Meanwhile, giant sunspot 720 has unleashed another big solar flare. The X3-class explosion peaked at 0950 GMT (4:50 am EST) on Jan. 17th and hurled a CME in our direction. The many speckles in this SOHO coronagraph image of the CME are caused by protons accelerated to light speed by the blast hitting SOHO's digital camera.
The incoming CME will hit Earth's magnetic field on Jan. 18th or 19th, possibly energizing another geomagnetic storm.

Source: spaceweather.com