A major flare occurred on the Sun

MOSCOW, May 5A flare of the highest magnitude X occurred on the Sun, reported the laboratory of solar astronomy of the Space Research Institute (IKI) and the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
«On the Sun, a flare of the highest grade X is the second in two days. The source, apparently, is in the northern hemisphere of the Sun, at a fairly close distance from the Sun-Earth line. An ejection towards the Earth has not yet been observed. Very high risks are extremely strong events until the end of the day,” the message says.

The laboratory clarified that exceptionally high flare activity is now being recorded on the Sun. Over the past 24 hours, more than 20 flares occurred, including ten of the average level M. Three of them (levels M9.1, M8.4 and M9.0) lacked only 10-20% of the power to reach the highest score of X.

“The total energy released by the Sun in the form of explosions is at one of the highest levels in recent years, and the frequency of M-level flares, combined with their power, looks to be the largest in at least five to six years,” the scientists emphasized.
At the same time, as noted in the laboratory, there are currently no large reserves of mass in the solar corona, so flares are either not accompanied by ejections, or these ejections are of weak strength. Nevertheless, solar plasma is still ejected into interplanetary space almost continuously.
Scientists suggest that the arrival of solar masses from flares to the Earth is expected on May 5 at the end of the day. Based on the calculation results, the Earth will be immersed in solar plasma for about two days, until the end of Tuesday.

The forecast calls for almost continuous magnetic storms and geomagnetic disturbances throughout Monday and Tuesday. Peak values ​​of storms are expected at a level around G2 (Kp=6), that is, at a relatively moderate level.

«The likelihood of completely avoiding geomagnetic consequences, despite the mitigated nature of the impact, is practically non-existent, although there is about a 30% chance of a less severe scenario when the storms at their peak do not exceed the G1 level. On the other hand, there is about 10% probability has a branch of the forecast in which events of level G3-G4 will occur tomorrow/the day after tomorrow,” the laboratory said.
They added that the possibility of storms of level G5 is excluded by the forecast.