NASA and other agencies operate a collection of instruments that keep an eye on the Sun and space weather.įor example, NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) observes coronal mass ejections. Scientists use information from satellites to predict the solar weather forecast. You can check the space weather forecast just like you might check the weather forecast. But scientists do make predictions about when solar storms are likely to occur and how strong they will be. Solar storms happen suddenly, and their effects can reach Earth within minutes. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Do we have any warnings of bad space weather? It was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on August 31, 2012. The long finger sticking out of the Sun at the bottom left of this image is a coronal mass ejection. The radiation from solar storms can also be dangerous for astronauts in space. It can disrupt power grids that provide our electricity. These eruptions are called coronal mass ejections.Īll of that extra radiation can damage the satellites we use for communications and navigation. Sometimes flares come with huge solar eruptions. Solar flares send tons of energy whizzing through space at the speed of light. Strong solar winds can be dangerous.ĭuring a solar storm, explosions called solar flares break out. The solar wind gets much stronger during these storms. Yes! Sometimes magnetic activity within the Sun causes intense solar storms. Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach Can space weather be harmful? When these particles hit the atmosphere, we are treated to glowing light shows known as auroras.Īuroras, seen here over Alaska. Sometimes charged particles sneak past Earth’s shield. Notice how the solar wind shapes the magnetic field. In this image, the blue lines represent the shield created by Earth’s magnetic field. The other side of the magnetic field stretches into a long, trailing tail. The particles squish and flatten the side of the magnetic field that faces the Sun. Most of the charged particles crash into Earth’s shield and flow around it. Our magnetic field and atmosphere act like a superhero’s shield, protecting us from the majority of the solar wind blast. It is also surrounded by a jacket of gases, called an atmosphere.

The solar wind carries these particles toward Earth at up to a million miles per hour!Įarth has an area of magnetic force activity, called a magnetic field. These particles from the corona are charged with electricity. The gas and particles come from the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. This stream of particles is known as the solar wind. The Sun is always spewing gas and particles into space. Credits: NASA/Goddard/SDO How can space weather travel all the way to Earth? The static at about 24 seconds into the video is caused by particles from the Sun striking the instrument. 10, 2017 as observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

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