Solar storm to rock Earth today after NASA spots piece of Sun ‘breaks’

NASA captures footage of solar plasma vortex on sun’s north pole

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In a never-before-seen event, a NASA spacecraft has spotted a piece of the Sun’s north pole “breaking away” from the star and swirling to form a massive “polar vortex”. Scientists have been left baffled by the space weather event, as the footage from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory showed a massive filament of electrified gas known as plasma, bursting out of the Sun, separating and then swirling to form a polar vortex. Researchers currently believe that this event may be related to the reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field, which occurs once in every solar cycle.

“Implications for understanding the Sun’s atmospheric dynamics above 55° here cannot be overstated!”

While he had never seen a vortex like this before, Scott McIntosh, a solar physicist and deputy director at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, told Space.com that the strange phenomenon was taking place at the Sun’s 55-degree latitudes once every solar cycle.

The solar cycle is the 11-year cycle that the Sun’s magnetic field goes through, characterised by the ebb and flow in the generation of new sunspots and eruptions.

When the Sun is at the peak of its cycle, more sunspots emerge on its surface, and as a result, the number of space weather events like solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) grows.

One of the most powerful forms of a solar storm, a coronal mass ejection (CME), occurs when the Sun belches out a cloud of charged particles and electromagnetic fluctuations.

Mr McIntosh said: “Once every solar cycle, it forms at the 55-degree latitude and it starts to march up to the solar poles. It’s very curious. There is a big ‘why’ question around it.

“Why does it only move toward the pole one time and then disappear and then come back, magically, three or four years later in exactly the same region?”

The Sun is currently approaching the peak of its 11-year cycle, and a result, space experts are increasingly observing more sunspots and solar flares erupting, with some heading towards earth.

Forecasters from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have increased the odds of an M-class solar flare striking the Earth today to 75 percent.

According to experts at Spaceweather.com, solar flares are “almost certain today”, adding “these are safe predictions considering that the suddenly active sun is averaging four M-flares a day.”

Fortunately, M-class flares are medium-sized, however, can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions. Meanwhile, there is also a 15 percent chance of an X-class flare striking Earth, which is much more powerful and “can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.”

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Solar storms can have a number of effects, ranging from increased auroras in lower latitudes to entire satellites being brought down by more powerful blasts.

According to NASA, M-clas flares are stronger and are usually capable of causing radio blackouts, while X-class flares can have devastating impacts, including widespread radio blackouts, knocking out satellites and even taking down power grids.

Spaceweather.com also wrote: “Active sunspot AR3213 exploded during the early hours of Feb 10th (0303 UT), producing an M3.7-class solar flare and a shock wave in the sun’s atmosphere.”

The next solar maximum is expected to arrive in 2025, which will result in as many as 115 sunspots likely to appear on the sun’s surface during its days of peak activity.

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