M1.0 solar flare erupted from AR 1760

Impressive M1.0 solar flare erupted at 20:00 UTC on May 31, 2013. Event started at 19:52 UTC and ended at 20:06 UTC. The source of eruption was Active Region 1760. This region is small but appears to have a large amount of shear in the central spot.

M1.0 solar flare was associated with Type II and Type IV Radio Emissions recorded at 19:57 UTC. Type II emissions occur in association with eruptions on the sun and typically indicate a coronal mass ejection is associated with a flare event. Type IV emissions occur in association with major eruptions on the sun and are typically associated with strong coronal mass ejections and solar radiation storms.

GOES X-Ray flux (Credit: NOAA/SWPC)

CME associated with M1.0 solar flare was observed on STEREO Ahead COR 2 and SOHO's LASCO C2 imagery (Credit: STEREO/SOHO)

Earlier during the day, a prominence eruption was observed off the west limb. A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was produced, but luckily, it was directed away from Earth. A minor CME, unrelated to this event, swept past Earth and geomagnetic sudden impulse measuring 9 nT was detected at 16:18 UTC on May 31, 2013. The impact was weak.

Huge solar prominence was recorded on STEREO Ahead COR2 and seen as peak in EPAM Proton levels (Credit: STEREO/NOAA/SWPC)

There are currently 3 numbered sunspots on visible disk. All sunspots are stable and there is no strong activity expected. NOAA/SWPC forecasters estimate only 1% chance for M-class events.