Coronal mass ejection arrival

Thursday, 19 November 2015 01:02 UTC

The total strength of the IMF (Bt) increased to 12nT with only a minor jump in the solar wind speed to around 450 km/s. The direction of the IMF (Bz) went southward around -10nT for a while. The total strength of the IMF (Bt) is now already back at 6nT which is an average value, indicating this was likely nothing more than a shock passage and the core of the coronal mass ejection didn't reach Earth.

The Wing Kp reached active geomagnetic conditions (Kp4) and the NOAA SWPC reported minor G1 geomagnetic storm activity. Short lived but strong aurora displays were reported from Scotland where Kenneth Muir from Aurora UK took this amazing image.

Enhanced auroral activity remains likely in the hours ahead, as also a coronal hole solar wind stream is expected to cause an enhanced solar wind environment at Earth.