Experts have predicted that a solar storm will hit Earth within the next couple of weeks. Physicists made the prediction based on data from NASA and the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The NOAA predicts there is an 80 per cent chance the storm will hit today, with a 20 per cent chance of it hitting the UK. Dr Tamitha Skov, a space weather physicist, believes the storm is already here.
Dr Skov tweeted yesterday: "Direct Hit! NOAA & NASA prediction models show solar storm to hit Earth between 12:00 and 21:00 UTC on March 13. Impact should be strong! Expect aurora deep into mid-latitudes, amateur radio & GPS reception issues, especially near dawn/dusk, and on Earth's nightside!"
She added on Monday morning: "Solarstorm & Aurora 5-day Outlook: Busy week with a triple threat! A big solar storm is coming sandwiched between a glancing blow from a previous solar storm and some fast solar wind."
Solar blasts are very common and not all of them travel towards the Earth, but when they do they have the power to be disruptive, reports The Mirror.
Some flares can reach speeds of between 250km-3,000km a second, according to the US Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). People across the world may be able to see the Aurora, a light show that is often seen in high latitude areas, this is expected to be seen further towards the equator during the storm.
Issues can also be expected for amateur radio and GPS systems, particularly near dawn and dusk. A relatively weak C-class solar flare blasted from the earth-facing side of the Sun on Thursday last week.
While Dr Tony Phillips of spaceweather.com stated that these flares are usually unremarkable, this one lasted for nearly 12 hours. Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) are powerful eruptions of plasma on the Sun's surface.
Billions of tons of material are lifted off the surface and can explode away from the Sun with the force of around 20 million nuclear explosions. Scientists don't quite yet understand what causes CME's, but do believe that it is something to do with the Sun's magnetic field.
EarthSky.org explained: "Because the sun is a fluid, turbulence tends to twist the magnetic field into complex contortions. Twist the field too much, and it kinks, much like a phone cord or toy Slinky. These kinks snap the magnetic field and can potentially drive vast amounts of plasma into space."
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