The active region on the Sun threatens the Earth with powerful magnetic storms

MOSCOW, May 10 - RIA Novosti. The giant active region formed on the Sun a few weeks ago, in the coming days will come into line with the Earth, in the case of high-power X-ray flares in this area can cause powerful magnetic storms on the planet, according to the Institute of Applied Geophysics (IPG) Hydromet.

"The development of the active region and its current position on the solar disk - and it is located near the central meridian and in the future, with the rotation of the sun will stay another week in the" geo "Gaza bombardment of the Earth - forces us to expect significant solar flares, some of which will perturbations in the Earth's magnetic field and, possibly, the appearance of proton fluxes, "- said in a statement.

Magnetic storms on Earth begin when the magnetosphere of the planet "hit" the Sun ejected plasmoids - coronal mass ejections that are associated with X-ray flares on the luminary. Charged particles cause geomagnetic disturbances when they reach a large force, it can lead to failures in electronic equipment, disruption of radio communications and power networks.

The sources of flares and coronal mass ejections are usually active regions - groups of sunspots, relatively dark areas, which extend to the surface of the field lines of a powerful magnetic field.

The active region 1476, which was formed about three weeks ago and gradually grew, and so far in her area there are now 35 separate spots. The previous evening and Thursday morning already "betrayed" the three M-class flares

Flares, depending on the power of X-rays are divided into five classes: A, B, C, M and X. Minimum class A0.0 corresponds to the power of radiation at the Earth's orbit at 10 nanowatts per square meter. In the transition to the next letter the power is increased tenfold.

According to the IPG, the active region will produce the new outbreak, with three or four days, this group will be spots on the central meridian. This would mean that emissions of the plasma on the Sun will be flying directly toward Earth. This threatens not only the magnetic storms, but also the so-called "proton event" - a sharp increase in proton flux in low Earth orbit, which could threaten the spacecraft electronics.