AR 1504, a newly developed active region on the surface of the Sun, rotated into view on the left side of the star 5 days ago. Since June 10, it has released two solar flares and two coronal mass ejections, and highly charged material is currently traveling towards Earth.
The first solar flare was an M-class event, of medium intensity, which lasted for 3 hours. It occurred on June 13, and released a coronal mass ejection traveling at around 375 miles (603 kilometers) per second. Though it is expected to affect Earth, its impact will be minimal.
The second flare, also a long-lived M-class event, peaked on June 14, at 1508 GMT, and released a high velocity CME. The charged material is currently traveling towards our planet at a speed of 800 miles (1,287 kilometers) per second. It is expected to collide with the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.
Both CME are expected to arrive tomorrow, June 16. According to predictions made by experts at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Space Weather Center, AR1504 will continue to generate solar flares and CME for the time being.
