Authors: Alister W. Graham
Abstract: The Sun, and many other stars, are known to eject gigantic flares of intensely hot gas and lethal radiation into space. While the Sun can do this at any time, it cycles through periods of minimum and maximum activity. The last solar maximum (1989) broke several records and resulted in the loss of satellites and interruptions to radio communications. It even blacked out an entire power grid here on Earth, producing a damage bill that reached into the hundreds of millions of dollars. The next solar maximum is due in the period 2000 to 2001 and is expected to be even stronger.