On March 13, 1989, the entire Quebec power grid collapsed, automatic
garage doors in California suburbs began to open and close without
apparent reason, and microchip production came to a halt in the
Northeast; in space, communications satellites had to be manually
repointed after flipping upside down, and pressure readings on hydrogen
tank supplies on board the Space Shuttle Discovery peaked, causing NASA
to consider aborting the mission. What was the cause of all these
seemingly disparate events? Sten Odenwald gives convincing evidence of
the mischievous--and potentially catastrophic--power of solar storms and
the far-reaching effects of the coming "big one" brewing in the sun and
estimated to culminate in the twenty-third cycle in the year 2001 and
beyond. When the sun undergoes its cyclic "solar maximum," a time when
fierce solar flares and storms erupt, fantastic auroras will be seen
around the world. But the breathtaking spectacles will herald a
potentially disastrous chain of events that merit greater preparation
than Y2K. Is anyone listening?
The 23rd Cycle traces the previously untold history of solar storms and
the ways in which they were perceived by astronomers--and even
occasionally covered up by satellite companies. Punctuated with an
insert containing dramatic color images showing the erupting sun, the
book also includes a history of the record of auroral sightings,
accounts of communications blackouts from the twentieth century, a list
of industries sensitive to solar storms, and information about radiation
and health issues.
