Watch | Massive 'hole' on Sun may blast solar storms towards Earth

A massive black hole has been spotted by space agency NASA on the Sun, which is 20 times bigger than the Earth and can blast powerful solar storms towards the planet, as per reports.

The region named "coronal hole" looks like the empty space on the Sun's surface. After spotting the hole, an alert was issued by US federal agency National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for geomagnetic storms.

The “coronal hole” is not exactly a hole but a wide region which is comparatively cooler than the rest of the Sun's surface and hence, is appearing black.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“Coronal holes are magnetically open areas that are one source of high-speed solar wind. They appear dark when viewed in many wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light. At times, the solar wind can generate aurora at higher latitudes on Earth,” NASA explained.

According to a report published by news.com.au, solar winds of 2.9 million kmph are being unleashed by the gaping hole towards Earth, which may hit our planet on Friday (March 31).

ALSO READ | A massive 'tornado' on the sun, the height of 14 Earths, caught on camera

Scientists are monitoring the situation to asses how these solar winds will impact our planet, the report said. Charged particles, which continuously flow from the Sun, impact the satellites, GPS, magnetic field and mobile phones on the Earth.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) discovered the coronal hole on March 23 near the Sun's South Pole. "The current coronal hole, the big one right now, is about 300,000 to 400,000 kilometres across. That is about 20-30 Earths lined up back-to-back," said Alex Young, who works at NASA Goddard's Heliophysics Science Division, while speaking to Business Insider.

Solar storm may hit Earth

University College London's Associate Professor of Space and Climate Physics Daniel Verscharen said that Earth may be hit by a geomagnetic storm which is coming towards the planet at a speed of about 1.8 million miles per hour.

“The shape of this coronal hole is not particularly special. However, its location makes it very interesting. I would expect some fast wind from that coronal hole to come to Earth around Friday night into Saturday morning of this week," he stated.

WATCH | A Super-Earth will toss us into the Sun or leave us lost in interstellar space?

Meanwhile, Mathew Owens, professor of Space Physics at the University of Reading, said that these kinds of holes appear when Sun is reaching its peak of activity which occurs in a span of 11 years.

“This one being at the equator means we’re pretty much guaranteed to see some fast wind at Earth a couple of days after it rotates past the central meridian. I doubt it will result in too much excitement. Unless we just so happen to get an Earth-directed CME around the same time,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

You cannow write for wionews.comand be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with ushere.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE