MAJOR X1,1 Solar Flare - Comet Siding Spring Causes STRONG Disturbances

MAJOR X1,1  FLARE   Comet Siding Spring Causes SUN STRONG Disturbances

The explosion probably hurled a CME into space. However, this possibility has not yet been confirmed by SOHO coronagraph data. If a CME is forthcoming, it will probably sail wide of Earth due to the sunspot’s location near the sun’s eastern limb.

Big sunspots tend to produce big flares, and clearly AR2192 is no exception. More X-flares are likely as AR2192 turns toward Earth in the days ahead. http://spaceweather.com/

Region 2192 produced a strong and long duration X1.1 solar flare peaking at 05:03 UTC Sunday morning / October 19th. Despite the long duration nature and brightness of this event, a strong coronal mass ejection (CME) does not yet appear evident.

This will have to be confirmed once updated coronagraph imagery becomes available. The active cluster of sunspots is not yet in a good position for Earth directed eruptions  http://www.solarham.net/

Image credit: solarham.com