The Earth will be in the zone of influence of coronal holes formed on the Sun until March 2. This was reported by the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the IKI RAS.
Large coronal holes formed at the beginning of the year will persist and return to Earth for the third consecutive solar rotation. There are two such structures observed on the star, located on opposite sides, and since the Sun completes a full rotation in 27 days, each of the holes turns towards the Earth approximately once a month, leading to a significant increase in solar wind speed.
So far, this phenomenon has not caused serious consequences. During the previous passage of one of the holes in mid-February, weak geomagnetic disturbances were observed for a week. Now the Earth has been caught up by a stream of fast solar wind from the second, smaller hole, so the consequences are also expected to be moderate.
For the next two days, the probability of magnetic storms is estimated in the range of 20–40%, although the solar wind speed already exceeds 600 km/s at times, compared to 350 km/s recorded yesterday morning.
Thus, until March 2, the planet will be in the zone of influence of coronal holes, which may cause short-term geomagnetic disturbances. No serious consequences are expected.
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