1:30 PM | Update on the latest CMEs
Paul Dorian
Discussion
For the second day in a row, the sun has sent a blast of electrically charged particles towards the Earth. Both of these coronal mass ejections (CMEs) originated in the sunspot region officially referred to as AR1504 and shown in yesterday’s video. It appears as if these two different CMEs will actually merge together before arriving in the vicinity of the Earth, sometime on Saturday, June 16th, as the more recent CME is traveling about twice as fast as the older original one. Neither of these flares has approached the “X-class” level, which would have had the potential for disruptions in power grids or satellite-based communication. Bottom line: polar regions will have a better chance of seeing the northern lights this weekend and maybe, just maybe, some will be seen as far south as the northern US during Saturday night.