Earth to be sideswiped by Sun blast very soon, 'canyon of fire' seen

Reports indicate that the Sun released a CME, and Earth will receive a glancing blow that is expected to cause geomagnetic storms.

@JakConnorTT

Published Nov 26, 2021 3:03 AM CST
Updated Dec 17, 2021 4:33 AM CST

53 seconds read time

The Sun has released a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space, and Earth will get impacted by a small portion of it.

Earth to be sideswiped by Sun blast very soon, 'canyon of fire' seen 03

Spaceweather.com reports that one of the plasma filaments located on the Sun's southern hemisphere snapped and collapsed, pushing a large amount of particles out at a wide-angle. The majority of the burst is expected to head south past Earth, but a small portion will still impact our magnetic field, which has resulted in forecasters predicting minor G1-class geomagnetic storms for November 27.

When the plasma filament snapped, a "canyon of fire" was carved into the surface of the Sun that was visible for more than 6 hours after the event. Additionally, the blast that is headed our way may be powerful enough to cause Arctic auroras, which always makes for an incredible photography opportunity. In other Sun-related news, a satellite is going to perform its riskiest fly-by of Earth yet on its way to the Sun, check out that story here.

NEWS SOURCES:spaceweather.com, swpc.noaa.gov, spaceweathernews.com

Jak Connor

Jak joined the TweakTown team in 2017 and has since reviewed 100s of new tech products and kept us informed daily on the latest science, space, and artificial intelligence news. Jak's love for science, space, and technology, and, more specifically, PC gaming, began at 10 years old. It was the day his dad showed him how to play Age of Empires on an old Compaq PC. Ever since that day, Jak fell in love with games and the progression of the technology industry in all its forms. Instead of typical FPS, Jak holds a very special spot in his heart for RTS games.