The scientist warned of a powerful magnetic storm and radiation storm

The powerful coronal mass ejection that occurred on the Sun on the night of January 19 will provoke serious disturbances in near-Earth space. As Sergey Chumakov, Honorary Doctor of Sciences, lecturer, told Izvestia on January 19, an extensive cloud of charged particles, including protons moving at speeds over 1,100 km/s, will reach the Earth's vicinity on Tuesday, January 20, from about 12:00.

"The epicenter of the solar flare that generated this outburst was about 30 times the size of our planet. It is expected that the cloud will not only cause an intense magnetic storm, but also change the radiation background in outer space around the Earth. The North American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already declared a threat of a radiation and geomagnetic storm," he warned.

According to the expert, these events do not pose a direct serious danger to the human body. However, there is a risk to the technological infrastructure: streams of high—energy protons can damage the electronics of telecommunications satellites in geocentric orbits, and powerful geomagnetic disturbances can disrupt the stable operation of power systems on the planet's surface.

Chumakov noted that even if the upcoming storms turn out to be record-breaking over the past 5-10 years, they will still be far from the most powerful events of this kind recorded in the 19th century. A potential positive consequence for observers may be the opportunity to see the aurora borealis in the sky over central Russia on January 20. An accurate forecast of the phenomenon is still difficult, but the chances of its occurrence, according to the scientist, remain high.

The expert spoke about the decline in geomagnetic activity

Earlier, on January 18, at the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy (XRAS) of the Space Research Institute (IKI) The Russian Academy of Sciences reported that a solar flare of class X, the maximum intensity level, was recorded on the Sun. It was clarified that the last comparable solar event occurred on November 14, 2025, that is, two months ago.

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