On the space weather website you can find information about a massive X-class flare! SpaceWeather.com — News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
The latest flare appears to have sent its CME (coronal mass ejection – A transient outflow of plasma from or through the solar corona, often but not always associated with erupting prominences, disappearing solar filaments, and flares) toward earth, instead of a glancing blow like this last one. 24 to 48 hours from now we’ll get the impact and likely an even stronger geo-magnetic storm.
GIANT SUNSPOTS: Astronomers can’t remember the last time this happened: two Jupiter-sized sunspots crossing the face of the sun at the same time. Sunspots 484 and 486 have tangled magnetic fields that pose a threat for powerful X-class solar flares–like the one this morning. The pair are easy to see, but never look directly at the sun. Use safe solar observing methods instead.
Severe Solar Activity — Massive X-17 flare, Earth directly in path!
One of the most powerful solar flares in years, a remarkable X17-category explosion, erupted from sunspot 486 this morning at approximately 1110 UT. A strong solar radiation storm is in progress. (Click here to learn about the effects of such storms.) The explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection almost directly toward Earth, which could trigger bright auroras when it arrives on Oct 29th or 30th.
Look at the blue image at the bottom to see the CME heading almost directly for earth. This one will at the least give us some powerful northern lights. Note also the prediction for more M-class remain at 90% and more X-class at 50%!
(SpaceWeather.com Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.)