A geomagnetic storm is ongoing as Earth continues to be buffeted by a series of solar eruptions and fast solar wind, with strong (G3) conditions expected to persist through tonight (Nov. 7). That means the northern lights could once again put on a spectacular display across parts of Europe, Canada and the northern U.S.
Earlier today (Nov. 7), the anticipated arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) launched with the M7.4 flare on Nov. 5 was detected by spacecraft positioned at Lagrange Point 1 (L1), roughly 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. "The leading edge of a CME, presumably from the M7.6 flare, reached L1 just before 5h UTC," aurora chaser Jure Atanackov wrote on X. "Solar wind speed increased to ~800 km/s, Bt increased to ~17 nT. Bz has been variable so far, reaching everything between +16 and -16 nT. If it manages to stabilize at strongly negative values for some time, then we will see a rapid increase in geomagnetic activity."
