.jpg "ByteDance to sell TikTok in the US ahead of schedule")
.jpg "Baidu Releases AI Model Competing with DeepSeek for Free")
.jpg "Real estate market in the south of Hai Duong city is bustling")
.jpg "Extremely dangerous forest fire risk in Kinh Mon, Chi Linh")
-ac017d3d3ce25d3405471795d6bb26f0.jpg "Gia Loc needs over 10 billion VND to invest in renovating and expanding landfills.")
Submit a comment
A giant hole, a coronal hole, recently appeared near the Sun's equator, causing solar wind to blow unusually fast toward Earth.
Giant coronal hole 60 times wider than Earth (Photo: NASA)
The hole is a dark patch that resembles a black hole and is spewing powerful streams of radiation — called solar winds — at unusually fast speeds, straight toward Earth, according to Live Science..
Scientists say the hole is 60 times wider than Earth, and has never appeared before at any stage of the solar cycle.
These coronal holes formed near the Sun's equator on December 2 and reached their maximum width of about 800,000km within 24 hours, Spaceweather.com reported.
Since December 4, the solar hole has begun to point directly at Earth.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), coronal holes occur when the Sun's magnetic field suddenly opens, causing material from the Sun's upper surface to fly away in the form of solar wind.
Coronal holes appear as black holes because they are cooler and less dense than the surrounding plasma.
This is similar to why sunspots appear black. But unlike sunspots, coronal holes are invisible unless viewed under ultraviolet light.
According to NOAA, the radiation streams from coronal holes are much faster than the usual solar wind and often cause disturbances in Earth's magnetic shield, known as geomagnetic storms.
The last coronal hole appeared on the Sun in March, creating the strongest geomagnetic storm to hit Earth in six years.
NOAA says it's unclear how long this hole will last in the Sun, but previous holes have lasted longer than one solar rotation (27 days).
Solar activity has been increasing throughout 2023 as the Sun reaches its explosive peak in the roughly 11-year solar cycle, known as solar maximum.
Coronal holes can appear at any time during the solar cycle, according to NOAA. But they're actually more common during solar minimum.
If coronal holes appear during solar maximum, they are usually located near the solar poles rather than near the equator.
So why such a large coronal hole opened near the equator as the Sun approached solar maximum is a mystery.
According to Tuoi Tre