Coronal mass ejection impact
Sunday, 23 April 2023 17:16 UTC
The coronal mass ejection from the M1.7 solar flare that took place two days ago has arrived at the DSCOVR satellite. We admit... this coronal mass ejection arrived earlier than we expected!
The impact is very clear with the solar wind speed and interplanetary magnetic field data showing a clear jump. This triggered our automated detection system which posted an alert on our Twitter feed and of course our mobile Android and iOS app. The solar wind speed at the time of writing is 500km/s but it is the interplanetary magnetic field that is grabbing our attention the most as the Bt (total strength) jumped to 25nT with a -23nT southward Bz component. These are ingredients for strong G3 geomagnetic storm conditions if these values persist in the hours ahead. Middle latitude sky watchers be alert tonight for possible aurora sightings.
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