The Sun is waking up: NASA

The solar tsunami that started off on August 1 and is passing the earth now (August 4 and 5, 2010), is one of the many that will occur over the next three years, experts at NASA say.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught an eruption on the sun’s surface this Sunday that threw tonnes of plasma straight toward earth in an event known as a coronal mass ejection, which sent a “solar tsunami” racing across 93 million miles of space.

 

“The Sun goes through a regular activity cycle about 11 years long. The last solar maximum occurred in 2001 and its recent extreme solar minimum was particularly weak and long lasting. These kinds of eruptions are one of the first signs that the Sun is waking up and heading toward another solar maximum expected in the 2013 time frame,” NASA experts said.

The hour-long “solar tsunami” on the surface of the sun started Sunday, with experts pointing out that we should not expect much impact on the earth other than some nice views.

“When a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, it interacts with our planet’s magnetic field, potentially creating a geomagnetic storm. Solar particles stream down the field lines toward Earth’s poles and collide with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, resulting in spectacular auroral displays,” NASA said.