SOLAR FLARE! Solar activity is high. On October 24th at 00:30 UT, Earth-facing sunspot AR1877 erupted, producing a powerful M9-class solar flare. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast:

Update #1: The eruption hurled a faint CME into space and it appears to be heading toward Earth. The arrival time is not yet known.

Update #2: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has released a full-disk movie of the explosion. Play it.

More flares are in the offing. Two large sunspots, AR1875 and AR1877, have ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic fields that harbor energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-flares and a 5% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours.

fr/spaceweather.com