Solar threat: coronal hole directed its "gaze" at Earth

Giant coronal hole takes a key position between the Sun and Earth: scientists warn of possible magnetic storms

As TASS reports, citing leading Russian scientific centers, an unusual phenomenon on the Sun has caused serious concern among specialists from the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

"A rather large coronal hole, which has been observed over the past few days on the Sun's side facing Earth and gradually moving from east to west (left to right), today reached the Sun-Earth line. The peculiarity of the hole is its position: the structure is located neither above nor below the equator, like holes observed recently, but projects directly onto the equator, meaning it is exactly in the plane of the planets' arrangement. The current location of the hole in the center of the visible disk already allows it to affect Earth, however, in fact, the fast solar wind streams will reach Earth only after 2-3 days," the statement says.

Scientists warn that it is impossible to completely avoid the influence of the coronal hole on our planet. According to scientific forecasts, starting from June 25, Earth's inhabitants may face prolonged geomagnetic disturbances.