BUSINESS INFORMATION - Earth's sun can be lashed by strong winds that can disrupt communications, aviation and power lines even when the sun is in the

BUSINESS INFORMATION - Earth's sun can be lashed by strong winds that can disrupt communications, aviation and power lines even when the sun is in the stage of "calm" in the 11-year cycle.

Some observers had long been using a number of points on the solar surface of the Sun to measure its activity. The number of points on the Sun reaches the peak of what is called solar maximum, then falls to reach the minimum for a circle.

At its peak, flames a powerful solar storm geomagnetik and ejects very much energy into space, crushing the magnetic field that protects the Earth, knocked out satellites, disrupt communications and cause emission of light colors.

But scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the United States and the University of Michigan found that the Earth was bombarded by intense solar wind of last year even though the Sun is in a very quiet stage.

"The sun continued to surprise us," said Sarah Gibson of High Altitute Observatory in the center and the study's lead author. "Solar wind may hit the Earth like a fire hose even when clearly there was no sun spots."

Scientists previously thought that most of the flow of energy is lost when approaching the minimum of solar cycle.

Gibson and his team, which also includes scientists from NOAA and NASA, comparing measurements from solar minimum gap today, which was taken in 2008, with the last solar minimum measurements in 1996.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the most recent issue, found the prevalence of high-speed stream of solar minimum in 2008 seems to be linked with the current order of the Sun.

As the number of solar spots decreased during recent years, many large holes formed on the surface of the Sun near the center line. High-speed flow that blow from the hole that swallowed the Earth during the study period 55 percent in 2008, compared with 31 percent in the 1996 study period.

One stream of particles emitted can last for 7 to 10 days, according to the study.

"New Observations from a year ago changed our understanding of how the gap affects the Earth's solar quiet and how and why this may change from one circle to another circle," said study co-author Janet Kozyra from the University of Michigan.