[justa-hairyape]

FYI - Concerning that October 23 to November 3rd of 2003 time frame. There were two very large flares that were sent our way. On October 28th 2003 an X17.2 was the 4th largest flare we have ever seen. Image courtesy of SolarCycle24.com.

Then on October 29th 2003 an X10 flare was the 20th largest flare we have ever seen. Image courtesy of SolarCycle24.com.

Then on November 4th 2003 the largest solar flare we have ever seen occurred and it was an incredible X28+. Lucky for us the Earth and Sun had moved enough by then that the super flare was not aimed at our planet.

SolarCycle24.com Movie

Also forgot to note the Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) that affect Earths magnetosphere. They are so powerful they can cause damage to satellites and electrical transmission lines. Trillions of watts of power are created and directed back to the Earth's upper atmosphere when these CME's hit our magnetopshere.

[ChessExpert]

That is a neat movie in the link provided. The flare seemed instantaneous in the video. Stepping through the frames and looking at the time information, I think it lasted about a half hour. To traverse the sun in such a short period of time means it was really moving.

Thanks for the many excellent posts.