NASA has released a statement about the large solar flare Tuesday, “The Sun unleashed an M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare, an S1-class (minor) radiation storm and a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) on June 7, 2011 from sunspot complex 1226-1227. The large cloud of particles mushroomed up and fell back down looking as if it covered an area of almost half the solar surface.”

Fortunately for the inhabitants of Earth the coronal mass ejection was not aimed directly at our planet and will strike Earth with Only a glancing blow. Still the solar flare has the potential to impact GPS systems, communications satellites, and power grids.

It should strike during the early evening June 8th (tonight, around 6 p.m.) through June 9th. The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) issued a statement noting the solar flare released radiation greater than any seen since 2006.

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