"Most probably there will be some kind of coronal mass ejection (CME), though it might not be as severe as the one that hit today," said Paal Brekke, deputy project scientist for the SOHO spacecraft. CMEs are huge bubbles of charged particles or gas that sometimes appear following a solar flare.
Brekke estimated that the new flare is rated between X9 and X10, compared to today's earlier event solar onslaught -- a hefty X17.The X classifies the flare as major, while the number rates its strength. The new eruption occurred in the same general area on the Sun as the X17 flare, and is among the top 20 solar storms in history, he added.
Meanwhile, the CME from Tuesday's storm, still passing by Earth, has changed its magnetic field direction and may potentially cause more damage overnight.
Originally, the storm's magnetic field was oriented toward the north along the Earth's magnetic envelope, which may have prevented some of the more severe effects the storm. That setup, however, changed as the CME's magnetic field turned toward the south. It could cause more damage that previously thought.
Charged particles following a solar eruption can take hours to reach Earth and may interfere with satellites, cell phones and other communications equipment. A space storm in 1989, for example, caused power blackouts in Quebec, Canada.
SOHO researchers were somewhat disappointed with the X17 flare's showing this morning, expecting a larger impact when it slammed into the Earth's magnetic field at 1 a.m. EST Wednesday. The flare was the second largest ever seen by SOHO and possibly the third largest recorded in history. The X17 flare's associated coronal mass ejection slammed caused a G5 geomagnetic storm, among the largest types. It was also credited for incapacitating the Japanese satellite Kodoma.
"We won't see too many more of those," Brekke said.
Today's flare is the latest in a series of major eruptions from the Sun, none of which was as powerful as the X17 the occurred Tuesday. Despite the barrage of space storms, SOHO researchers said the Earth's magnetosphere, which protects the surface from solar particles, is in no danger of wearing down.
"I think it's fairly robust," Brekke said of the planet's magnetosphere. "It's been there for thousands of years and I don't think that's a problem."
More eruptions could occur on the surface of the Sun in coming days.
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