Corroborating these results were witnesses of the polar storm of 1859 who reported ‘figures in the sky as if drawn with fire on a black background’.4 Unexpected were the 2008 observations of the THEMIS spacecraft whose discoveries were contrary to long standing views of how and when solar plasma enters the Earth’s magnetosphere. A northward IMF orientation was found to allow 20 times more solar wind plasma to penetrate the magnetosphere when the sun’s magnetic field is aligned with that of the Earth

We present a brief review of published results on the geomagnetic storm effectiveness of CMEs and solar flares as well as of interplanetary events. Attention is drawn to the fact that the published values of storm effectiveness are in conflict to each others, and we discuss possible reasons of their differences. The presented comparison of methods and results of the analysis of the phenomena on the Sun, in the interplanetary space and in the Earth’s magnetosphere shows that in addition to different methods used in each of areas

Typically one might expect short-term electrical power blackouts, short lived communication outages, rerouting of aircraft, loss of a few satellites and a beautiful “aurora borealis” in the nights sky from a large solar storm. But as the intensity of a solar storm increases like a wild beast, the storm can begin to develop the capacity to create a major disaster on Earth.

The sun with variety of activities has been a major research topic since centuries. The earth and its terrestrial atmosphere are no doubt greatly affected by solar activities. Recently, study of the Sun - Earth relationship, called Space Weather, has become very important as particle emission from the solar corona called Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is disturbing and sometime destroying

Solar flares are among the most titanic explosion in the solar system. A typical flare can supply a human civilization with enough energy for 10,000 years. Astronomers have studied solar flares for the last century but only in the last 50 years have their impacts to radiation and communications technologies become more than just a nuance to just be endured. Billions of dollars in technology and even human lives now hang in the balance

Connection–the chain of cause-effect relationships that begin with solar activity and end in the deposition of energy in the upper atmosphere. In studying the composition and properties of the solar wind during solar maximum, scientists have traced the failure of space missions, blackouts/power outages on Earth, and emissions of dangerous radioactive particles to the solar wind’s interactions with Earth’s magnetosphere

Objective 1. Students will be able to explain the effect of solar activity on satellites in the upper atmosphere. 2. Students will be able to conclude that the sun goes through an 11 year cycle of activity. 3. Students will be able to draw conclusions about data. 4. Students will be able to calculate the probability of an uncertain situation and express it as a percentage. AAAS Standards Science - Grades 6 – 8, Energy Transformations: Energy appears in different forms. Energy can be transferred through materials by the collision of atoms or across space by radiation

Recent scientific information indicates that an extreme solar storm cycle activity producing Geomagnetically-Induced Currents (GIC) is predicted to peak again in 2012. Some scientists are warning that the GIC from sunspots and solar flares could cause significant damage to the electrical grid, telecommunication and other devices

The October-November 2003 solar storms rank as one of the largest outbreaks of solar activity in recent history. The global effects were wide-ranging, impacting power grids, airline flights, spacecraft operations, and much more. Media interest and public awareness of this activity was at the highest levels ever.

The current solar cycle 23 has been quite ordinary and there have been few periods of intense space weather activity (notably July 2000, April 2001) - little of excitement for space weather forecasters. But a dramatic burst of activity on the sun in October/November 2003 might just herald a reassessment. This interval had everything: very large sunspot regions; intense solar flares; particle events; and a huge geomagnetic disturbance