The article also said it was 150 light years away. Somehow I don't think "within minutes" is very accurate.Unless it blew up 140 some odd years ago. ;-)
(By the way, has anybody said "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!", if not I just did. ;-)
It takes about 8 minutes for the energy from a solar CME to reach Earth. 150 light years would certainly take longer. If either of you are interested I believe I have a formula to calculate the actual time.