National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Goddard Space Flight Center
Sun-Earth Day 2010: Magnetic Storms
IMAGE GALLERY
Illustration of a CME particle cloud blasted from the sun impacting Earth and creating aurora (in actual photo of aurora as taken by an astronaut on the space station). Courtesy of SOHO. Original image can be found at http://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/gallery/images/aurora01.html
NASA Fact
A major solar 'superstorm' such as the one in 1859 could cost $30 billion a day to the US electrical power grid, and up to $70 billion to the satellite industry.