On this day 22 years ago, the most powerful solar flare of the 21st century occurred.

This video, unimpressive by today's standards, was captured 22 years ago by the European spacecraft SOHO and shows the most powerful solar flare of the first quarter of this century. The event occurred on November 4, 2003, at 10:53 PM Moscow time. The flare's exact magnitude was never measured, as the GOES satellite's detectors (which produced the red graph) reported a reading of X17.4. This is the value at which the event was cataloged. The flare's actual magnitude is considered to be X40 - X45.

The flare occurred at the edge of the Sun, even partially beyond it, and failed to impact Earth. However, the planet had already had plenty of adrenaline at that point. A week earlier, on October 28, this same active region produced the third-most powerful flare of this century, rated as an X24 (for the same reasons, this event was cataloged as an X17.2), which struck Earth, causing this event.

It's worth noting that both flares occurred during the waning phase of the solar cycle, two years after the peak of solar activity, which calls for special attention to events occurring now and those expected in 2026.