THE SOLAR FLARE THAT WOULDN'T END: Typical solar flares are finished in a matter of minutes. On Oct. 22nd, a solar flare in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2434 lasted for more than 3 hours. The slow explosion produced a CME, which is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Oct. 25th. Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed this long-duration solar flare on Oct. 22nd
