A rare solar storm, dubbed “extremely rare,” erupted from the sun’s farside on December 17, clocking in at an estimated speed of around 1,964 miles per second. The coronal mass ejection (CME) is not expected to hit Earth directly, but its proximity poses a threat for potential geomagnetic storms.
The fourth farside CME in 10 days suggests a very active hidden sunspot that will rotate toward Earth next week, potentially causing another eruption. In the meantime, two other CMEs were released during solar filament eruptions on the southeastern limb, which could trigger disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere if they were directed towards our planet.
These eruptions are vast clouds of ionized gas above the sun’s surface that can erupt into space, hurling a CME out into space. The speed and intensity of these events make them significant for solar activity monitoring.
While none of the eruptions are predicted to be Earth-directed, astronomers closely monitor such events to provide early warnings for potential disruptions on our planet.
Source: https://www.space.com/the-universe/sun/watch-sun-fire-out-extremely-rare-coronal-mass-ejection-and-two-spectacular-fiery-filaments