Our star The Sun has a dramatic influence on our everyday weather. It is the energy source that drives our planet. Although the Sun's energy output is fairly constant it does have an 11 year sunspot cycle where in the peak years of this cycle, the numbers of sunspots increase and the likleyhood of Solar storm activity also increases. The effects of these storms are felt here on earth in a number of ways, not least in the appearance of Auroras but also it affects all kinds of radio communications. Check out the links below for much more imformation.
Thanks to SOHO & NASA for providing the data on this page
Stereo Satellites animation Full Disk Magnetogram Current Visible Current Corona Image
Radio flux progression Sunspot Number Progression Planetary K Index chart
Solar wind Prediction
All the images on this page are (c) to their
respective owners.
Thanks to all for
providing the images for this page.
Documentaries about Solar Storms
NOAA Space Weather Scales
Space Weather Articles
Most scientists agree that it's not if but when a Solar Superstorm strikes our planet. The effects of such a strike have the potential to be devastating to our power infrastructure and satellites to name but two vulnerable systems. The articles reproduced below will bring home to you just how real this risk is...