The VERY POWERFUL "cannibal" solar flare (M1.7-class CME) which blasted from the Sun on Tuesday has collided with Earth's magnetosphere, (direct hit) causing a powerful G3-class storm (KP7) and causing spectacular auroras along the Northern Hemisphere!

The VERY POWERFUL "cannibal" solar flare (M1.7-class CME) which blasted from the Sun on Tuesday has collided with Earth's magnetosphere, (direct hit) causing a powerful G3-class storm (KP7) and causing spectacular auroras along the Northern Hemisphere as low as Minnesota and Montana in the US and Scotland in the UK, see graph below.

The K-index, and by extension the Planetary K-index, are used to characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. Kp is an excellent indicator of disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field and is used by SWPC to decide whether geomagnetic alerts and warnings need to be issued for users who are affected by these disturbances.

The principal users affected by geomagnetic storms are the electrical power grid, spacecraft operations, users of radio signals that reflect off of or pass through the ionosphere, and observers of the aurora.

Cannibal CMEs are fast coronal mass ejections that sweep up slower CMEs in front of them. Piled together, the mish-mash of CMEs contain strong magnetic fields and compressed plasmas that can do a good job sparking geomagnetic storms. The slower CMEs, in this case, were hurled into space on Nov. 1st and 2nd by departing sunspot AR2887.

According to Spaceweather. com, Earth is now passing through the CME's wake. Storm conditions have subsided however at one point the solar wind from the CME reached an incredible 800 km/s.

Real-Time Solar Wind (RTSW) data refers to data from any spacecraft located upwind of Earth, typically orbiting the L1 Lagrange point, that is being tracked by the Real-Time Solar Wind Network of tracking stations.  The NOAA/DSCOVR satellite became the operational RTSW spacecraft on July 27, 2016, at 1600UT (noon EDT, 10am MDT). Credit NOAA.

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Spaceweather 2021

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