Yesterday was the 10th of Cheshvan. Exactly seven years ago, on the 10th of Cheshvan, there was an enormous solar flare -the largest ever recorded. I've written about it before. It was the 11th of 11 x-flares. It saturated the instruments for 11 minutes. It was too large to be measured properly. Had it been earth-directed, anyone on that side of the earth in an unprotected location would have been fried.

So, it is interesting that right now, seven years later, there is a huge filament on the sun. Yesterday, this is what Spaceweather had to say:

MEGA SOLAR FILAMENT: An awesome, monstrous, jaw-dropping, 400,000 km  long filament of magnetism is stretched across the sun's southern hemisphere. If it collapses or erupts, as filaments often do, the result could be an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection. Meanwhile it is a fine target for backyard solar telescopes.

FILAMENT UPDATE: Magnetic instabilities in the filament caused an eruption today around 1600 UT. The filament was not destroyed, nor was material hurled toward Earth.

Today, October 19, the filament is even longer, at 500,000 (this is again from Spaceweather.com):

FILAMENT ERUPTION:  For days, astronomers have been monitoring a "mega-filament" of magnetism splayed across the sun's southern hemisphere. Measuring more than 500,000 km from end to end, it spans a distance greater than the separation of Earth and the Moon. Oct. 18th the massive structure erupted:

Instabilities in the filament sparked a C2-class flare and hurled a portion of the filament's own magnetic backbone into space. The blast was not Earth-directed. Remarkably, the structure survived mostly intact and is still visible in backyard optics. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

This filament is apparently tied to sunspot 1112. On October 17, this is what Spaceweather had to say about it:

GREAT FILAMENT: A vast filament of magnetism is cutting across the sun's southern hemisphere today. Run a finger along the golden-brown line in this extreme UV image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory and your digit will have traveled more than 400,000 km:

A bright 'hot spot' just north of the filament's midpoint is UV radiation from sunspot 1112. The proximity is no coincidence; the filament appears to be rooted in the sunspot below. If the sunspot flares, it could cause the entire structure to erupt.

I believe the solar flare of November 4, 2003 HAD to have been a warning, a "sign in the sun." It was exactly on Cheshvan 10, the day that God warned Noah that the flood would begin in seven days. Yesterday was Cheshvan 10, and now there is this "monstrous" (not my word!) filament on the sun, tied to a sun spot. Yesterday, it erupted - not huge, not earth-directed, but I wonder if it was a 7-day warning of other things to come?

The date of October 25 has been written about here. It is possible that this may be another confirmation of that. It is also possible that, being a sign in the sun, that the November 4 flare was a warning of something in November, seven solar years later. I don't know. Just thought I'd pass this along in case someone found it interesting.

LLee (WisconsinGardener)