X1.1 CME Earth Bound [March 5 2012] [HD]

Solar activity is now high. Big sunspot AR1429, which emerged on March 2nd, is
crackling with strong flares. The strongest so far, an X1.1-class eruption,
occured yesterday morning, March 5th at 0413 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics
Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:The explosion also
hurled a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) into space The expanding cloud will
probably deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 6th or 7th.
High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras in the nights
ahead.When the CME from yesterday's X-flare arrives, a geomagnetic storm
might already be in progress. An earlier CME is en route and nearing our planet.
According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud, which was
produced by an M2-class eruption from sunspot AR1429 on March 4th, could deliver
a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on March 6th at 04:30
UT (+/- 7 hr).A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when
energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly
released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic
spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays.Scientists classify
solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8
Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events
that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms.
M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that
affect Earth's polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class
flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few
noticeable consequences here on Earth.Each category for x-ray flares has
nine subdivisions ranging from, e.g., C1 to C9, M1 to M9, and X1 to X9.