in the Sun near to its equator.
Website Space Weather said: “A stream of solar wind might hit Earth’s magnetic field on July 23-24.
“The gaseous material is flowing from an equatorial hole in the sun’s atmosphere.
“It’s not a major hole, but the emerging gas might be enough to spark high-latitude auroras when it reaches Earth later this week.”
The stream of solar particles could cause auroras, which include northern lights – aurora borealis – and southern lights – aurora australis.
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.
This can affect satellites in orbit, potentially leading to a lack of GPS navigation, mobile phone signal and satellite TV such as Sky.
Additionally, a surge of particles can lead to high currents in the magnetosphere, which can cause higher than normal electricity in power lines, resulting in electrical transformers and power stations blowouts and a loss of power.
READ MORE: Space weather forecast: Earth being bombarded by solar winds
The researchers said 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.”