Solar storms will strike earth today, NASA warns. All you need to know

NASA warns the collision of two solar storms with earth could influence the planet's magnetic field today at around 5.30 pm. The incident could cause many life disruptions

NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) issued a warning about the impact of two possible solar storms or coronal mass ejections(CMEs) on earth.  

According to the US-based space agency’s report, the solar storm is expected to make contact with earth's surface and the charged particles can influence the magnetic field of our planet, today at around 5.30 pm.

The particles may disrupt power and communication infrastructure on earth's surface affecting the surface of our planet and impacting global positioning systems.

Dr Tamitha Skov, a space weather scientist, shared some images of coronal mass ejections(CMEs) taken by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph Experiment (LASCO) placed within the SOHO spacecraft.

 

Dr Skov shared the information via Twitter that the first solar storm is much slower and might turn northeast and arrive before 5:30 pm IST. She further said that the storm is going 'slightly southward' and could arrive in the early hours of July 7.

She tweeted, "Our #Sun celebrates #July4 with its own special fireworks! We have two partly Earth-directed #solarstorms (aka CMEs) on their way. The second storm will catch up to the first giving us a 1,2-punch. Model predictions show impact likely July 7. I'll post NASA model runs next."

What is a solar storm?

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), when the sun constantly emits solar material into space, both in steady or energetic bursts from solar eruptions, it is called solar storms. A collection of charged particles known as coronal mass ejections are emitted in the form of bubbles with intense magnetic field lines from the sun over several hours during this period.