Fact Sheet
Monster Blast
The largest solar flare ever recorded, in late 2003, erupts at the right edge of the Sun in this false-color image from an orbiting Sun-watching satellite. The flare was an explosion of particles and radiation that zapped Earth. The Sun is the dominant source of radiation from space, but not the only one. Others include remote stars and galaxies, which blast "cosmic rays" into space. [Credit: SOHO/EIT (ESA/NASA)]
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