CORONAL MASS EJECTIONCME

Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 6, 2026

Arrival forecast
Map: Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 6, 2026

A coronal mass ejection, a billion-ton cloud of magnetized gas, left the Sun on October 6, 2026 at 06:23 UTC, moving at about 570 km/s (1.3 million mph). NASA’s model forecast it to reach Earth around Friday, October 9 at 02:21 UTC. In the model’s strongest scenario it pushes the K index to 7, a G3 geomagnetic storm. A geomagnetic storm followed.

Left the SunOct 6 06:23 UTC
Speed570 km/s
Arrival (model)Oct 9 02:21 UTC
Glancing blowNo
Kp forecastup to 7
Travel time68 hours
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What happens when it arrives

If the cloud’s magnetic field points south when it hits, it can couple with Earth’s and set off a geomagnetic storm: auroras far from the poles, and in strong storms trouble for power grids, satellites and GPS. Arrival times are model forecasts and are often off by six hours or more. Live outlook: aurora forecast.

Did you know?

Power grids. The March 1989 geomagnetic storm caused a blackout across the entire Quebec power grid in Canada for about nine hours.

Data: NASA DONKI (WSA-ENLIL model).

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