CORONAL MASS EJECTIONCME

Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 10, 2026

Arrival forecast
Map: Coronal mass ejection toward Earth, October 10, 2026

A coronal mass ejection, a billion-ton cloud of magnetized gas, left the Sun on October 10, 2026 at 16:15 UTC, moving at about 844 km/s (1.9 million mph). NASA’s model forecast it to reach Earth around Monday, October 12 at 00:43 UTC. In the model’s strongest scenario it pushes the K index to 9, a G5 geomagnetic storm. A geomagnetic storm followed.

Left the SunOct 10 16:15 UTC
Speed844 km/s
Arrival (model)Oct 12 00:43 UTC
Glancing blowNo
Kp forecastup to 9
Travel time32 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?

Aurora colors. Auroras glow when particles from the Sun hit our upper atmosphere: oxygen gives green and red, nitrogen gives blue and purple.

Data: NASA DONKI (WSA-ENLIL model).

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