Major Far Side Coronal Mass Ejection

STEREO A directed CME initial analysis 1500kms-1. Sweeps up 3 other CMEs ahead of it. Expected to arrive at STEREO tonight (19th). “Ponder on that folks: 1,500 kilometers per second. That’s 932 miles.

In one second. DC to Kansas City, or London to Budapest. In one second. With an average CME mass of ~1,000,000,000,000 kilograms.” – Karl Battams, astrophysicist – https://twitter.com/SungrazerComets TWO PLANETS AND A SOLAR STORM: Yesterday, Oct. 18th, something behind the eastern edge of the sun exploded.

A massive cloud of plasma (CME) raced away from the blast site — right into a bright conjunction. Jupiter and Mercury were less than 1 degree apart when the CME passed by.

If this meeting of planets happened in the night sky, it would have been widely observed. Because it was so close to the glaring sun, no human could see it. Only the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, with its sun-blocking coronagraph, could record such a scene. The CME missed everything.

It sailed wide of Mercury, Jupiter, and Earth as well. Forecasters expect no geomagnetic storms as a result of the blast.

http://www.spaceweather.com/ http://www.solarham.net/

Clips, images credit: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)

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