The most powerful mass ejection of the year has occurred on the Sun, and its flow is directed straight at Earth. This could cause severe geomagnetic storms, according to Sergei Bogachev, head of the solar astronomy laboratory at the Institute for Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The largest mass ejection this year, directed precisely towards Earth, was recorded tonight on the Sun by a collection of space tracking assets. The event was the result of a strong solar flare of level M8.2, which occurred at 03:05 Moscow time in active region No. 4100.
The scientist emphasized that this region is located in the center of the solar disk, almost on the line between the Sun and Earth. This location makes it impossible, even theoretically, for the ejected solar material to pass by our planet.
The power of the ejection is less than similar events last year in May, which led to level 5 storms, but, preliminarily, it may lead to the largest series of geomagnetic storms this year with peak values up to G4 (the class preceding the highest fifth level).
In addition, according to him, the calculation results indicate an extremely high speed of plasma movement. According to experts, the contact of solar material with Earth may occur tomorrow evening, closer to night Moscow time. The exact time of contact and the forecast of geomagnetic activity will be specified later.
Earlier in Russia, a powerful geomagnetic storm occurred, which lasted almost a day. It raged from three o'clock in the morning on May 29 to six o'clock in the morning on May 30.
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