WASHINGTON (TIP): The Sun has unleashed a powerful storm, sending an enormous cloud of superheated particles rocketing towards Earth at a mind-boggling speed of 3.3 million kilometre per hour. On August 20, the Sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon which can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth one to three days later.

“These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground,” Nasa said. Experimental Nasa research models, based on observations from Nasa’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory show that the CME left the Sun at speeds of around 570 miles per second or 3.3 million km/h, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs. Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they funnel energy into Earth’s magnetic envelope , the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time. The CME’s magnetic fields peel back the outermost layers of Earth’s fields changing their very shape. “In the past, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs of this strength have usually been mild,” Nasa said. Nasa warned the magnetic storms can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected electrical surges in power grids.