The scientist warned about the consequences of coronal mass ejections for satellites

A series of powerful flares on the far side of the Sun does not pose a direct threat to the Earth, but the associated emissions of solar matter can affect the operation of satellites and energy infrastructure. Sergey Chumakov, Doctor of Sciences, educator and teacher, told Izvestia about this on May 26.

According to him, the explosions reported by the media in recent days are ordinary solar flares, processes accompanied by the release of a huge amount of energy in the form of light, heat and various types of radiation. If such events occur on the side of the Sun that is invisible from Earth, they are recorded by spacecraft located at special observation points, after which the data is transmitted to scientists on Earth.

Chumakov stressed that the very group of spots located on the far side of the Sun cannot directly affect our planet. To do this, the active region must be on the visible side of the solar disk.

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At the same time, the scientist noted that coronal mass ejections are a potential danger — giant streams of charged particles ejected from the solar corona, the outermost and rarefied layer of the star's atmosphere. As they move in space, such clouds expand and can touch the Earth even if they were initially moving in a different direction.

"Such emissions are dangerous primarily for communication satellites. They can cause interference and even disable devices. In addition, when solar matter interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, voltage surges occur in power transmission lines and transformers, and disruptions in railway signaling are possible," the expert explained.

Speaking about the 4436 sunspot group, which remained calm for a long time and then became a source of powerful flares, Chumakov attributed this to the accumulation of energy in the depths of the Sun. According to him, scientists are able to predict the appearance of active zones, but it is still impossible to accurately determine the strength of future outbreaks.

On the same day, scientists from the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) reported that strong explosions continued to be recorded on the far side of the Sun, the consequences of one of them "hooked" the Earth and provoked a moderate radiation storm in its vicinity. The solar coronagraphs observing the event were able to capture another atypical phenomenon — it is known as the "snow effect". It refers to the streams of cosmic particles.