Geometric storms expected as sun releases solar flare

The sun unleashed a moderate solar flare on Sunday, potentially leading to small and medium-sized geomagnetic storm occurrences in the upcoming days, China's National Center for Space Weather said on Sunday.

Solar flares, among the most intensive solar phenomena, are massive explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high-speed particles into space. They are rated as A, B, C, M and X based on their strength, ranging from weak to strong.

At 3:39 am Sunday, the sun released an M7.3-level solar flare, associated with coronal mass ejections. Due to the coronal mass ejections, it is expected that there will be small and medium-sized geomagnetic storm events around Tuesday, the center said on Sunday.

In the next three days, solar activity is expected to be at moderate to high levels, with a chance for M-class flare activities or larger, the center said on Monday.