M1.5 solar flare with CME, glancing blow possible?

Monday, 1 November 2021 16:03 UTC

The solar flare produced Type II and IV radio sweeps which was a sign that the event is eruptive and launched a coronal mass ejection into space. Due to the location of sunspot region 2887, the bulk of this CME is heading well west and south of our planet. The CME does however have a partial halo outline of about 220 degrees as seen on SOHO/LASCO so a glancing blow can not be fully ruled out.

The NOAA SWPC and SIDC both expect a glancing from this eruption early with the latter expecting the cloud to arrive early on Thursday, 4 November. If the cloud really does pass our planet, we doubt we will see storm conditions (Kp5 or more) but it might be something to look out for if you are a high latitude sky watcher.

Here is another look at the CME launched by today's M1.5 solar flare. The CME forms a partial halo outline of about 220 degrees as the cloud expands. Both the NOAA SWPC and the SIDC expect a glancing blow with the latter predicting an impact early on Thursday, 4 November. pic.twitter.com/mx1z4lpj1g

— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) November 1, 2021