Roger
on December 3, 2025
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🚨 It's happening again! 👇🏻
🌌 A powerful sunspot has just hurled a cloud of plasma toward Earth, setting the stage for a moderate geomagnetic storm.
A G2 geomagnetic storm watch has been issued for 3–4 December (UTC) after a coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from active Region 4299 on the Sun. The event was linked to an X1.9-class solar flare that peaked at 02:49 UTC on 1 December, placing it among the stronger flares seen in the current solar cycle. Although most of the CME’s material is headed east of the direct Sun–Earth line, models indicate that Earth is likely to receive a glancing blow.​
The eruption was detected using solar observatories that continuously monitor the Sun in X-rays and white-light coronagraph images, allowing scientists to track both the flare’s intensity and the CME’s outward motion. From these data, forecasters estimated the CME’s trajectory and timing, prompting NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center to issue the official G2 watch. On the NOAA space weather scales, G2 corresponds to a moderate geomagnetic storm, capable of producing noticeable auroral activity and minor impacts on power systems and satellites.​
What makes this event noteworthy is the combination of a strong X-class flare and a CME whose edge still appears capable of disturbing Earth’s magnetic field despite missing us head-on. Such glancing interactions help refine space weather models by testing how accurately they can predict storm strength from off-center eruptions. As solar activity climbs toward its peak, similar events will provide crucial data to improve forecasting, protect technology, and better understand how our star shapes space around Earth.
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