Scientists find way to predict sunspots

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(08-18) 16:29 PDT STANFORD --

Stanford physicists probing the sun's deep interior have predicted the emergence of sunspots on the surface a full two days before they appear, providing the first early warning of the violent solar storms that can endanger astronauts in space, disrupt electric power grids on Earth, and plunge cities into darkness.

Erupting sunspot regions release immensely powerful blasts of x-rays and clouds of ionized gases in two forms that speed toward Earth at millions of miles an hour.

Solar flares, moving at the speed of light, can intensify high-frequency radio communications and generate the shimmering northern lights - the aurora borealis.

But far worse storms called coronal mass ejections can send x-rays and immense ionized gas clouds called plasma into the Earth's atmosphere. At their peak, these invisible electromagnetic clouds form part of the solar wind can wipe out power lines, warp GPS location systems, distort satellite instrument readings, and delay satellite launches.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/18/BAER1KNIRO.DTL