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Cover Art: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured this image of a solar flare -- the third most powerful ever observed in X-ray wavelengths -- as it erupted from the sun early on Tuesday, October 28, 2003. The flare, in the lower center of the image, was preceded by a Coronal Mass Ejection, which blasted electrically charged gas toward the Earth, threatening to disrupt power grids and satellite operations. SOHO is a joint project being carried out by the European Space Agency and NASA.

For more images and movies of the flare and the Coronal Mass Ejection, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/10.28Flare.html

For more on SOHO, visit http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/