As Britain prepares itself for a massive solar flare that could knock out the national grid within the next two years, a breakthrough by scientists may at least minimise any damage caused.
A team at George Mason University have found that solar storms are caused by giant magnetic 'ropes'.
It is a key first step in helping to mitigate the adverse effects that solar storm eruptions can have on satellite communications on Earth.
Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the magnetic rope as the thick looped structure extending above the edge of the sun (left). On the right, SDO observes as the surrounding cool magnetic field lines are pushed away by the intruding magnetic rope seen on the left. The images are taken within three seconds of each other
Solar flare activity on the sun, with the highlighted section showing the cooled magnetic field lines. The discovery of magnetic ropes is a key first step in helping to mitigate the adverse effects that solar storm eruptions can have on satellite communications on Earth
The study found that the ropes - made up of twisting magnetic field lines - could produce the strong electric currents needed to trigger the solar storms.
The breakthrough was made in Washington D.C. by associate professor Jie Zhang and his graduate student Xin Cheng using images from the Nasa Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft (SDO).
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