Hi Chris. This solar flare may be something we have never seen before. Can you believe X50? I know I have a hard time with that, but then again I don’t know of anything that says there couldn’t be an X50. Take Care…Don in creepy town

PRESTO FROM SIDC - RWC BELGIUM Wed Nov 5 2003, 0600 UT
A new extreme flare (X17.4) was again produced by active region Catania#70 (NOAA 0486) yesterday Nov.4 at 19:53. As the flaring site was actually behind the limb, the true X-ray peak brightness may have reached X50. Despite its limb location, this event spawned a halo CME, with an initial speed estimated at 2380km/s. Model calculations indicate that the Eastern flank of this disturbance will produce glancing blow to the Earth magnetosphere on Nov. 6. This flare produced a slowly rising proton event. The GOES proton flux is still rising now: >10MeV protons at 200 pfu and >50MeV just at event threshold. Geomagnetic conditions are currently quiet to unsettled. The solar wind speed is now decreasing with a stable positive Bz. Therefore, no activity is expected until the arrival of the CME, which can trigger a new major geomagnetic storm

• Solar Flare