Aurora alert! Gigantic 500,000-mile ‘Hole’ In The Sun’s Atmosphere Could Spark Impressive Northern Lights Tonight And Tomorrow.
A massive 500,000-mile-wide (800,000-kilometer) coronal hole in the sun’s atmosphere is unleashing a stream of fast-moving solar wind toward Earth, potentially supercharging auroras on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Coronal holes are areas where the sun’s magnetic field opens up, allowing solar wind to flow freely into space, according to SpaceWeather.com. In ultraviolet images, these …