AR11719 Erupts With M6 Flare - 11th April

At 0716ut on 11th April, active region AR11719 erupted with a huge M6 class solar flare.  The regions beta - gamma magnetic field finally ruptured throwing off a full halo coronal mass ejection with a speed of 1142 km/s.  This is anticipated to arrive at Earth at 0500ut on the 13th April with significant increases in solar wind speed and IMF Bt expected to cause a G2 class major geomagnetic storm.  Skywatchers should be aware of the possibility of auroral activity at high and down to possibly mid latitudes when the CME impacts Earth on or around the 13th.  In the mean time NASAs space weather prediction centre is cautioning the chance of further M class flares from the active region, with the smaller potential for even larger X class flares.  I took a screen capture of the event this morning from the GONG solar patrol scope based in Udaipur, India.