NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft snapped this shot of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) erupting from the sun on Dec. 26, 2011.
The CME can be seen billowing into space to the sun's right.
CREDIT: NASA
Particles ejected by recent solar storms are due to slam into Earth over the next few days, possibly causing super-charged northern lights displays and temporary radio blackouts in some areas, experts say.
On Monday (Dec. 26), the sun unleashed a massive eruption of solar plasma known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).
The CME's fast-moving charged particles should squarely strike Earth's magnetic field at about 3:20 p.m. EST (2020 GMT) Wednesday, give or take seven hours, according to the website Spaceweather.com.
The particles from another CME could deliver a glancing blow to our planet a few hours earlier on Wednesday, Spaceweather.com reported.
The two impacts will likely spawn minor and/or moderate geomagnetic storms at high latitudes on Wednesday and Thursday.
If they're powerful enough, geomagnetic storms can temporarily disrupt GPS signals, radio communications and power grids.
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