HUGE solar eruptions fired bursts of charged particles at us on two successive days last week. The first outburst, on 28 October, was the largest aimed at the Earth in 30 years, knocking out two Japanese satellites and affecting telecommunications and power grids across the globe.
But it seems we were lucky this time – the impact of the flares would have been much worse if their magnetic fields had been aligned differently, according to researchers. However, the storm was perfectly timed to rally support for the US space weather center, which is endangered by budget cuts.
Both flares came from…
