CORONAL MASS EJECTIONCME

Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 8, 2026

Arrival forecast
Map: Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 8, 2026

A coronal mass ejection, a billion-ton cloud of magnetized gas, left the Sun on October 8, 2026 at 16:24 UTC, moving at about 579 km/s (1.3 million mph). NASA’s model forecast it to reach Earth around Sunday, October 11 at 20:14 UTC. In the model’s strongest scenario it pushes the K index to 5, a G1 geomagnetic storm. A geomagnetic storm followed.

Left the SunOct 8 16:24 UTC
Speed579 km/s
Arrival (model)Oct 11 20:14 UTC
Glancing blowNo
Kp forecastup to 5
Travel time76 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?

What is the Kp index?. Kp measures disturbance in Earth's magnetic field from 0 to 9. At Kp 5 and above it's a geomagnetic storm, and auroras can reach much farther from the poles.

Data: NASA DONKI (WSA-ENLIL model).

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