The eruption hurled a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) into space: SOHO movie:
The cloud is not heading toward Earth, at least not directly. A glancing blow from the outskirts of the CME is possible two to three days from now, but any impact is likely to be mild. The eruption was more photogenic than geoeffective.
More images: from Steve Wainwright of Gower, South Wales UK; from Patrick Bornet of Saint Martin sur Nohain, Nièvre, France; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Les Observateurs Associés au Pic du Midi, France; from Gianfranco Meregalli of Milano Italy
