The sun produced an M5-class flare earlier today, which peaked at 1332 UTC (8:32 CDT on May 22, 2013). In the image below – from NASA SOHO, you can see the beautiful coronal mass ejection produced in the flare. The CME was not Earth-directed but could deliver a glancing blow in the next few days.

What are coronal mass ejections?
Will I see the northern lights tonight?
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