EMERGING SUNSPOT, STRONG FLARE: A big new sunspot is emerging over the sun’s northeastern limb. It announced itself on March 2nd at 1746 UT with anM3-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

Although the blast site was partially eclipsed by the solar limb, the flare nevertheless created waves of ionization in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Dave Gradwell of Birr Ireland detected the effect of these waves on the propagation of low-frequency radio signals across Europe. The explosion also hurled a faint CME over the northeastern limb: SOHO movie. The expanding cloud is not Earth-directed.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of additional M-class flares and a 5% chance of an X-flare during the next 24 hours. Solar activity is picking up

from: spaceweather.com