Massive solar disturbance & CME on Far-side of Sun

NASA twin STEREO spacecraft observed a spectacular coronal mass ejection launched from the vicinity of decaying sunspot 1176 on April 3rd around 0500 UT. The blast was not Earth directed. Nevertheless, there is a chance that the expanding cloud will deliver a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field on or about April 6th.

CME movies: STEREO-A, STEREO-B. (SpaceWeather)

Both Sunspot 1183 and growing Sunspot 1184 remain quiet early on Monday. There will be a chance for C-Class flares. A new sunspot which should be numbered 1185 rotated into view on the eastern limb.

NOAA Solar Report
Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity -SDF Number 093 Issued on 03 Apr 2011

Region 1183 (N17W25) produced a C1 event at 03/0519Z. A CME was associated with a B8/Sf event from
Region 1173 (S18W86) at 02/2347Z. At 03/0024Z, Goes-15 SXI imagery detected material movement from the SW limb that was later observed in STEREO-B COR2 imagery at 03/0109Z and STEREO-A COR2 imagery at
03/0409Z. Using this imagery, a preliminary plane-of-sky speed estimate of 322 km/s was assigned.

Solar activity is expected to be very low to low with a slight chance for moderate activity (isolated M-class) from Region 1183 during the period (04 – 06 April).

The geomagnetic field was at unsettled to active levels in response to a coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels during the period.

Geomagnetic activity is expected to be mostly quiet for the next three days (04 – 06 April). The CME mentioned above is not expected to be geoeffective. (SolarHam)