Giant cloud of magnetized plasma explodes

Giant+cloud+of+magnetized+plasma+explodes

Ellie Stobaugh

According to Space.com, A giant cloud of magnetized plasma exploded from a sunspot hidden on the far side of the sun that might turn to face Earth only two days from now. Studies say that The explosion that erupted from behind the sun’s eastern edge in the early morning of Tuesday (Jan. 3) was a so-called coronal mass ejection (CME), a burst of particles from the sun’s upper atmosphere, or corona. It lasted for approximately 6 whole overwhelming hours. It was not directed at the earth, however, experts believe that the sunspot that produced the flames will soon be faced towards the earth as the Sun rotates. The approximate time that it will take to have the sunspot face the earth is two days. In the meantime, however, the plasma waves hit the Earth on December 30th, and it made some visual auroras that are able to be seen by the human eye. The British space weather forecaster Met Office predicts low solar activity in the next couple of days with a potential increase expected toward the end of this week as the mysterious sunspot emerges at the sun’s eastern edge. We will keep you updated as more news comes out, but for now, this is all we have. Thank you.