On the Sun there was an ejection of a giant gas cloud. Video

On the Sun recorded the release of a prominence about 500 thousand km. The gas cloud can potentially cause a strong magnetic storm in a collision with the Earth's magnetic field, the press service of the Solar Astronomy Laboratory of the Institute of Space Research (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) reported.

“The emission of a very large prominence about half a million kilometers in size came into view today by several space telescopes,” the report said.

Prominences are clouds of relatively cold gas that are held above the surface of the Sun by magnetic field lines. Such structures can reach hundreds of thousands of kilometers in length, and sometimes grow up to a million kilometers.

Periodically, the Sun ejects prominences into space. When a dense gas cloud enters the Earth’s magnetosphere, strong magnetic storms of the G3–G4 level can occur. Top-level G5 storms are usually associated with very powerful solar flares.

“In this case, the prominence still flies sideways rather than towards the Earth. Of the nearby planets in its path, it seems, will be only Mars. Nevertheless, to touch the Earth edge, albeit with minor consequences, the gas cloud can still, — stated in the message.

Calculations of the trajectory of the prominence are planned to be published in the morning of October 30.

Earlier, scientists warned of possible geomagnetic disturbances on October 29-30 due to a coronal hole on the Sun. According to experts, the solar wind speed during this period can increase to 600 km / s, which is about 50% higher than normal. At the same time, the probability of a magnetic storm was estimated as low.