Eruptions from the sun’s outer atmosphere can hurl million-ton clouds of electrically charged ions toward Earth. Moreover, solar flares spew high-energy X rays and high-speed charged particles. Recent observations with an Earth-orbiting spacecraft may yield new ways to predict when these solar temper tantrums will cause the geomagnetic storms that disrupt communications systems on Earth and harm satellites.
Using a satellite called IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration), researchers for the first time obtained images of the sun pumping material into its plasma sheet, which is made of highly ionized atoms and pierces Earth’s magnetic field.