Wondering about a CME.

The sun is flaring up again.  Yep, it is shooting at us here on Earth.  Oh, don't worry, unless you are an astronaut.  You see, the Earth's atmosphere will protect us from most of the effects.  But it may cause extra active "northern lights".  Since the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) is on the part of the sun facing Earth, it will be shooting charged particles right at us.  The atmosphere, as I said above, will protect us to a degree, the closer to the north poles the less protection you will have.  The particles can easily hit the Earth through the poles.  So, here in North America, the closer you are to the North Pole the more adverse will be the effect.

Back quite a few years ago (not sure, but I believe it was in the 1930's) we took a direct hit here on Earth.  The telegraph operators said that fire came shooting out of their telegraph keys.  When the CME particles hit the wires, it induced a voltage spike and a higher than normal current in the wires.  If we were to get hit that hard in today's world of electronics, communication satellites, and millions of miles of telephone and electric wires and cables, it could reek havoc and cause a lot of damage.  We are so dependent now a days on electronics, that we are now a lot more vulnerable then we were back when the last huge hit occurred.

Just think what all depends on electronics and radio transmissions.  Don't think it would be a good time to fly anywhere.  But don't worry too much, although this CME is four times the width of the Earth, we are still a small, moving target that is about 93 million miles away.  Here is a picture of the sunspots that will break off and become a CME:

As you can see, they are pointing directly at us.  Hope I didn't scare you, but even if I did, I want you to have a great day, you hear?