Is There A Giant Piece Of Our Sun Missing?

Back in July of 2013, scientists at the Godard Space Center, which is the headquarters of NASA's Soho observatory, were monitoring  satellite feeds when they see a 500,000 mile wide hole in the sun. Scientists were stunned and didn't know what was going on. Any small change in our sun can mean catastrophe for us. Even just a 7 percent dip in our suns output could bring upon another ice age. 

In an effort to try to figure out what was going on, scientists use a satellite that captures pictures of super hot gasses in the sun's atmosphere. It allows them to see things that are only visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. When they did this, scientists realized that it wasn't a giant hole at all, but a spot filled with gasses that are much cooler than the rest of the sun. These cooler areas are called coronal holes and are areas where material can escape. 

This particular coronal hole scares scientists because it is in a perfect position to blast the Earth with solar particles causing a solar storm. This can knock out satellites and it can make electronics not work properly, which happens. It would only take a few days for a deadly sunbeam to hit the earth. If the earth gets directly hit with a sunbeam, there would be spectacular light show in the northern sky, the aurora borealis, as the earth's magnetosphere absorbs the energy of the particles from the beam.

Almost 3 days after the discovery of the coronal hole, scientists freaked out when the northern sky erupted in an awesome light show that lasted for two days. They thought that maybe earth was hit by a sunbeam, thankfully earth hasn't been hit by a sunbeam... yet.