Mike Terry wrote:

From CBC News

Last Updated Thu, 23 Oct 2003 13:29:47

BOULDER, COLO. - A strong geomagnetic storm is expected to hit Earth on
Friday. Scientists say it may knock out electrical grids and satellite
communications.

A "sunspot cluster" said to be 10 times the size of Earth could damage
satellites and power grids, as well as cable TV, pager and cellular
telephone service.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in
Boulder, Colo., say it is one of the largest sunspot clusters in years.

Larry Combs, a forecaster at the federal Space Environment Center in
Boulder, says the sunspot cluster released a chunk of the sun's outer
atmosphere early Wednesday morning.

NASA's Goddard Space Center says the sunspot clusters produce a "coronal
mass ejection" - an explosion of gas and charged particles from the
outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere.

In 1997, television networks in the U.S. were affected when satellites used
to beam programming to local stations were knocked out of service.

Written by CBC News Online staff

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/10/23/sun_spots031023

I'm hoping for a major aurora. I haven't seen one in many years, usually
because of cloudy weather.


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