news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3242353.stm
Biggest solar flare goes off
Just as solar scientists thought the Sun might be winding down it has unleashed the biggest solar flare ever recorded. It was so energetic that it overloaded the detectors on satellites monitoring the Sun's surface.
The blast was accompanied with a gigantic gas cloud of billions of tonnes of superhot gas being ejected into space - some of it directed at Earth.
Researchers are saying that the Sun's current spate of activity - now 10 days in duration - is the most dramatic and intense ever witnessed on the Sun's surface.
Powerful solar flares are given an "X" designation. There was an X8 and an X3 event on Sunday.
On Monday, there was an X3 flare followed by smaller ones. Last week there were X7 and X10 events that took place back-to-back.
Tuesday's flare went off the scale, researchers say it was "well above X20". :shock:
This would make it the most powerful ever recorded, surpassing the X20 flares of 2 April 2001 and 16 August 1989.
  