The hole emits powerful streams of solar wind. Currently, it is directed in the opposite direction from Earth, but a few days ago, being at the equator of the star, it "aimed" directly at our planet. The flow of particles caused a moderate geomagnetic storm, Mir24 writes.

Coronal holes are visible only in the ultraviolet range. They are colder than the surrounding space, so they look dark.

Currently, the Sun is approaching the peak of its activity, so there are more and more spots, flares, coronal holes and coronal mass ejections on it. The solar maximum is expected in 2024. After that, the activity of the luminary will gradually decrease.

Each cycle lasts about 11 years. Scientists associate the change of highs and lows with the magnetic cycles of the Sun, during which the magnetic field reverses its polarity, and the north and south poles change places.

The current solar cycle has turned out to be much more powerful than experts expected. According to forecasts, the maximum number of sunspots will reach 173. Nevertheless, this figure is far from the record set in 1958 - 285 spots were recorded in the 19th solar cycle.