Halo CME
@halocme
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Solar physicist (alum UTkyAst). I believe solar polar magnetic field must be measured properly before predictions of space weather and solar cycle make sense.
Palo Alto, California
Joined October 2013
MOST POWERFUL FLARE IN SOLAR CYCLE 25. It was X9.0 in GOES X-ray measurement. It was quite eruptive, leaving a coronal wave. The eruption/CME seemed to result from magnetic reconnection rather than ideally from a pre-existing flux rope. It may come in less than 3 days.
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HUGE ERUPTION IN EARTH-STRIKE ZONE, associated with an X1.8 flare. We see a spectacular coronal wave in this movie of AIA images. A nice halo CME followed. My estimate of the speed from LASCO C3 images at 02:30 and 03:06 was~1800 km/s. It may arrive no earlier than midnight UT.
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I am fortunate to end year 2023 with this spectacular X5.0 (not X4.8, sorry for the typo) event. The global coronal wave is quite impressive as captured in this video. I presume there was a big CME (coronagraph data not available yet at this moment.)
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FINALLY! AR 12887 produced a global eruption (associated with an X1.0 flare). The dark part of this animation represents coronal dimmings due to a CME, which may arrive at Earth on Halloween, in addition to a filament that went off south.
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Spectacular global disturbances from an energetic CME on 2023/12/14. It was associated with an X2.8 flare in AR 13514. We see >10 MeV protons are increasing, but it is not clear if the flux reaches 10 pfu (NOAA S1 level). This CME may only glance Earth at best.
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Exciting time now thanks largely to AR 13500. This video shows running difference full-disk images in three AIA channels, capturing large-scale disturbances from the latest eruption/M9.8 flare. How can you say this event will have no impact on Earth?
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I am stunned by this: Large-scale disturbances across the solar disk. How can we avoid predicting the CME will hit Earth around 31 March, given its origin in the heart of Earth strike zone? . The eruption appears strong enough to overcome resistance from southern coronal holes.
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I love this! Highly eruptive X2.2 flare with a nice coronal wave, although I doubt the CME will even glance Earth. The flux of energetic particles will be SolO>STA>L1. And high flux at PSP and BepiColombo, from which the region is in the western hemisphere.
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The latest M3.7 flare in AR 13229 was a dynamic filament eruption, accompanied by an impressive coronal wave. The region was in Earth strike zone in longitude, but the bulk of the CME looked like heading north. So perhaps only its southern flank may arrive at Earth (on Feb 27).
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This video features a spectacular global coronal wave, the lower part of a shock wave driven by the fast halo CME. This event was also associated with an X5.8 flare from AR 13664, the second largest flare in solar cycle 25. The proton event had a quick rise and a hard spectrum.
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Spectacular global coronal wave that accompanied the CME associated with the latest X3.3 flare in AR 13575. This is a scale-up version of the previous M5.1 and M4.0 events from the same region. This flare could have been ~X10 if not occulted by the limb.
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Close-up view of the Memorial Day X2.8 flare. This is an animation of SDO/AIA 171 Å images. Note loop oscillations right after the eruption, and a subsequent growth (apparent rising motion) of post-flare loops.
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This one, on 28 July, is the biggest of the three. The spectacular global coronal wave suggests an Earth-bound CME. The associated flaring from AR 13764 consisted of two peaks, at M7.9 and M9.9.
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Amazing eruption! It was associated with an M9.7 flare in AR 13697. It was preceded by a prominence eruption going to west and north. The eruption was accompanied by a spectacular global coronal wave, and later observed as a fast (~1500 km/s) asymmetric halo CME.
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Today's eruption/M1.6 flare from AR 12882 is not only thought to have launched an Earth-directed CME, but also was accompanied by an impressive large-scale EUV wave. It even spawned a secondary wave when it hit a region to southwest (lower right).
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The filament eruption seen in SUVI 304 Å images as reported by @erikapal occurred ~35° behind the east limb (per STEREO-A). This turned out to be a huge CME! This animation combines running difference images from LASCO C2 and C3, which cover 6 Rs and 30 Rs, respectively.
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This animation captures the latest X8.7 flare again in AR 13664. It is the largest in solar cycle 25. We see much dynamic motions, including a global coronal wave, than in the last video for the X1.7 flare that occurred earlier today.
AR 13664 continues to be an X-class flare producer even after it rotated off the west limb. This video is for the first X-class flare on 2024-05-14. Just a minor eruption. I will upload another video for the X8.79, third today, which has just occurred.
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Spectacular eruption on 2023-08-05, accompanied by an X1.6 flare in AR 13386. The flare impulsive phase was well preceded by a slow rise of a filament as seen over the limb.
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The X1.3 flare that occurred in AR 12975 today once more produced spectacular large-scale disturbances. Its possible impact on the heliosphere may be better evaluated after LASCO data are lined up.
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HUGE ERUPTION TODAY (2024/09/14) that resulted in a bright and fast CME. The accompanying coronal wave covered a large volume of the lower corona. The associated flare in AR 13825 was X4.5. Despite the region's eastern hemisphere location, protons in >50 MeV channel increased.
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Big eruption this morning. This animation shows how extensive the disturbances were. The event was associated with an X3.3 flare in AR 13869, which we should monitor for possible Earth-affecting CMEs, starting a few days later.
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Impressive eruption! It was accompanied by an M5.7 flare) from AR 13363 near the SW limb. In this animation, the last GOES peak (the flare still ongoing) corresponded to a global eruption that affected a large area of the Sun. This followed a smaller filament eruption.
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The halo CME on 2023-04-21 resulted from this eruption (also an M1.8 flare). In addition to strong dimmings, it produced a gorgeous large-scale coronal wave as seen in this AIA tri-color running ratio movie. Expect at least some impact on Earth on the 24th.
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The latest M9.6 flare from AR 12975. Similar to yesterday's X1.3 flare.
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Large-scale eruption associated with the X7.15 flare. Not surprising as almost all the >X3 flares at least show some CME-related signatures. I am glad the venue of the Space Climate 9 conference ( offers nice connectivity and power (for each seat!).
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Yesterday's big eruption, which launched a likely Earth-bound CME. It would be interesting to examine what looks like a coronal wave because in this case we may partly see the CME itself. I thought the CME would arrive 30 Nov -1 Dec, but some people predicted the 29 Nov arrival.
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X2.2 flare on 2023-02-17. This is a 15-hour-long animation of AIA 131 Å images. We note downflows above the post eruption arcade to the end of this animation.
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Spectacular coronal wave from the latest eruption associated with an X1.1 flare in AR 12994. Stronger disturbances counterclockwise along the limb than into the disk. This animation does not contain a ~30 minute interval before the eruption showing loop contraction. @xudong_sun
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The best solar event on 2024/10/29 was the big prominence eruption from the southwest limb. This became an extended CME based on the LASCO C3 image at 19:30 UT. At this time no coronagraph data are available between 12:53 (STEREO-A COR2) and 19:30 (C3).
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Wow! Spectacular eruption from AR 12859. Even though the magnitude of the associated flare is only C3.0, the location and appearance of the eruption make it hard to be silent about possible effect on Earth. Prepare for a 30 August arrival.
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G5 storm!! The Kp index hit 9, which was never seen in previous solar cycle (24). The Dst index has also reached -350 nT, never seen in cycle 24. What if strong southward field and fast solar wind conditions persist? The Kp index may no longer be useful.
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WHY EXCITED?. The latest M8.6 flare in AR 13234 - some may be excited because it was almost X-class - showed an eruption seen over the NW limb, but not as spectacular as the M3.7 and M6.3 events a few days ago. Indeed the CME associated with the M8.6 flare is underwhelming.
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Wow, a halo CME! It is bigger than what I anticipated based on coronal dimmings (see my earlier tweet). This may give us more than a glancing blow starting on March 14.
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Impressive eruption accompanied by an X1.5 flare in AR 13386 (again!). Note QPP - fast moving wave trains counterclockwise - around the 1 o'clock angle.
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We are still waiting for LASCO data, which will show the CME that caused this spectacular global disturbance and M9 flare. I am enchanted by the scientific topic of how the CME is captured by coronal dimmings and EUV waves, and will present some results at IAU Symp. and COSPAR.
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Amazing eruption associated with an X1.1 flare in AR 13614. It was accompanied by a global coronal wave with QFP wave trains. The GOES >10 MeV proton flux may exceed the S1 storm level. As expected, a halo CME followed, which may hit us in the morning (UT) of March 24.
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Big eruption on Sun's southeast (lower left) limb today (2024/09/01), seen as a decent CME and flare (M5.6, peak at ~13:30 UT). The region was still behind the limb, so this could've been an X-class. Note quasi-periodic, fast-mode propagating (QFP) wave trains toward south pole.
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Scary eruption from the far side of the Sun on 2022-02-15. SDO/AIA nicely caught it. The source region may have been slightly east of E125 (my earlier estimate), but not too much. This is because we clearly see wave signatures on the visible disk.
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BREAKING NEWS. Two eruptive flares today. The first one (C3.5) came from AR 13113 (east or left), preceded by brightening in AR 13110. The second one (M5.8), peaking at 20:10 UT, came from AR 13110. The first one accompanied a bigger eruption. The second one looked like a surge.
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Rapid growth of solar active region AR 13078 over the past four days.
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Gorgeous eruption associated with an X1.8 flare in AR 13872. Hard to know if the CME had an Earth-directed component from low coronal data alone. This video comes from running difference images 48s apart at around 2 MK (R), 1.5 MK (G) and 0.7 MK (B). Note QFP in ccw direction.
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A huge filament is sitting in the southern hemisphere, as if to scare us once it gets erupted. The eruption could lead to a big geomagnetic storm. How can it be destabilized? Perhaps flares in AR 13697, even those confined and boring ones, may contribute. Let's monitor them.
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The latest M3.8 flare in AR 13234. It was eruptive, accompanied by a coronal wave. But it was not strong enough to produce energetic protons observable to GOES (high background!).
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Nice eruption today from AR 13150, producing a CME and associated with an M1.6 flare. This video captures a large-scale coronal wave that reflects sudden lateral expansion of coronal structures. Not all eruptions/CMEs show such a wave. Type II/IV bursts are also reported.
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X3.3 eruptive flare in AR 13869. As expected, it was associated with a decent CME observed by SoHO/LASCO. But it may not be geoeffective because of its location. Let's monitor this region into Earth strike zone a few days later.
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NEWS! . The biggest flare in solar cycle 25 has just been updated. X8.79 at 2024-05-14 16:51 UT.
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Spectacular eruption associated with a M5.5 flare from AR 12929 (peak at 2022-01-20 06:01 UT). The remarkable coronal wave indicates a strong shock wave driven by a CME. The GOES > 10 MeV proton flux may exceed the SWPC warning threshold (10 pfu). @Loveon999
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The latest X1.5 flare from AR 13006 was eruptive, marked by a gorgeous coronal wave. But the possible effect on Earth may need professional evaluation by @TamithaSkov @erikapal and @chrisoutofspace . This may be only a glancing blow as the CME was largely directed south.
@TheSunToday Indeed here the large and beautiful coronal wave detected by Solar Demon Dimming Detection tool @ORB_KSB. Enjoy! 🤩. 👉
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This morning (on 2024-01-29) saw a substantial eruption and partial halo CME from AR 13559, associated with an M6.8 flare. This animation of AIA images reveals disturbances along the limb. Their crossing of the ecliptic plane may explain a major proton event, hitting ~70 pfu.
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Memorial Day X-class Flare! X2.8 flare from a yet to be numbered (AR 13697) region, likely the return of AR 13664. Like those intense flares from AR 13664 up to 2024-05-15, this one is very eruptive as indicated by a nice global coronal wave that is captured in this video.
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Further update on Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas as captured by SOHO/LASCO up to ~30 R_sun. The circle in white indicates the solar disk (1 R_sun). Note many CMEs in this time frame.
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Solar maximum is approaching as the polar magnetic field reverses polarity. The mean field started weakening in lower (60-70 deg) latitudes in the second half of 2022.
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Today's M1.8 flare was quite eruptive with a coronal wave and dimmings, resulting in a partial halo CME. Its northwestern flank may glance Earth on 23 Dec. The flare occurred in the eastern part of AR 12908, preceded by a C2.9 flare in AR 12907.
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A gorgeous eruption on Sun's northeastern (upper left) limb late on 26 October 2023. This was followed by a halo CME as expected, but it may not hit us because of the location too far away from Earth strike zone.
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Second halo CME at 20:24 UT. AR 12975 is amazing to have produced two Earth-directed CMEs only ~9 hours apart.
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AR 13668 continues to produce eruptive flares. This X2.2 flare on May 9 was associated with another halo CME, likely Earth-directed. The messy geo-space environment starting May 10 or 11 and lasting a few days will be explained by @AusSpaceAgency, @TamithaSkov and other experts.
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The recent eruption reported by @CocoasCola and @erikapal (thanks!) was a big one with a global coronal wave as shown in this animation. There will be no effect on Earth since the source region was ~30° behind the limb (per STEREO). Observed flare class: B8.7, Actual: likely >X1
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Why is AR 13590 CME-deficient? None of the X-class flares therein were associated with a CME driven by an erupting flux rope. Based on the impression from this AIA 171 Å /HMI Blos movie, the active-region-wide dipolar field seems to remain strong, inhibiting eruptions.
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Solar active region AR 12936 is still increasing size and complexity. Major flares may be possible.
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Three regions on the solar disk erupted nearly simultaneously, possibly spawning other eruptions to the east and over the west limb. Almost no flare except for post-eruption arcades in AR 12941. These eruptions themselves may not be geoeffective, but prepare for something major.
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Nice large-scale coronal wave, associated with a M1.4 flare in AR 13176.
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Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas approaching the Sun that has repeatedly produced sizable coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
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I got a big Christmas present. An EUV wave (large-scale coronal propagating front) that we have not seen since May. It occurred in a region not identified with an active region number. Remarkably, there was hardly a flare (at most B1.1 with background added).
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Here is my usual colorful animation for today's powerful eruption and M6.3 flare in AR 13229. I make these movies only for eruptive flares associated with a major CME. Note it was preceded by another eruption from a quiet region to southeast.
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EXCITING TIME! Several possibly Earth-directed CMEs. This video shows LASCO C2 images side by side with GOES X-ray light curves. Note the frames starting 02:48 UT on May 7, 05:36, 12:24, and 22:36 UT on May 8. The near-Earth space environment will be messy during May 10-13.
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I made my usual video anyway for the latest X6.3 flare. As I noted earlier, we note some outward motions unlike in completely confined flares. But they are diffuse, slow and not far-reaching. Unlike CME-related coronal waves, they are not strongly driven by a flux rope.
@halocme I’m sure your movie is beautiful.
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Here is an animation of AIA 211, 193 and 171 Å images for the M1.1 flare from AR 12936 that has just been observed.
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The M9.6 (almost X-class) flare that occurred in AR 12993 - on the northeastern periphery of the leading spot. My impression is that a flux rope tore open rather strong overlying magnetic field. The CME may not form the classic three-part structure.
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The M1.1 flare that occurred less than an hour ago was eruptive, producing a very nice coronal wave. Please monitor coronagraph data to see if the associated CME may impact Earth( possibly around 23 April).
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Gorgeous filament eruption and subsequent two-ribbon formation on 2024-01-22. Coronagraph data are not available yet. I am unwilling to say if the CME has an Earth-directed component.
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The latest X-class flare (X1.6) flare in AR 13663 was certainly not "just a flare." Its eruptive signatures were not outstanding but at least worth making this kind of movie. The CME from this eruption was largely directed north, and may not come to Earth - but we never know.
One of my favorite tools, Solar Demon, is showing an EUV wave associated with the CME currently lifting off the Sun due to an X1.6 flare from AR 3663. I think it's safe to say there is something coming. Here are the data on Solar Demon:.@halocme
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The latest X1.7 flare in AR 13767 was associated with an energetic CME, which was responsible for a minor proton event. The protons may not reach the S1 radiation storm level, however. A coronal wave seen in this movie was quite spectacular - above the average.
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WARNING: Another CME may arrive on 17 or 18 August. This 12 hour movie of LASCO C2 difference images shows three CMEs, two from west, not Earth-bound. The one first seen at 08:24 to cover the north limb may hit Earth. It was associated with an X1.1 flare in AR 13784 at N13E04.
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Update on Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. Interesting to see it appears to encounter the big CME in the plane of the sky, but may not in 3D.
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Nice eruption from the latest X2.0 flare. Compare this with yesterday's M3.8 flare from the same region (AR 13234).
X-CLASS FLARE! AR 13234 has just produced an X2.0 flare, which looks eruptive. But the region is already so close to the NW limb that the CME may not be Earth-bound.
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Major eruption associated with the X2.5 short-duration flare from AR 13576 on 2024 February 16. The CME may not impact Earth because it was launched close to the limb, but we will see if the shock is detected at L1.
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X2.2 flare in progress!. I will post an update only if it is very eruptive.
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The latest M7.4 flare from AR 13599 was not just a flare. We see a nice coronal wave launched to west, and a CME, the brightest part of which was limited to NNW (in LASCO C3). Small proton event. This eruption makes us think about the relation of flares with CMEs and shock waves.
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Second X-class (X1.0) flare of June 2024, followed by an M7.4 flare. The X1.0 looked as boring 🥱 as the X1.1 on May 31 and X1.4 on June 1, but the M7.4 was eruptive as seen in this video. Question: was the eruption seen over the limb during 18:45-18:55 related to AR 13967?
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The halo CME reported in the previous post was due to an eruption from the southern border of AR 13557. A diffuse coronal wave is noted in this animation. There are a couple of bad frames due to recovery from the eclipse and a 5 minute gap around 09 UT.
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Spectacular eruption from solar active region AR 12734 with a large-scale coronal propagating front and quasi-periodic wave train. But this was over 7 months ago. We may not expect a show like this in this elongated solar minimum conditions.
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Gorgeous filament eruption in Sun's north polar region to the west. This will not impact us, but it was a remarkable event.
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CME WATCH for the past 4 days. The only notable CME (on Oct 16-17) was from the far side. Despite many M-class flares, the CME activity was low. Do not expect major geomagnetic storms at least in the next few days or until I tweet otherwise.
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Spectacular eruption from a region behind the northwest limb. Was this from AR 13361, still at ~W105? Only 15° limb-occulted, we would expect some "flare" emission in GOES X-rays. Was the epicenter a new region further behind the limb ? Observations from L4 would've shown us.
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Gorgeous prominence eruption now, nicely captured by SUVI/GOES-16.
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One more eruption from AR 13668. This one highlighted a nice global coronal wave. The associated flare was X1.1.
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X1.1 flare on 2023-06-20 from AR 13341. This AIA 3-color running difference movie captures large-scale coronal waves that inform how extended the associated CME might've been. I have not made these movies lately, because of the lack of flares that keep me awake.
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While people were watching AR 13388 in the southeastern quadrant (MM target region), AR 13376, already behind the northwestern limb, would have said "Don't forget me." . Latest M4.1 flare, perhaps more intense, given that it was limb-occulted. Nice jet-like ejection.
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Tri-color movie of AIA 211Å, 193Å, 171Å running difference images of the far-side eruption that took place about four hours ago. It was a big eruption, dominated by the counterclockwise propagation over the limb, which indicates interactions of the wave with coronal structures.
This eruption has caused the most energetic solar #RadiationStorm since the 2005 or possibly the 2003 Halloween events (i.e. very hard spectrum). This means it was a BIG eruption. Likely launched from Region 3889 or 3897 on the Sun's farside, this #solarstorm doesn't appear to
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Evolution of three sunspot regions, AR 12993, 12994 and 12995 (not official yet). Not huge changes. Hopefully these guys will produce spectacular eruptions as they approach Earth-strike zone.
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