Major media getting it wrong just to fill the news cycle?
A solar flare travels at the speed of light and will hit the earth in 8 minutes, if it where to hit the earth.
A CME travel at speeds from 100 to 1000 kilometers per second and take several days to reach the Earth
A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots (disruptive if on target)
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun's corona. They can eject billions of tons of coronal material. (Life changing if on target)
Now a CME released on the solar plane is scary with a 1 in 360 chance of hitting the earth directly.
So why for the last week or so the media releases headline like massive CME released from the sun and then describe a solar flare in the text? Cry wolf much?