MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. A solar flare of the penultimate power class was recorded early on Sunday morning, an Institute of Applied Geophysics official told TASS.
"On October 19, at 04:56 a.m. Moscow time, an M1.0 flare lasting 18 minutes was recorded in the X-ray range in the group of spots 4246 (N23W87)," the official said.
Solar flares, depending on the X-ray power, are divided into five classes: A, B, C, M and X.
The minimum class A0.0 corresponds to the radiation power in the Earth orbit of 10 nanowatts per square meter. When moving to the next letter, the power increases 10 times.
Flares can be accompanied by solar plasma emissions, whose clouds, reaching the Earth, can trigger magnetic storms.