900-Mile-Per-Second Solar Eruption Caused Geomagnetic Storm Near Earth (VIDEO)

After erupting from the sun and speeding towards Earth at 900 miles per second, an unusually fast coronal mass ejection (CME) caused a solar storm near Earth.

Upon colliding with the magnetosphere, the magnetic bubble that surrounds the planet, the CME caused a geomagnetic storm, which was not originally predicted when the CME was first reported late last week.

No damage to spacecraft or equipment on Earth was reported as a result of the geomagnetic storm, which produced auroras visible at high latitudes.

On Friday, March 15 a solar phenomenon known as a coronal mass ejection erupted from the sun, sending billions of tons of solar particles into space in the direction of Earth. The high-speed coronal mass ejection sent particles blazing towards Earth at speeds of 900 miles per second.

Historically, CMEs at this speed have caused mild to moderate effects on Earth, NASA reported. CMEs can potentially affect electronic systems in satellites and on the ground. The CME was predicted to reach Earth by March 17.

Models based on observations from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and ESA/NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory showed the CME traveling at speeds up to 900 miles per second, which is considered quite fast for CMEs.

In the early hours of March 17 the CME passed by NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as it approached Earth.

The CME produced mild solar storm, rated as a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5. It subsequently subsided to a G1.

Because only minor particle radiation was associated with the event, there was little worry that the computers and electronics of interplanetary spacecraft would be effected as the CME passed by.

A model prepared by NASA shows the way the CME would have travelled towards Earth. Note the video repeats four times.