Canyon of fire erupts on the Sun, set to spark geomagnetic storm on Earth

The hustle-bustle on the Sun has now taken another turn! A series of explosions have been shot from an opened fiery canyon from the surface of the Sun. According to SpaceWeather, the 'Canyon of Fire' is at least 12,400 miles (20,000 km) high and 10 times as long. This gigantic canyon of fire on the surface of the Sun unleashed powerful streams of magnetized solar winds towards Earth that will have an impact on Earth.

The Met office, the weather forecaster of the UK also confirmed about the two 'filament eruptions' that took place in the south-central part of the sun. while the first filaments shot out of the Sun on April 3 around 11 am EDT, the second one happened on Monday 4 ay 5 pm EDT approx. The Met Office said that the satellites in the extreme ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as the telescopes on the ground which are equipped to observe in the warmth-carrying infrared wavelengths were able to catch the filament eruptions.

Impact of 'Canyon of fire' on Earth

According to the Met Office, the filament eruptions from the 'Canyon of fire' on the surface of the Sun were followed by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are charged plasma particles from its upper atmosphere. When a CME hits Earth, it can disrupt the planet's magnetic field, which results in a geomagnetic storm. These powerful geomagnetic storms can disrupt the satellite communications and in fact, equipment in orbit can be damaged by these powerful geomagnetic storms. These storms have the potential to disrupt electricity grids on the ground in some circumstances. On the bright side however, geomagnetic storms frequently deliver spectacular aurora shows on Earth.

The Met Office informed that the CME that erupted on April 3 will soon arrive on Earth and will most likely cause only a minor geomagnetic storm, a level G1 or G2 on a five-point scale. Though, space weather analysts are unsure about the second CME triggered by the April 4 eruption that it would strike the Earth or not.

However, the Met Office confirmed that in any case, northern lights are expected to intensify in the coming days, making them visible farther away from the poles than usual. Magnetized particles from CMEs penetrate deeper into Earth's atmosphere in those places because Earth's magnetic field is weakest above the poles.