• M1.3 solar flare produced, CME expected on June 17

    On June 14th around 08:10 UTC, a magnetic filament near the sun's eastern limb became unstable and erupted. The resulting blast hurled a bright and massive CME into space. The expanding cloud was observed by 3 spacecraft: STEREO-A, STEREO-B and SOHO. Researchers…

  • M2.5 solar flare, CME expected on June 9 and 10

    On June 7th at 0641 UT, magnetic fields above sunspot complex 1226-1227 became unstable and erupted. The resulting blast produced an M2-class solar flare, an S1-class radiation storm, and an unbelievable movie:Much of the plasma thrown up by the blast simply fell

  • Spectacular eruption on the Sun – M2-class solar flare

    At 06:41 UTC today the Sun unleashed an M2-class solar flare from arround the sunspot complex 1226-1227. Substantial Coronal Mass Ejection was observed and was visually spectacular. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it

  • A sharp gust of solar wind hit Earth’s magnetic field

    A sharp gust of solar wind hit Earth's magnetic field at approximately 20:30 UTC on June 4, 2011. High-latitude sky watchers in both hemispheres should be alert for auroras. Solar windspeed: 495.9 km/secdensity: 2.6 protons/cm3 Planetary K-indexNow: Kp= 5…

  • Moderate geomagnetic storm is in progress

    A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth’s magnetic field, sparking Southern Lights around the Antarctic Circle. Ian Stewart sends this picture to SpaceWeather.com from a jetty near Hobart, Tasmania:”Not long after sunset a friend rang to ask whether a faint arc of

  • Sundiving comet and coronal mass ejection

    A comet dove into the sun on May 11th and seemed to trigger a massive eruption. Watch the movie, then scroll down for further discussion.

    A comet goes in; a CME comes out. Coincidence? Probably, yes, the sequence was coincidental. The comet disintegrated

  • Comet hit the Sun?

    A comet just discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov is diving past the sun today, and it will probably not survive. Click here to view a movie of the death plunge recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory–and check back for updates in the hours

  • Spectacular CME, active region approaching Earth

    A sunspot located just behind the sun’s eastern limb erupted during the waning hours of May 9th, hurling a spectacular coronal mass ejection into space: movie. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed hot magnetic loops towering over the edge of the sun in the