High-speed solar winds from a "hole" in the sun's atmosphere are set to hit Earth's magnetic field on Wednesday (Aug 3.), triggering a minor G-1 geomagnetic storm.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) made the prediction after observing that "gaseous material is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere," according to spaceweather.com. 

Coronal holes are areas in the sun's upper atmosphere where our star's electrified gas (or plasma) is cooler and less dense. Such holes are also where the sun's magnetic field lines, instead of looping back in on themselves, beam outward into space. This enables solar material to surge out in a torrent that travels at speeds up to 1.8 million miles per hour (2.9 million kilometers per hour), according to the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco.

High-speed solar winds from a "hole" in the sun's atmosphere are set to hit Earth's magnetic field on Wednesday (Aug 3.), triggering a minor G-1 geomagnetic storm.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) made the prediction after observing that "gaseous material is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere," according to spaceweather.com. 

Coronal holes are areas in the sun's upper atmosphere where our star's electrified gas (or plasma) is cooler and less dense. Such holes are also where the sun's magnetic field lines, instead of looping back in on themselves, beam outward into space. This enables solar material to surge out in a torrent that travels at speeds up to 1.8 million miles per hour (2.9 million kilometers per hour), according to the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco.