first major solar flare of 2014 erupted from a massive sunspot seven times the size of Earth

The first major solar flare of 2014 erupted from a massive sunspot seven times the size of Earth on Tuesday (Jan. 7) after a series of mid-level sun storms in recent days. The event occurred as the commercial spaceflight company Orbital Sciences was preparing to launch a landmark cargo delivery flight to the space station today with its Antares rocket and robotic Cygnus spacecraft.
"Early this morning the Antares launch team decided to scrub today's launch attempt due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment," Orbital Sciences officials said in a statement today

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The Space Reporter

Huge solar flare delays private rocket launch to space station

NBCNews.com 5 minutes ago

Written by Tariq Malik

This full-sun view combines two images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured on Jan. 7, 2014. Together, the images show the location of a giant sunspot group on the sun, and the position of an X-class flare that erupted at 1:32 p.m.

 

I had actually thought we moved out of the really active sunspot season every 11 years. So, it is a big surprise to many people that something this big would go off now.