\WHAT IS SPACE WEATHER

Activity on the Sun’s surface creates a type of weather called space weather. The Sun is extremely far away—about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers)—from Earth. However, space weather can affect Earth and the rest of the solar system. At its worst, it can even damage satellites and cause electrical blackouts on Earth, The Sun is always spewing gas and particles into space. This stream of particles is known as the solar wind. The gas and particles come from the Sun’s hot outer atmosphere, called the corona. These particles from the corona are charged with electricity. The solar wind carries these particles toward Earth at up to a million miles per hour, Earth has an area of magnetic force activity, called a magnetic field. It is also surrounded by a jacket of gases, called an atmosphere. Our magnetic field and atmosphere act like a superhero’s shield, protecting us from most of the solar wind blast.

Most of the charged particles crash into Earth’s shield and flow around it. The particles squish and flatten the side of the magnetic field that faces the Sun. The other side of the magnetic field stretches into a long, trailing tail.

Sometimes charged particles sneak past Earth’s shield. When these particles hit the atmosphere, we are treated to glowing light shows known as auroras.

Sometimes magnetic activity within the Sun causes intense solar storms. The solar wind gets much stronger during these storms. Strong solar winds can be dangerous.

During a solar storm, explosions called solar flares break out. Solar flares send tons of energy whizzing through space at the speed of light. Sometimes flares come with huge solar eruptions. These eruptions are called coronal mass ejections, all that extra radiation can damage the satellites we use for communications and navigation. It can disrupt power grids that provide our electricity. The radiation from solar storms can also be dangerous for astronauts in space.