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Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 March, 2004, 01:27 GMT
The flare overloaded detectors
The massive solar flare that erupted from the Sun last November was far bigger than scientists first thought.
At the time, satellite detectors were unable to record its true size because they were blinded by its radiation.
But University of Otago physicists say they have now estimated the probable scale of the huge explosion by studying how X-rays hit the Earth's atmosphere.
They tell Geophysical Research Letters the X45 class event was more than twice as big as the previous record flare.
Fortunately, the Earth did not take a direct hit from this immense blast of radiation and matter.
Had it done so, several orbiting satellites would almost certainly have been damaged and there could have been considerable disruption of radio communications and power grids on the planet's surface.
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The flare overloaded detectors
The massive solar flare that erupted from the Sun last November was far bigger than scientists first thought.
At the time, satellite detectors were unable to record its true size because they were blinded by its radiation.
But University of Otago physicists say they have now estimated the probable scale of the huge explosion by studying how X-rays hit the Earth's atmosphere.
They tell Geophysical Research Letters the X45 class event was more than twice as big as the previous record flare.
Fortunately, the Earth did not take a direct hit from this immense blast of radiation and matter.
Had it done so, several orbiting satellites would almost certainly have been damaged and there could have been considerable disruption of radio communications and power grids on the planet's surface.
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