Mumbai, Aug 21: The Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has indicated possibilities of a medium sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24 to 48 hours, according to space scientists.

"The outskirts of Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) might reach earth today and more likely the expanding cloud will miss the earth direction," scientists of SOHO and ACE-Satellites said in their web site updates on Thursday.



The disappearing sunspot 431 still poses a threat to medium class solar flares, as an explosion near this sunspot on August 19 hurled another CME into space which is anticipated to reach earth tonight, if it was Earth directed.


Meanwhile, when analysing the facts behind the major power breakdown in US and Canada, the geomagnetic scientists here found that from August seven there was a sudden increase in solar flare with a solar wind velocity 500 to 900 km per second, associated with coronal hole moving towards geo-effective position.



The phenomenon occurred even though "we are in the descending phase of the 11-year solar cycle," they said. The scientists of Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) here recorded a sudden increase (shock) in the magnetic field interplanetary magnetic storm which lasted for almost 28 hours from 9 pm on the night of August 17.

Although the NASA scientists are anticipating significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field on Thursday, "we are still waiting for the event to be recorded tonight," the IIG scientists said.
Bureau Report