A solar storm on a direct path to hit Earth could cause disruptions to GPS, radio and satellite communications.

The “major” storm will see a temporary disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere, caused by a solar wind shock wave interacting with its magnetic field.

It comes after a “sun burp” on Friday, a huge burst of stellar material and magnetic fields from the surface of the sun.

Australian National University astrophysicist Dr Brad Tucker told Gareth Parker on 6PR Breakfast while the solar storm was due to hit Earth, there was no cause for alarm, although bigger ones were on their way.

“The storms will be a lot more common place and we expect to get some much bigger than this one, and that’s when we pay attention and worry,” he told Parker.

LISTEN 👇 to Dr Tucker explain the ‘sun burp’ that preceded the storm

A major solar storm will hit Earth today and may cause disruptions to radio communications and GPS according to ⁦@NASA⁩. And let’s hope for a little Aurora in the Northern latitudes. May be visible in Northern US states. pic.twitter.com/IXPdRLd3CW

— Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) July 19, 2022