Sun shoots a fastball at Earth, but minimal impact expected

Courtesy of NASA - Combined images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellites show a giant blob of plasma (top) ejected by the sun on Thursday. The cloud of charged gas is expected to reach Earth Sunday.

By Brian Vastag,
WashPost
Published: January 20

A huge sunspot unleashed a blob of charged plasma Thursday that space weather watchers predict will blast past the Earth on Sunday. Satellite operators and power companies are keeping a close eye on the incoming cloud, which could distort the Earth’s magnetic field and disrupt radio communications, especially at higher latitudes.

“Our simulations show potential to pack a good punch to Earth’s near-space environment,” said Antti Pulkkinen of the Space Weather Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

But, he added, “We’re not looking at an extreme event here.”

The front edge of the burst should arrive Sunday morning, said Joseph Kunches, a spokesman for the Space Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colo.

(More here.)