Big solar storm on January 23, 2012 seen by NASA's SOHO

On January 23, 2012 at about 04:00 UTC, the Sun unleashed a powerful flare and coronal mass ejection - huge explosions that drive hundreds of millions of tons of subatomic particles at fantastic speeds. The first wave of particles reached Earth in minutes, slamming into the instruments on board NASA's SOHO Sun-observing satellite.

Most CMEs are aimed off to the side, but the expanding halo of light is a sure sign it was headed right for us... and the proof is the big blast of particle hits to the detector.

We are in no real danger from this event, but it will most likely spark aurorae all over the northern and southern latitudes of Earth.

[rollofnickles]

I saw no coverage of this, thanks for filling me in.

[Majoofi]

Why is there a dark sliver with nothing in it?

[philhellenes]

Wow! I guess that was a good day to NOT be halfway to Mars (or even ON Mars - daylight side anyway).

[NoOnesIdea]

Are we going to die or what? Didn't get it.

[JamesTCA]

@akroatis They already exist. The problem is corporatists make more money by selling us conventional fuels.

[akroatis]

Wow! What a blast! The atmosphere is so important. It protects us so much, and we're busy destroying it. we need to find alternative sources of energy which are ecologically sound.

[glifencible]

Great, a new moon, and nothing but clouds for the next week. :(

[akroatis]

@Jeedawg you're probably right, I don't know enough about politics and economics to judge, but if what you're saying is true, it wouldn't surprise me. On another level, the ordinary citizen is a member of society, and if we decided to organize and rebel against the system, we could do something about it.