Space weather physicist Dr Tamitha Skov’s forecast pointed out that a massive coronal hole in the Sun’s core has been rapidly “rotating into the Earth’s strike zone”, warning that there is “big flare potential”. Dr Skov said the fast solar wind coming from the large coronal hole has threatened up to a 45 percent chance of a major storm. She added that there are up to seven sunspot clusters on the Earth-facing disk, including several that are “big flare players”.
And she warned that while one “massive solar storm” is not Earth-directed, we could even get some more big flares that have “blackout risks”.
She added: “Flares are starting to pop again, almost being like little paparazzi bulbs, and that could signify that we could get some bigger flares coming in here soon and cause some radio blackouts for GPS users and amateur radio operators, so stay vigilant.”
Sharing her prediction on Twitter, Dr Skov added: “The new forecasts is up! Learn about the coming Christmas solar storm and it’s impact at Earth by December 24.”
A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.
Read more – Express UK:
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