Arriving hours earlier than expected, a solar flare from the sun has struck Earth's magnetic field today Sunday March 24th at 14:47. The impact opened a crack in the earths magnetosphere and sparked a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm.
Yesterday, the sun produced a solar flare so strong, it took two sunspots to make it. Sunspots AR3614 and AR3615 exploded in tandem on March 23rd, directing their fire straight at Earth. A National Solar Observatory telescope in Australia recorded the double blast.
The explosion from AR3614 was so violent it seemed to rip the fabric of the sun, while AR3615 followed very close behind with a less intense blast of its own.
The timing of the CME's arrival is expected to give sky watchers across the North of England are likely to see auroras as it gets darker over the next few hours.
Forecast for the local area over the next few hours is clear skies with light winds so should offer ideal viewing conditions over night.
The photo captured by Victoria Edwards shows the aurora that erupted across Penrith and was seen across most of UK in early March by a less powerful solar flare.
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