"SOLAR FLARES"

Here Comes The Sun. This photo shows the major solar flare of October 28, 2003 as it occurred. Active region 10486 played up a spectacular show in the morning on Tuesday 28 October 2003. An X 17.2 flare, the second largest flare observed by SOHO, was setting off a strong high energy proton event and a fast-moving Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). The CME hit the Earth at 1 a.m. EST Wednesday the 29th about 19 hours after it left the Sun. NOAA space weather officials classified the geomagnetic storm as a G-5 or "extreme" on a scale that runs 1 to 5.