EXTREME SOLAR ACTIVITY: One of the most powerful solar flares in years erupted
from giant sunspot 486 this morning at approximately 1110 UT. The blast measured
X17 on the Richter scale of solar flares. As a result of the explosion, a strong
S3-class solar radiation storm is underway. Click here to learn how such storms
can affect our planet. The explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME)
toward Earth. When it left the sun, the cloud was traveling 2125 km/s (almost 5
million mph). This CME could trigger bright auroras when it sweeps past our
planet perhaps as early as tonight.

http://www.spaceweather.com/