[Regnum] A plasma cloud from a powerful solar flare will reach Earth on August 28 and could trigger magnetic storms. This was reported on August 26 by the press service of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
An M7.0-class flare occurred on August 25th and was the last in a series of solar flares. Afterward, solar activity dropped sharply and has remained at its lowest level for about 12 hours. However, the active region remains directly opposite Earth, so scientists are not ruling out further flares.
The plasma cloud is currently moving toward Earth, located roughly between the orbits of Mercury and Venus. Typically, such ejections take two to four days to travel the approximately 150 million km from the Sun to our planet. The cloud is expected to reach Earth on Friday, August 28.
Initially, scientists predicted strong magnetic storms of level G3, but later softened their assessment. Now, weak and moderate storms of levels G1–G2 are expected. Geomagnetic disturbances could last up to two days.
The coronal hole currently located on the Sun may have an additional impact on the Earth's magnetic field.
As early as August 18, Sergei Bogachev, head of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, reported the onset of a period of geomagnetic instability due to the impact of a coronal hole on Earth. At the time, scientists expected only weak magnetic storms, as no strong solar flares were observed.