Oct. 25th Solar Coronal Mass Ejection

NASA Space Science

This morning at 0826 UT (4:26 am EDT) SOHO coronagraphs spotted a full halo coronal mass ejection billowing away from the vicinity of sunspot group 9201. Its velocity exceeded 620 km/s. At least some of the material in the CME appears to be heading for Earth. The leading edge of a solar wind shock wave could arrive in the neighborhood of our planet as early as Friday. The Moon will be New at the end of this week. If the expected impact triggers strong geomagnetic activity, aurora-watchers will benefit from dark skies without moonlight.