How long is the largest ever measured solar flare?

scottietwenty3

November 4th 2003 saw the most powerful Solar flare eruption (see animation below) on record. This measured a colossal X 28 on the Solar Richter scale. For those unaquainted with the magnitude of Solar Flares it may be difficult to comprehend the extreme force of such an explosion which is the largest ever recorded in the Solar System. Although the two scales cannot be satisfactorily compared this explosion if transferred to the earthquake scale would be something like an earthquake of around 15 on the Richter scale. In other words an out of category event the like of which has never been seen or experienced. Fortunately for our planet most of the debris from the explosion was not entirely Earth directed but a glancing blow from the flare did bring displays of the Northern Lights several days later. However this is nothing to what would have happened if the flare had been targetted directly towards Earth. What is certain is that this particular Solar explosion broke all records and is an event without precedence in living memory. http://www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_Maps/solar/Solar_Flare/solar_flare.html Apr 14 09, 4:16 AM