Geomagnetic storm fills the sky with color

Stars can be seen through the colors

Photos by WeatherWatcher Carl Dinse

THE CME HAS ARRIVED: Arriving hours earlier than expected, a CME struck Earth's magnetic field on May 10, 2024 at 1645 UT. 

The colors shift and change

The big impact sparked a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm -- ongoing now (midnight local time). More CMEs are following close behind, and their arrival could extend the storm into the weekend. Follow this developing story @Spaceweather.com.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona. 

They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flux) that is stronger than the background solar wind interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength. 

CMEs travel outward from the Sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as near 3000 km/s. The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. 

Slower CMEs can take several days to arrive. They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time it reaches our planet. --NOAA