...and something to aid everyone in making plans for the weekend:
Sun's Gas Cloud Heads For Earth
>From the Press Association
Friday February 18, 2000 5:42 pm
A massive cloud of hot electrically charged gas spewed out by the Sun appears to be hurtling towards the Earth, threatening communication satellites and power grid systems.
The solar eruption, or Coronal Mass Ejection, has been spotted by the Sun observation spacecraft Soho. It is billowing away from the Sun at up to 2,000 kilometres per second, and is expected to reach the Earth some time in the next two days.
When it arrives it could result in communication satellites being knocked out of action, power grids on Earth being overloaded and dazzling aurora displays appearing in the sky across the whole of Britain.
Ahead of the CME will be a bow-wave of fast-moving charged atomic particles, mainly electrons and protons, that can damage sensitive equipment and pose a hazard for space-walking astronauts.
As the cloud envelopes the Earth it is likely to kick up a geomagnetic storm - a major disturbance of the Earth's magnetic field.
Large geomagnetic storms have in the past knocked out communication satellites and caused power surges which threaten electricity supplies on Earth.
In March 1989 the whole of Quebec's hydro-electric system collapsed, cutting off six million people, because of a power surge overload caused by a geomagnetic storm triggered by a solar eruption.
Three years ago a Coronal Mass Ejection was blamed for the loss of Telstar 401, a TV communication satellite.
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/ dave /
PS - I agree with ken, but might be willing to consider a change in terminology to appease Carrol. Nothing immediately springs to mind, however.