The eruption occurred late on January 22, 2012 sending a burst of energized solar particles towards Earth at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second).
SpaceWeather.com ranks this geomagnetic storm "strong" or S3, meaning it may expose passengers in high-flying aircraft to radiation risk, disrupt satellite operations and degrade HF radio communications.
There is no risk to people on Earth, but polar flights are expected to be re-routed as a precaution measure. Furthermore, NASA expects "no adverse effects" for the six astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
The radiation storm has one other interesting side effect - stronger than normal displays of Earth's auroras. Expect some beautiful aurora pics to pop up on the Internet in the days to come.