A large hole has formed in the atmosphere above the sun's north pole, and it is spewing solar wind into space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring the opening, colored deep-blue in the extreme ultraviolet image taken on March 21st:
This type of atmospheric hole is called a "coronal hole." Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. In the image above, the flow of solar wind plasma is traced by white arrows.
A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole will likely reach Earth on March 22-23. Because of the hole's northern latitude on the sun, the emerging stream might not hit Earth directly. Instead, it could sail mostly north of our planet and only deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field.
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