The largest solar flare in modern history happened only 12 years ago. On November 4, 2003, a sunspot group on the western limb of the Sun hurtled a massive blast of particles in a direction away from Earth. A week before, the same sunspot group had cranked out erup- tions that spawned auroras as far south as Florida. This flare was likely as big as the first one ever recorded, using ink and paper, in 1859.
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