X1 solar flare with a major CME

Thursday, 28 October 2021 18:56 UTC

This region was showing signs of life earlier today with two M-class solar flares during the morning but it really showed what it could do at 15:35 UTC when a long duration X1.0 solar flare exploded from an earth-facing position. This is the second X-class solar flare of Solar Cycle 25 so far and it became quickly clear that this was an eruptive event. The flare was associated with both Type IV and II radio emissions and not long following the blast, our planet started to get showered with solar particles. A minor S1 solar radiation storm commenced and is currently in progress. A minor solar radiation storm affects high frequency radio signals at high latitudes.

The X1 solar flare is a long duration event and a Earthward CME is very likely, while we await LASCO imagery for any details for an ETA we can enjoy this superb video of the flare pic.twitter.com/2RaFIsEKa9

— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) October 28, 2021

We only have 1 frame from SOHO/LASCO, the coronagraph that watches coronal mass ejections from Earth's point of view but what a frame it is. The X1 solar flare launched a major coronal mass ejection which most certainly will impact Earth. We are probably looking at a partial halo coronal mass ejection aimed maybe slightly southward but still, this looks to be a fast, dense coronal mass ejection that will hit us pretty much head on this weekend. We will await more LASCO imagery and keep you updated of course but geomagnetic storming should be a guarantee. Impressive stuff!

We have one frame now showing the X1 CME as seen by SOHO/LASCO but just wow. This looks to be a major coronal mass ejection and we might be in for a significant geomagnetic storm this weekend. More info later but we are impressed!

Follow it live on https://t.co/XHATH0OOfT pic.twitter.com/tNYiYoOuUe

— SpaceWeatherLive (@_SpaceWeather_) October 28, 2021