Solar Fireworks Jar Scientists
NASA – The most intense burst of solar radiation in five decadesaccompanied a large solar flare on January 20. It shookspace weather theory and highlighted the need for newforecasting techniques, according to several presentationsat the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting this week inNew Orleans.
The solar flare, which occurred at 2 a.m. EST, trippedradiation monitors all over the planet and scrambleddetectors on spacecraft. The shower of energetic protonscame minutes after the first sign of the flare. This flarewas an extreme example of the type of radiation storm thatarrives too quickly to warn interplanetary astronauts.
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