A large coronal hole about 63,700 km wide was spotted on the Sun, about five times Earths diameter. Scientists say such areas can cause solar wind and auroras, and the spot may be visible to the naked eye in the coming days, but only through a filter.
The photographs were published on the website of SDO, NASA’s space observatory, which has been studying the Sun for the sixth year now. The images were taken using high-quality optics and various filters, and the spot is clearly visible on them.Scientists also call this phenomenon a “coronal hole.” It is an area in the solar corona where the density and temperature of the plasma are reduced. As the director of the Irkutsk State University observatory, Sergei Yazev, reports, there has not been such an event for a long time. The size of the spot is 63,700 km. That is about five times the diameter of our planet. It is believed that such “coronal holes” generate solar wind, and shortly after it reaches Earth, the Northern Lights occur. By the way, the spot can be seen by any resident of our region — even without a telescope.
— I think this will just be an interesting phenomenon. That is, you can look at the Sun through a filter, of course. Definitely through a filter, and see this spot with the naked eye. Over the course of several days, it will all be very clearly visible, and it should not have any consequences for the Earth, says the director of the ISU Astronomical Observatory, Sergei Yazev.