A "cannibal" coronal mass ejection (CME) birthed from a rare type of sunspot will slam into Earth tonight (June 4), likely bringing auroras to skies above 23 U.S. states.
The solar outburst began on June 2 from sunspot 4455, a dark patch on the sun's surface where powerful magnetic fields became knotted and unstable. These field lines then snapped, producing a series of X-class solar flares — the most powerful class of solar eruption — alongside multiple CMEs.
