Solar Flare Heading Toward Earth

["Sonny M. Ashimori" <sonny@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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SUN'S CLOUD HEADING TO EARTH (REUTERS 4/9/97 1153 UTC)
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Magnetic cloud blasted from the sun is  heading toward Earth today, packing
radiation that space scientists say  could disrupt communications
satellites and power grids. But NASA's  latest readings indicate the center
of the energy burst, traveling at  more than 1.5 million miles per hour,
would miss the Earth, robbing it  of the power to cause major problems. The
space agency noted that some  solar storms had affected spacecraft in
orbit, shortwave communications  and power grids. A similar storm on Jan. 6
may have caused the failure  of a $200 million AT&T Corp. communications
satellite. But based on what  NASA called "classical indicators," today's
storm poses no danger to  astronauts and cosmonauts in orbit or to the
Earth's population.


SOLAR FLARE HEADING TOWARD EARTH (CNN 4/8/97 0309 UTC)
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The sun has produced a storm the likes of which scientists have  not seen
before, according to a NASA researcher.

The large flare of magnetic energy is expected to hit Earth's upper
atmosphere Wednesday afternoon, according to Art Poland, senior  scientist
with the Solar and Heliosphere Observatory (SOHO) at the  Goddard Space
Center in Maryland.

SOHO is a relatively new NASA satellite that is pointed at the sun.

The solar flare was formed Monday when the sun generated a giant shock
wave of electrified gases called a coronal mass ejection. SOHO  photographs
show "a flare going off; you see a shock wave leaving (the  sun).
Basically, it's a tsunami going across the surface of the sun,"  Poland
said in an interview with CNN.

Solar events like this occur every day. Approximately one in 10 heads
toward Earth. But this solar flare is about as large as one that  destroyed
a broadcast satellite in January.

There have been 43 cases of satellite damage as a result of solar  flares,
according to astrophysicist George Lake, a NASA project  scientist. The
flares inflict damage by sending a powerful current  through the
satellites, creating "miniature power plants," according to  Lake.

Scientists say they don't know exactly what kind of problems this solar
event could cause and what is in its path. Solar-monitoring satellites
will provide only one hour's notice of the wave's arrival. Similar  events
have triggered power outages and interfered with spacecraft  operations.

"If the magnetic orientation is opposite to the Earth's magnetic field  and
all the conditions are right -- what that means I don't know, that's  what
we're really trying to learn -- it could really interfere with the  Earth's
magnetic field and then have an impact on us," Poland said.

The solar flare will pose no threat to life on Earth, he said.

But "it is the kind of thing that might create some spectacular viewing  in
the heavens," said Lake. The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights,  might
appear brighter.

This event apparently is a sign of things to come. Scientists say solar
activity will increase and peak in the next four to five years.

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Sonny M. Ashimori <sonny@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Yaesu FRG-7700 + 40m Dipole  (QTH 43°34'E/135°20'N)
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