The Institute of Applied Geophysics told TASS that two solar flares of penultimate power class M occurred on the Sun at night.
"On October 18, at 3:40 a.m. Moscow time, a 26-minute M1.0 flare was recorded in sunspot group 4246 (N22W81). At 5:39 a.m. Moscow time, a 21-minute M1.1 flare was recorded in the same sunspot group (N23W87)," the message states.
Solar flares are divided into five classes according to their X-ray output: A, B, C, M, and X. The lowest class, A0.0, corresponds to a radiation power of 10 nanowatts per square meter in Earth's orbit. Along with the development of the class, the power increases tenfold. Flares can be accompanied by emissions of solar plasma, the clouds of which, reaching the Earth, can cause magnetic storms.
