Well well, folks! While you were peacefully sleeping, the Sun had itself a proper morning espresso and fired off a solar flare of class X1.5! ☀️💥 Classic, space doesn't wait for an alarm clock. The flare reached its maximum today at 03:19 UTC and was classified as R3, meaning strong. The responsible party is active region 4405 with a Beta-Gamma magnetic configuration in the southeastern quadrant of the Sun. 🌋
Coronal mass ejection is flying through space
During this flare, a coronal mass ejection (CME) was also released and is now flying through space like a pizza delivery guy on a Friday evening 🍕💨 Most of that material is heading southeast of us, which can be beautifully seen on the animation from SOHO/LASCO below. BUT watch out! We can see a clear asymmetric full halo outline, which gives us high confidence that at least a glancing blow from this event should hit our planet 🌍✨
When? Probably late tomorrow evening (UTC), that is Tuesday, March 31st. Get your lawn chairs and brandy ready, because this could be an interesting evening! 🥃🔭
Geomagnetic storms on the horizon
After the CME impacts Earth's magnetosphere, enhanced geomagnetic conditions should occur. We expect minor (G1) to moderate (G2) geomagnetic storms 🧲⚡ And what does that mean? That's right, a chance for aurora! Although with G1 and G2 it would be rather exceptional for Slovakia, never say never. This season has already surprised us more than once like a mother-in-law on an unannounced visit 😂🫣
April could start off pretty wild
And now the cherry on top 🍒 After the CME passes, we also have solar wind from a coronal hole heading our way, which should be aimed directly at us tomorrow. So April could kick off with some seriously stormy space weather! 🌀🔥 As if space said: "April Fools, here's a geomagnetic storm for you!" 😏💪
Solar cycle 25 simply never stops entertaining us. That star in the center of our solar system is currently spinning like a DJ at a festival 🎧🎶
Follow ziara.sk, where I'll always let you know when something interesting is happening in the sky! 📲🌌 Turn on notifications so you don't miss anything. Because when the Sun sends its regards, you want to be ready and not sleep through it like that flare tonight 😴💫
Your Astronomer Cassandra ✨
