Stealth CME passage?

Sunday, 6 March 2016 14:15 UTC

The north-south direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (Bz) is mostly northward which has surpressed any geomagnetic activity thus far but it did turn southward about an hour ago. Let's hope these values hold in the hours ahead. Kp4 (active geomagnetic conditions) remain possible today but it is vital that the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field remains southward.

The coronal hole solar wind stream that was expected to arrive might be embedded in what is likely the pasage of a stealth CME but we should still see an increase in the solar wind speed in the near future.

B7.2 solar flare

There was also a B7.2 solar flare near sunspot regions 2512 and 2514 this morning just after 05:00 UTC that launched a minor coronal mass ejection. SOHO coronagraph imagery shows that this cloud of solar plasma is heading north of the ecltipic and it is not expected to arrive at Earth.

Animation: the coronal mass ejection from this morning's B7.2 solar flare. Note that the coronal mass ejection emerging from the west limb is not related to the B7 CME that comes from the north.