Well holy crap, people, something SPECTACULAR is finally happening! 🤯 That hooligan sunspot 4274 just spat out such an eruption that I nearly passed out from amazement! 🌋 This morning at 10:04 UTC we recorded a MEGA-POWERFUL X5.1 eruptiooooon (R3-strong), which is the sixth strongest in this solar cycle!
It was immediately clear as a slap in the face that this eruption would send a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space that's worth talking about! 🚀 The solar wave after this explosion and the coronal dimming when the CME blasted off into space were so spectacular that I nearly snorted my brandy through my nose! 😱 Check out the animation below from halocme - it's simply DIVINE!
Another eruption from AR12474, associated with the X5.1 flare. It became a full halo CME. I'm truly amazed at how fast and global this coronal wave is. The CME will arrive on November 13, but due to earlier CMEs it will be a challenge to isolate the ICME from this one. pic.twitter.com/H6eNjzQUGz
When we look at the coronagraph imagery from GOES-19 CCOR-1, we can see that gorgeous fast halo coronal mass ejection spreading away from the Sun. 🌞 You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this plasma cloud is, of course, also heading toward Earth, and it's clear as a brandy-soaked morning that it's going to be a SERIOUS BANGER when it arrives! 💪 NOAA SWPC rightfully issued a warning for a G4 or stronger geomagnetic storm (that's like when your mother-in-law announces she's coming to stay for a week), which is set to hit tomorrow when the cloud strikes our planet no earlier than 16 UTC on November 12. 📅 The CME is not only fast, but it will also be passing through an area of high ambient solar wind speed and low density thanks to two other CMEs that this region released earlier. More on that below.
If the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field values at Earth are favorable 🤞, this could cause a geomagnetic storm strong enough for the aurora to be visible from locations as far south as northern France, Germany, Ukraine, Switzerland, and Austria. 😍 That means even here in Slovakia we could get a proper light show! 🇸🇰 In the US, it could be visible as far south as Nevada and Arkansas. Of course, no guarantees — after all, we're talking about space weather, which is as unpredictable as my moods after three beers! 🍺🤪 But definitely download the SpaceWeatherLive app to your phone, turn on notifications, and keep an eye on the solar wind data from ACE and DSCOVR!
I also want to remind you that we still have two coronal mass ejections on their way to Earth. 🧠👀 These aren't as impressive as this X5.1 CME, but these two plasma clouds will likely arrive within the next 6 to 18 hours. It's tricky — they could arrive as one impact or two impacts close together — like when you down two brandies at once and then a third one to wash them down! 🥃🥃🥃 More info in yesterday's reports.
Hold onto your helmets, friends, this is going to be a RIDE! 🎢 And don't forget to follow ziara.sk, where I'll bring you all the hot news straight from space while I watch the sky with a beer in hand! 🍻
Your Astronomer Cassandra ✨
