M FOR MAGNIFICENT: In the vocabulary of space weather, an M-flare - TopicsExpress



          

M FOR MAGNIFICENT: In the vocabulary of space weather, an M-flare is a medium-sized explosion. Todays M5.6-class eruption, however, was magnificent. NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast. An explosion in the magnetic canopy of emerging sunspot AR2151 hurled a dense and twisted plume of plasma into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded a bright coronal mass ejection emerging from the blast site. If this CME were to hit Earth, the likely result would be strong geomagnetic storms. However, because of the sunspots location near the suns eastern horizon, Earth was not in the line of fire.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 17:36:24 +0000

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