In 2008, the solar cycle plunged into the deepest minimum in
nearly a century. Sunspots all but vanished, solar flares
subsided, and the sun was eerily quiet. As 2011 unfolds,
sunspots have returned and they are crackling with activity. On
February 15th and again on March 9th, Earth orbiting satellites
detected a pair of "X-class" solar flares--the most powerful
kind of x-ray flare. The last such eruption occurred back in
December 2006.