The Sun has been intense the past week, and now solar flares are coming toward Earth

As NASA's Orion spacecraft prepares to fly by the Moon, sky gazers can expect another little treat in the skies as a minor geomagnetic storm is expected to hit the Earth,Over the past week, our Sun has seen some intense activity. Usually, when activity on the Sun increases, the chances of a geomagnetic storm on Earth also increase.

carry risks to infrastructure and communications on the planet. However, in the past week, our planet has been a bit lucky it wasn't in the line of fire.Astronomers study the surface of the Sun to gauge the impact that solar activity might have on our planet. Every 11 years, the Sun goes through a cycle where its poles flip, causing a heavy churn of material inside.

Seen brightly lit in these images are areas of solar activity, while right next to them are darker areas where intense magnetic fields have led to a temporary slowdown of solar activity. Called sunspots, these are areas where scientists often find sudden outbursts of radiation, referred to as solar flares. These are large bursts of intense radiation that can travel across the solar system and interact with everything that comes their way.

At times, these outbursts are also accompanied by material from the solar surface, which is also sent out into space. These are called coronal mass ejections . Luckily for our planet, the atmospheric blanket absorbs most of these outbursts of energy, keeping humanity and other flora and fauna safe from its harm.

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