Solar fury

Science World, Jan 24, 2005 by Mona Chiang

The sun has been looking very spotty lately. For the last 60 years, the gaseous star has been experiencing an unusually long and severe outbreak of sunspots, or cooler areas on the sun's surface. Scientists at Germany's Max Planck Institute calculated that the last time the sun was as frequently covered with these highly magnetic splotches was 8,000 years ago.

"No one knows why the sun has been so active," says David Hathaway, a NASA astronomer. "We don't even fully understand why the sun spots." So why track the odd dots?

Whenever sunspots appear, they trigger solar flares that can cause problems on Earth. "[Solar flares] are tremendous explosions near the sun's surface," explains Hathaway. The blasts hurl enormous amounts of invisible radiation (form of high-energy waves or particles) toward Earth. This radiation is so potent that it could harm objects in its path; the radiation could even kilt human cells. "Luckily, we're protected [from the radiation] by the atmosphere (protective layer of gas surrounding Earth)," says Hathaway.

Not so lucky, are the scantily shielded objects circling high above Earth: Satellites can be damaged, disrupting cell-phone service. Also at risk: high-flying astronauts. By tracking sunspots, scientists can warn the astronauts to take special cover.

FIREBALL: The bright areas on the sun are solar flares, or tremendous explosions near the sun's surface.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]