Space Weather Update: C3.1 solar flare, Earth-directed CME

A very long duration C3.1 solar flare peaked yesterday at 20:55 UTC. The solar flare came from sunspot region 2962. A coronal mass ejection was launched into space and is highly likely to arrive at Earth.

An unexpected eruption from an otherwise unimpressive sunspot region. The solar flare lasted for hours and launched an asymmetrical full halo coronal mass ejection into space. Most of the ejecta is heading north-west but a significant part of the plasma cloud is expected to arrival at our planet. The coronal mass ejection was launched at a speed of about 600km/s which is a fairly average speed. This puts the likely arrival time at Earth late on Sunday, 13 March. Minor G1 geomagnetic storm conditions (Kp5) are likely with a chance of moderate G2 conditions which equals a Kp-value of 6. Middle latitude locations might catch a glimpse of the aurora near the northern (or southern) horizon under optimal conditions.

from SpaceWeatherLive RSS https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/news/view/458/20220311-c3-1-solar-flare-earth-directed-cme.html
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