LDE M Flare in Progress - CME Watch In Effect!

   Out of nowhere! At this time there is a LDE (long duration event) M flare in progress . This M class solar flare event began today, March 15th just before 06:00 UTC and is currently at a M1.2 reading. The source of this LDE M flare is sunspot 1692 that is located in the very northern center of the solar disk..  Long duration events such as we are seeing right now are commonly associated with CME's. Because of this, we will be watching close for any signs of a CME that may be ejected toward Earth as well as what sunspot this event took place around. 
New Updates added! Click on the report title to view full report & all new updates.

Today's M flare event started taking place at the same time SWPC issued an alert that there is a Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse. This indicated that the CME we were expecting for March 15th has now arrived

Long duration C-Class Flare in progress

   We noticed a filament eruption today near Sunspot 1691 - 1690 located in the northern-center area of the solar disk. 

This filament eruption resulted in a 2 hour long LDE C-Class solar flare that occurred starting at 10:17 UTC and ended at 12:25 UTC 
  
We will update this report if we see a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) associated with this event. 

   UPDATE: There was a  CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) produced in association with todays event as we can see on STEREO B (here to the left). At this time the CME appears to have a mostly northward trajectory. We are still waiting on STEREO A to update so we can better determine if this CME  will be geoeffective. 

 *Continue to check back often for further updates and alerts as today's solar events unfold.

 

Another active Region rotating into view

 

The image to the left from NASA SDO shows regions 1692, 1694 and a new region rotating into view.

Comet PanSTARR Is Showing Up On NASA STEREO Images Today

 

   Comet Panstarrs reaches perihelion today when it makes its closet approach to the Sun.

We are now seeing this magnificent comet on STEREO B HI1 as we can see in the latest image from STEREO seen here to the left.

   By the evenings of March 12 and 13, comet Panstarrs will be seen in the western skies of the northern hemisphere just after sunset, where we will see this comet close to the crescent Moon.

Image Credit: Skyandtelescope,com

Here we have now an animation of Comet PanSTARRS in highly processed STEREO HI-1B images

 Image Credit: Sungrazing Comets