Solar flares are often accompanied by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), enormous clouds of superheated plasma that streak through space at millions of miles per hour. While the radiation from a flare reaches Earth in just minutes, it typically takes CMEs several days to get here. Powerful Earth-directed CMEs can wreak havoc, causing geomagnetic storms that can disrupt power grids and satellite navigation.
It's unclear at the moment if a CME is associated with today's event. However, the SWPC has already issued a minor geomagnetic storm warning for Friday (March 13) as a result of three CMEs the sun unleashed on Monday (March 9).
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