MOSCOW, May 14. The most powerful flare in the current cycle was recorded on the Sun, said Sergei Bogachev, head of the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“The largest flare in the Sun has just occurred the current 25th cycle of solar activity. The flare score is X8.7. For comparison: in the series of flares that caused the recent G5 storm, the maximum flare had a score of X5.8,” the agency’s source said.
The scientist explained that a slightly larger event, level X9.3, was last observed on September 6, 2017, that is, almost six years back.
According to observational data, the new flare occurred in the same active center as the events that caused the magnetic storm on Earth last week. Over the past few days, the area has noticeably shifted away from the Sun-Earth line and is now almost beyond the edge of the star.
«With this location, the possibility of plasma arriving and hitting the Earth is extremely small and is on the verge of statistical error. At the same time a strong radiation load on the Earth’s atmosphere is expected,” Bogachev noted.
The head of the laboratory added that it is also possible that flows of heavy particles will reach the planet in the near future.