FLATOW: OK, Virginia, thanks for calling. He's on top of it. It has - again, in the long run has a bit of an effect on climate but day-to-day weather probably not. But they have a workaround. The sun gets 100 to 1,000 times brighter than normal in X-rays from the sunspot region. These are being measured as we speak at... HATHAWAY: ...satellites and geosynchronous orbit. That hit us a couple days later and produced some spectacular auroral arrays. Communication from the ground to satellites is affected by space weather as a result of perturbations of the ionosphere, which can reflect, refract, or absorb radio waves. He joins us from radio station KGNU in Boulder. And we also use those data to help forecast when those coronal mass ejections will hit the Earth. There's a sheer layer near the surface that as you start at the surface and move inward, it - the rotation speeds up, then stays constant through, you know, 100,000 miles or so and then changes again at a layer about a quarter of the way into the sun. Talking with Doug Biesecker, spinning a yarn about the solar flare of 1859. And each day he would draw the sunspots. BIESECKER: Well, predicting a solar flare would have happened today at 1:37 Eastern Time. In Jamaica, it was described as like the light of a fire. Infrastructure … With a coronal mass ejection we can observe them back at the sun, and then we can predict with in fact a numerical model that we introduced on the Weather Service supercomputer just a couple of months ago, we can use that to predict when this coronal mass ejection would arrive at Earth. Space weather can affect the electrical grid, as it did in 1989 when a CME-caused geomagnetic storm generated an hours-long power outage in Quebec. September 14, 2017 By Alden Morris 4 Comments. Yeah. BIESECKER: So now he knew something special had happened. The flare we just had is even larger, at the R3 level. So we'll be back talking more about solar flares with David Hathaway and Doug Biesecker. I'm Ira Flatow. BIESECKER: Sure. Scientists can combine these observations with empirical models of Earth’s space environment and thus forecast space weather for the government, power companies, airlines, and satellite communication and navigation providers and users from around the world. FLATOW: And the one that's predicted less than - it started an hour ago, when is that going to slam into the Earth? The planets within our solar system have a strange effect on Earth. You know, in telegraph stations up and down the East Coast the wood got scorched, paper burned. What's going on in the internal workings of the sun? Associated with that solar flare was one of these coronal mass ejections. Let me introduce my guests. This modification of the ionosphere makes GPS less accurate and can even lead to a complete loss of the signal because the ionosphere can act as a lens or a mirror to radio waves traveling through it. Are there still some unsolved mysteries about the sun and how it works? Impacts... FLATOW: And what did - yeah. That's why the Space Weather Prediction Center is monitoring the sun 24 hours a day to provide forecasts and get out those official watches, warnings and alerts to customers, because when that coronal mass ejection hits the Earth, currents are being induced into the power grid. Stay with us. HATHAWAY: Doug is probably better at that. And the impulse, you know, the amount of energy that got dumped into the Earth's magnetic field was just incredible. But far-off weather could put a damper on modern life. And in fact, at 4:00 a.m. on September 2nd at the magnetic observatory at Kew Garden, there was a great magnetic storm. Because the ionosphere has a different refractive index from the layers above and below it, radio waves are “bent” (refracted) as they pass from one layer to another. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. BIESECKER: That's exactly right. Space weather - Space weather - Effects on satellite communications and navigation: Communication from the ground to satellites is affected by space weather as a result of perturbations of the ionosphere, which can reflect, refract, or absorb radio waves. FLATOW: 1-800-989-8255. The astronauts on the International Space Station right now have to be concerned, but in general do they need to be concerned from the activity that's happening right now? To order DOUG BIESECKER: Thanks for having me on the show, Ira. We're talking about solar flares and the sun with David Hathaway of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, and Doug Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder. All right. All rights reserved. That one has since calmed down, but we are at this moment in the midst of an even bigger flare as far as X-rays, but it's off the edge of the sun, so we're not going to get the dramatic fireworks here on Earth from it. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration keeps tabs on our planet's weather through the National Weather Service. The SWPC is based in Boulder, Colo., and observes the Sun in real time from both ground-based observatories and satellites in order to predict geomagnetic storms. Sharp and localized differences (or gradients) in the density of the ionosphere also contribute significantly to the effects of space weather on satellite communication and navigation. to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about FLATOW: And how many - how many watchdog satellites do we have out there? It lasted all of five minutes. And the way you might be concerned about that – well, really, you probably wouldn't be - but if you're somebody who uses high-frequency radio to communicate – say, a ham operator, or you're in a ship at sea, or you're even in a plane flying, you know, across the Pacific Ocean right now, you'd find your high-frequency radio probably isn't working because of this solar flare.