MessageToEagle.com - On July 16, 2013, at 12:09 a.m. EDT, the sun erupted with an Earth-directed coronal
mass ejection or CME, a solar phenomenon that can send billions of tons of particles into space that can reach Earth
one to three days later.
Based on early indications, it is heading mostly towards the north, however there could be a small Earth directed component.
An update in regards to this mornings CME activity, according to solarham.net.
Click on image to enlarge
The European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this imagery of a coronal mass ejection as it left the sun in the direction of Earth and Mercury on July 16, 2013.
Image Credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO
While watching Lasco C3 video, there appears to be a pair
of plasma clouds. The first and much weaker one is directed somewhat to the south, but does appear to have a slight
The latest CME prediction model released by the Goddard Space Flight Center has been updated to include these events.
The second and much brighter CME is directed towards the north and west and should have little impact on our planet.
These particles cannot travel through the atmosphere to harm humans on Earth, but they can affect electronic systems
in satellites and on the ground.
Experimental NASA research models, based on observations from NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, show
that the CME left the sun at speeds of around 560 miles per second, which is a fairly typical speed for CMEs.
Earth-directed CMEs can cause a space weather phenomenon called a geomagnetic storm, which occurs when they funnel
energy into Earth's magnetic envelope, the magnetosphere, for an extended period of time.
The CME’s magnetic fields peel back the outermost layers of Earth's fields changing their very shape.
Magnetic storms can degrade communication signals and cause unexpected electrical surges in power grids. They also can
Storms are less frequent during solar minimum, but as the sun’s activity ramps up every 11 years toward
solar maximum -- currently expected in late 2013 -- large storms occur more frequently.
Coronal Mass Ejection - July 16, 2013
Coronal Mass Ejection - July 16, 2013 - SOHO LASCO C3 Latest Image
Coronal Mass Ejection - July 16, 2013 - Latest GOES Solar X-ray Image
The CME may also pass by the Messenger and Juno spacecraft and their mission operators have been notified. If
warranted, operators can put spacecraft into safe mode to protect the instruments from the solar material.
In the past, geomagnetic storms caused by CMEs of this strength have usually been mild.