UNEXPECTED CME IMPACT (UPDATED): A CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 11th (0211 UT). The unexpected impact jolted a USGS magnetometer in Boulder, Colorado, by 40 nanoTesla, but did not trigger a geomagnetic storm. This may have been the overdue CME from an M4-class flare on Feb. 6th, previously thought to have missed Earth. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
EARTH-DIRECTED SOLAR FLARE AND CME: Big sunspot AR3576 erupted yesterday (Feb 10th @ 2703 UT), producing an M9-class solar flare only percentage points from category X. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the extreme ultraviolet flash:
Radiation from the flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere. This, in turn, caused a strong shortwave radio blackout over the Pacific Ocean. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 30 MHz for as much as an hour after the flare's peak.
Of greater interest is the coronal mass ejection (CME). New images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory show an assymetric halo CME with an Earth-directed component. A preliminary NASA model predicts it will reach Earth on Feb. 13th:
Although the majority of the CME will pass north of Earth, a significant fraction of the cloud is on the sun-Earth line. Its impact could spark G1- to G2-class geomagnetic storm. Aurora-lovers could see lights in the sky the night before Valentine's Day. CME Impact alerts: SMS Text
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