Massive CME overnight ....

[Steve Ward]

[RikM]

That's a monster.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Stunning CME

[astronymonkey]

Nice !

Unfortunately it doesnt look as if its coming to us as there was no halo associated with it , and there doesnt seem to have been any movement on the proton flux monitors either.

So the chances of it triggering any aurora are slim, which is a shame.

cheers

[Dave_D]

glad it was going the other way

[Stu]

That's huge!

Was it from the area where the large prominence was yesterday evening?

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[SnakeyJ]

Incredible sequence, of a staggering solar burp!

[Robny]

Quite amazing, IF that was a direct hit on earth what impact would it have, surely more than just an Aurora?

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[astronymonkey]

It would probably trigger a decent aurora with associated geomagnetic storm. The earths magnetic field provides a lot of protection and the only real danger may have been to sensetive electrical equipment, long pipe runs etc but everyone who needed to would have taken precations as NOAA SWPC is good at giving warnings.

From what I gather the main risk is from induced currents caused by the buffering of the earths magnetic field by the cme. So , just like a dynamo, as the magnetic field is buffered, this causes current surges in long pipe and electrical runs which can cause circuit breakers etc to trip. And by long electrical runs im not talking a domestic circuit but the sort of huge, 1000mile high voltage cable runs across alaska, which if affected can couse blackouts in extreme cases.

Not to worry though, the sun and earth have played this game for as long as they have been around.

cheers

[Grotemobile]

I wonder how big that was in

miles.

Steve

[astronymonkey]

The sun is approx 850,000 miles across so that gives an idea of the size of these things, they are huge!

They come away at speeds usually around 300miles per sec, but in 2012 nasa clocked one at 2000miles per sec which was one of the fastest ones ever seen...but these often slow down before they reach us.

Thats the great thing about the sun, you never know what it will do next !

[Robny]

How insignificant we are, and if i understand correctly, there are no warning signs of such a large CME before it happens.  Do AR's give any indiction?

[Paul M]

Between giant tsunamis, global warming and pandemics* we also need time to think about the next reversal of Earth's magnetic field.

That'll be a real bummer

*This list is not exhaustive! 

[astronymonkey]

I think most cme originate from active regions with some having more potential to do this than others.

But some active regions , although promising can produce nothing, not even a decent flare.

cheers