M9.0 solar flare with earth-directed CME
Monday, 23 December 2024 17:53 UTC
Sunspot region 3932 produced an M9.0 (R2-moderate) solar flare today which peaked at 11:12 UTC. The solar flare was fairly impulsive but it was associated with a Type II radio emission indicating the possible launch of a coronal mass ejection something which we can confirm now thanks to SOHO/LASCO coronagraph imagery.
Based on SOHO/LASCO imagery we see a faint asymmetrical full halo coronal mass ejection but a majority of the plasma is heading well south of our planet. As said, we do spot a faint halo outline which does give us hope a portion of the cloud could impact our planet as a... here it comes... as a glancing blow. For sure, a major impact should not be expected but the plasma cloud could spark some enhanced aurora conditions at high latitude locations. Active geomagnetic conditions (Kp4) will be possible with only a slight chance of reaching minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions when the cloud arrives likely early on Thursday, 26th of December.
Today's M9.0 solar flare from sunspot region 3932 produced a halo coronal mass ejection which could arrive at Earth as a glancing blow. A majority of the ejecta is heading well south of our planet but a minor impact is not to be excluded likely early on Thursday, 26 December. Do… pic.twitter.com/uMDEEtLe9X
— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) December 23, 2024
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| Last M-flare | 2024/12/26 | M7.3 |
| Last geomagnetic storm | 2024/12/17 | Kp5+ (G1) |
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