IMPACT! INCOMING CME

IMPACT! A CME hit Earth's magnetic field at approximately 0100 UT on Feb. 18th (8:00 pm EST on Feb. 17th). The impact was not as strong as expected considering the cloud's X-class origin, see below. Nevertheless, geomagnetic storms are possible in the hours ahead. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.


INCOMING CME: NASA researchers have made a time-lapse movie of the X2-category explosion on Feb. 15th that spawned tonight's CME.This is a composite of data from two spacecraft: SOHO and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). SDO took the golden picture in the middle; it's an extreme ultraviolet image of the sun. A flash of UV radiation centered on sunspot 1158 marks the biggest solar flare since Dec. 2006. SOHO took the red picture on the outside; it's a coronagraph image. The CME that just hit Earth is visible as a willowy cloud flying away from the solar disk.

Video source:http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/gallery/assets/movies/X2_C2_combo_best.mpg
Info link:http://spaceweather.com/