Is NASA preparing us for seeing Aurora phenomenon in places never before seen? Is this related to to increased magnetic field activity surrounding our Earth? Is this all caused by the quickly escalating solar activity of our sun?

Lots of questions, few answers from NASA. The time table for these events are short, as reported yesterday of NASA's expectation of "severe" solar activity starting in March on 2000. It is expected to blow out power grids on a large scale.  Other researchers suggest these events will start as soon as August of this year.      Mitch Battros (ECTV)

(NASA) The magnetosphere, populated with ionized gases and electrons, is like an invisible shield around the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field forces the solar wind to part and slide around it. But at the same time, a gust in the solar wind can squeeze the magnetosphere, forcing some of the magnetosphere's particles earthward along the magnetic field lines. Particles energized enough to burrow as deep as the upper atmosphere produces the dazzling aurora borealis and magnetic

If the solar wind's magnetic field is pointing south, it couples with the Earth's north-pointing magnetic field and thus allows energy to enter directly from the solar wind and be stored in the magnetosphere.

"We're looking at the magnetic field and delays between encounter and the onset of geomagnetic storms to see what conditions must be present to trigger a storm right away or in a few hours."

How often the solar wind gusts depends on the sun. Active regions that increase the solar wind rotate with the sun every 27 days or so. But the sunspot cycle is on the increase, so there will be more active regions over the next few years.

Results from Spann's study could help in determining, before the wind blows, whether conditions are ripe for a storm that could disrupt communications and power supplies.