Gargantuan sunspot unleashes X3.98-class solar flare: Views from Spacecraft

Ginormous active sunspot area AR3664 unleashed X3.98, its most powerful solar flare to date, which has generated several Coronal Mass Ejections (bursts of solar material) our planet's way. AR3664 is the size of 15 Earth diameters and holds 58 individual sunspots. X3.98 peaked in the early hours of May 10, at 0654 UTC