WASHINGTON — International astronomers said on Thursday they have found the fourth potentially habitable planet outside our solar system with temperatures that could support water and life about 22 light-years from Earth.

The team analyzed data from the European Southern Observatory about a star known as GJ 667C, which is known as an M-class dwarf star and puts out much less heat than our Sun.

However, at least three planets are orbiting close to the star, and one of them appears to be close enough that it likely absorbs about as much incoming light and energy as Earth, has similar surface temperatures and perhaps water.

The new rocky planet, GJ 667C, orbits its star every 28.15 days — meaning its year equals about one Earth month — and has a mass at least 4.5 times that of Earth, according to the research published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“This planet is the new best candidate to support liquid water and, perhaps, life as we know it,” said Guillem Anglada-Escudi who was with the Carnegie Institution for Science when he conducted the research but has since moved on to the University of Gottingen in Germany.

The theory about water, however, cannot be confirmed until astronomers learn more about the planet’s atmosphere. Other planets circling the same star — which is part of a three-star system — could include a gas-giant and an additional super-Earth with an orbital period of 75 days, but more observations are needed to confirm that.

Some experts have been skeptical that M-class dwarf stars could have planets that support life because they are too dim and tend to have lots of solar flare activity which could send off lethal radiation to nearby planets.

And even though this star, GJ 667C, has a much lower abundance of elements heavier than helium, such as iron, carbon, and silicon — the building blocks of terrestrial planets — than our Sun, astronomers are intrigued by the possibilities.

“This was expected to be a rather unlikely star to host planets. Yet there they are, around a very nearby, metal-poor example of the most common type of star in our galaxy,” said co-author Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at University of California Santa Cruz.

“The detection of this planet, this nearby and this soon, implies that our galaxy must be teeming with billions of potentially habitable rocky planets.”French astronomers in May last year confirmed the first exoplanet, Gliese 581d, to meet key requirements for sustaining life. It is a rocky planet about 20 light-years away.

Swiss astronomers reported in August that another planet, HD 85512 b, about 36 light-years away seemed to be in the habitable zone of its star. NASA confirmed its first such planet late last year, Kepler 22b, about 600 light-years away.

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When did astronomy become so mainstream? A few years ago, it was thought of as the stuff of introverted hobbyists in suburban attics, telescope trained through a skylight while their spouse watched television downstairs. Now it’s taking over the small screen – astronomy is the poster child for the new pop-science culture, in which the word “geek” is a compliment and people show off their knowledge of particle physics in the way they used to name-drop obscure indie bands.

If that sounds hyperbolic, it’s not. In recent years, the BBC series Wonders of the Universe made
Professor Brian Cox, the ever-smiling Mancunian physicist, one of the biggest names on British TV, with its combination of extraordinary visuals and Cox’s boyish zeal. As a result of his latest show, BBC Two’s Stargazing Live, sales of astronomical telescopes have gone up sixfold. The revamped version of The Sky at Night, this newspaper’s long-running stargazing column (which appears on the first Monday of every month), has excited great interest. And the new must-see West End play is not an adaptation of Chekhov, or a broad musical comedy featuring a sitcom actor, but Constellations, a drama by Nick Payne which has astronomy as its central theme. Yesterday, our own Charles Spencer gave it a glowing five-star review, praising the way it addresses relativity and quantum mechanics, the twin theories of physics which cover the astronomically large and infinitesimally small respectively, but stubbornly fail to meet in the middle.

Where has this newfound enthusiasm come from? Dr Stuart Clark, an astronomer who has done his own part in getting his field into popular culture by writing The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth, a novel about the lives of the great astronomical pioneers Galileo and Kepler, has a theory. “I think the reason is that, despite the stereotype of the coldly objective scientist, astronomy stirs us at our deepest emotional level. Images of the planets and the wider universe are works of art in their own right – more beautiful than anything science fiction artists could imagine – and it fills us with wonder.”

Colin Stuart, an astronomer who presents planetarium shows at Greenwich’s Royal Observatory, agrees. “One of the appeals of astronomy is that it taps into our primitive side. A beautiful picture from a space telescope gives you that same sense of awe that you get when seeing a spectacular sunset or great view from a hilltop,” he says. “That’s something the other sciences don’t have as much of – the Higgs boson, for example, is a crucial part of our understanding of the universe, but you can’t put a pretty poster of it on your wall.”

And as well as the sheer visual splendour, there is a deeper beauty to astronomy, in that it provides a window to our own origins, and that of the universe. “It tackles the big questions we all ask, such as where did we come from and why are we here,” says Stuart. During the 20th century, it was the astronomer Edwin Hubble who noticed that distant stars were redder than nearer ones. He realised that this meant that they were flying away from us faster, and that this in turn meant that the universe was expanding – which implied that, at some point in the past, it had expanded from a single point. So the universe had not existed forever: it had a beginning, the Big Bang. Now it is through the work of other astronomers and cosmologists that we know, with reasonable confidence, when that beginning was – 13.7 billion years ago.

As well as the natural beauty and wonder of the subject, the history of astronomy is littered with fascinating characters. Galileo, the subject of Dr Clark’s book, was placed under house arrest by the Church for saying that the Earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around; Tycho Brahe, a contemporary of Galileo, had a golden prosthetic nose fitted after he lost his in a duel, and kept a clairvoyant dwarf in his entourage. Even the great Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of gravity and the laws of motion, was also an alchemist and occultist, and believed in his own, bizarrely heretical version of Christianity.

These facts, however, have always been true. So why has astronomy taken off now? Well, the “Cox Effect” is certainly a factor – it has been credited with pushing up the numbers taking A-level physics and chemistry by almost 20 per cent, and maths by a whopping 40 per cent, although any scientist would warn you about the risks of confusing correlation with causation. After Prof Cox’s latest venture, the Stargazing Live show he co-hosts with the comedian (and theoretical physics BSc) Dara O’Briain, Amazon.co.uk reported that sales of telescopes leapt nearly 500 per cent.

It’s all part of a wider interest in science and scepticism, says Dr Adam Rutherford, a geneticist and science TV presenter. “Science shows like Robin Ince’s Uncaged Monkeys are selling out medium-sized rock venues with particle physics and comedy. That just didn’t happen a decade ago.” But he acknowledges that Cox’s success is also a factor: “There is an appetite for science, and science on telly can be the gateway drug. It makes people go out and buy telescopes, or do physics at university. Long may it continue, because when countries invest in science, everyone benefits.”

The overall effect has been to bring astronomy, previously seen as arcane and impenetrable, out into the sunlight – or the starlight. “Loads of us love astronomy as kids, but it seems to fade as we get older,” says Stuart. “For some reason it’s not cool to be into science after the age of 12 – or at least that used to be the case. Recently it’s become socially acceptable to be a geek.” Dr Clark concurs: “It’s now cool to be nerdy. Anyone from any walk of life can admit to liking astronomy.”

There have been mutterings that this pop-astronomy bandwagon has run its course. But as Helen Arney, part of the science-comedy Festival of the Spoken Nerd, which sold out the Bloomsbury Theatre earlier this month, points out, the interest is only an upsurge, not a new thing altogether: “Every few years, the media goes 'Oh my goodness! Science is popular and interesting and fun!’ as if it hasn’t been any of those things before.”

Her colleague Steve Mould agrees: “This isn’t a fad, like yo-yos or whatever.” They’re right: Sir Patrick Moore’s original Sky At Night has been running for 55 years. Stargazing Live, as much as it has caught the eye, is just part of a long-standing British public fascination with the cosmos. Even the stage smash Constellations has a predecessor: Tom Stoppard’s 1993 play Arcadia, which arose from a chance meeting between Stoppard and the then-head of the Royal Society, Lord May, at a Telegraph event, dabbles in entropy and Newtonian physics.

But the interest is definitely at a high point. And it’s deserved. “Astronomy is the ultimate escapism,” says Mr Stuart. “With a bit of imagination you can transport yourself to the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn or to the stars beyond. It’s like fiction; it can transport you to another world – except astronomy is better, because it’s real.”

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AT the start of each year, many people look to their horoscope to gain insight into what to expect. But what astrology buffs never expected was that their star signs may have changed. Astronomers with the Minnesota Planetarium Society last year dropped a bomb on the zodiac.

They established that the millennia-long effect of the moon's gravitational pull on earth had caused a one-month bump in the alignment of the stars. The controversial announcement meant people's star signs should change. They also recommended a new 13th star sign - Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

But don't try to argue any of those points with Goodna astrologist Jana. "The star signs have been around for thousands of years and they will remain the same," Jana, who has devoted 40 years to astrology, said. "But people are welcome to have their own opinions about them."Jana said the beginning of the year was always a particularly busy time for astrologists, with people interested in knowing what the year held.

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Taking a picture of a black hole, an object so gravitationally bound that not even photons of light can escape, sounds like an oxymoron, but astronomers this week will attempt to do just that. What they're hoping to glimpse is something called the "event horizon" -- the swirl of matter and energy that are visible around the rim of the black hole just before it falls into the abyss.

SCIENCE CHANNEL: Take the Black Hole Quiz!

"Even five years ago, such a proposal would not have seemed credible," Sheperd Doeleman, assistant director of the Haystack Observatory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the lead researcher on the project, called the Event Horizon Telescope, said in a press release. "Now we have the technological means to take a stab at it," he added.

The target for the shoot is the supermassive black hole that lives in the heart of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It's about 4 million times as massive as the sun, but it's extremely compressed and far away, nearly 26,000 light-years. To astronomers, it's like looking at a grapefruit on the moon.

ANALYSIS: Our Galaxy's Black Hole Has the 'Munchies'

To see something that small and that far away, you need a very big telescope -- something Earth-sized ought to do it. To that end, astronomers will attempt to link up to 50 radio telescopes scattered around the globe, including the Submillimeter Telescope on Mt. Graham in Arizona, telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy in California. The global array will include several radio telescopes in Europe, a 10-meter dish at the South Pole and potentially a 15-meter antenna atop a 15,000-foot peak in Mexico.

"In essence, we are making a virtual telescope with a mirror that is as big as the Earth," Doeleman said.

Black holes were first suggested by Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. Decades of research and observations have provided evidence of their existence, but it has never been possible to directly observe and image one.

"We will be able to actually see what happens very close to the horizon of a black hole, which is the strongest gravitational field you can find in the universe," said Dimitrios Psaltis, an associate professor of astrophysics at the Steward Observatory.

ANALYSIS: Coming Face to Face With Our Galaxy's Black Hole

General relativity predicts that the bright outline defining the black hole's shadow must be a perfect circle.

"If we find the black hole's shadow to be oblate instead of circular,it means Einstein's General Theory of Relativity must be flawed," Psaltis said. "But even if we find no deviation from general relativity, all these processes will help us understand the fundamental aspects of the theory much better."I'd just like to see what one looks like.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Macy's ad I saw in the newspaper had a blaring headline: "Find Your Magic 2.0." The items that were being touted to help us discover our upgraded and more deluxe sense of magic were luxurious diamond rings. The cheapest was $2,150. I'm going to try to steer you in another direction in your quest to get in touch with Magic 2.0, Aries. I do believe you are in an excellent position to do just that, but only if you take a decidedly non-materialistic approach. What does your intuition tell you about how to hook up with a higher, wilder version of the primal mojo?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The U.S. Constitution has survived 222 years, longer than the constitution of any other nation on the planet. But one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, might have had a problem with that. He believed our constitution should be revised every 19 years. Personally, I share Jefferson's view. And I would apply that same principle of regular reinvention to all of us as individuals—although I think it should be far more frequently than every 19 years. How long has it been since you've amended or overhauled your own rules to live by, Taurus? Judging by the astrological omens, I suspect it's high time.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): "It is respectable to have no illusions—and safe—and profitable and dull," said author Joseph Conrad. Taking our cue from his liberating derision, I propose that we protest the dullness of having no illusions. Let's decry the blah gray sterility that comes from entertaining no fantastic fantasies and unreasonable dreams. How boring it is to have such machine-like mental hygiene! For this one week, Gemini, I urge you to celebrate your crazy ideas. Treasure and adore your wacky beliefs. Study all those irrational and insane urges running around your mind to see what you can learn about your deep, dark unconsciousness. (P.S. But I'm not saying you should act on any of those phantasms, at least not now. Simply be amused by them.)

CANCER (June 21-July 22): If you were a medieval knight going into battle with a full suit of armor, the advantage you had from the metal's protection was offset by the extra energy it took to haul around so much extra weight. In fact, historians say this is one reason that a modest force of English soldiers defeated a much larger French army at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. The Frenchmen's armor was much bulkier, and by the time they slogged through muddy fields to reach their enemy, they were too tired to fight at peak intensity. The moral of the story, as far as you're concerned: To win a great victory in the coming weeks, shed as many of your defense mechanisms and as much of your emotional baggage as possible.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): One way or another, you will be more famous in the coming months than you've ever been before. That might mean you'll become better known or more popular ... or it could take a different turn. To tease out the nuances, let's draw on Naomi Shihab Nye's poem "Famous." "The river is famous to the fish. // The loud voice is famous to silence, / which knew it would inherit the earth / before anybody said so. // The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds / watching him from the birdhouse. // The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek. // The idea you carry close to your bosom / is famous to your bosom." (Read the whole poem here.)

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Three famous actresses formed the British Anti-Cosmetic Surgery League last year. Rachel Wiesz, Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson say they believe people should be happy with the physical appearance that nature gave them. Is it rude of me to note that unlike most of the rest of us, those three women were born gorgeous? It's easy for them to promise not to mess with their looks. Do you ever do that, Virgo? Urge other people to do what's natural for you but a challenge for them? I recommend against that this week. For example: If you want to influence someone to change, be willing to change something about yourself that's hard to change.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I predict major breakthroughs in your relationship to intimacy and togetherness in 2012, Libra—if, that is, you keep in mind the following counsel from psychologist Dr. Neil Clark Warren: "Attraction and chemistry are easily mistaken for love, but they are far from the same thing. Being attracted to someone is immediate and largely subconscious. Staying deeply in love with someone happens gradually and requires conscious decisions, made over and over again." (Read more by Warren here.)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Purslane is a plant that's also known colloquially as pigweed. It's hearty, prolific and spreads fast. In a short time, it can grow out-of-control, covering a large area with a thick carpet. On the other hand, it's a tasty salad green and has a long history of being used as a cooked vegetable. As a medicinal herb, it's also quite useful, being rich in omega-3 fatty acids as well as a number of vitamins and minerals. Moral of the story: Keep pigweed contained—don't let it grow out of control—and it will be your friend. Does anything in your life fit that description?

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): As he approaches his 70th birthday, retiree and Michigan resident Michael Nicholson is still hard at work adding to his education. He's got 27 college degrees so far, including 12 master's degrees and a doctorate. Although he's not an "A" student, he loves learning for its own sake. I nominate him to be your role model for the coming weeks, Sagittarius. Your opportunities for absorbing new lessons will be at a peak. I hope you take full advantage of all the teachings that will be available.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): The Bible addresses the subjects of money and possessions in about 2,000 verses, but devotes only 500 verses to prayer and 500 to faith. As you know, my advice in these horoscopes usually tends to have the opposite emphasis: I concentrate more on spiritual matters than materialistic concerns. But this time, in acknowledgment of the specific cosmic influences coming to bear on you, I'm going to be more like the Bible. Please proceed on the assumption that you have a mandate to think extra deeply and super creatively about money and possessions in the coming weeks. Feel free, too, to pray for financial guidance and meditate on increasing your cash flow.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Here's one of my favorite quotes from American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: "I hate quotations. Tell me what you think." The current astrological omens suggest that this is an excellent message for you to heed. It's crucial for you to know your own mind and speak your own thoughts. It's smart to trust your own instincts and draw on your own hard-won epiphanies. For best results, don't just be skeptical of the conventional wisdom; be cautious about giving too much credence to every source of sagacity and expertise. Try to define your own positions rather than relying on theories you've read about and opinions you've heard.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Why did Mark Gibbons strap a washing machine to his back and then climb to the top of Mount Snowdown in Wales? He did it to raise charity money for the Kenyan Orphan Project. If, in the coming weeks, you try anything as crazy as he did, Pisces, make sure it's for an equally worthy cause. Don't you dare take on a big challenge simply to make people feel sorry for you or to demonstrate what a first-class martyr you can be. On the other hand, I'm happy to say that you could stir up a lot of good mojo by wandering into previously off-limits zones as you push past the limitations people expect you to honor.

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The Prescott Astronomy Club is again offering a kaleidoscope of free events about night skies in 2012, including its first-ever documentary showing. The club's 2012 presentations open Thursday with a talk about airborne astronomy from Ted Dunham, deputy director of technology at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Dunham is working on SOPHIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, that will start its science operations this year.

It's one of the "Third Thursday" talks that begin at 6:30 p.m. on some third Thursdays of the month at the Prescott Public Library. The club's popular star parties and educational talks attract hundreds of local residents each year. The club also gives free presentations at local schools and summer camps. "Our mission is basically the education of the public and our members," Astronomy Club past president Patrick Birck said.

Prescott Astronomy Club President David Viscio, an astrophotographer and retired physical chemist, said he was hooked on science at age 10 when he first saw the moon through a telescope. "Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs make major contributions to the science," Viscio noted. "And seeing the night sky really gives you an appreciation for the universe you live in."

Experts from around the state help the club with free presentations. "We're kind of blessed around here," since scientists from educational facilities such as Lowell Observatory and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott help out, Birck said. Club members are among the experts, such as physicist Fulton Wright, who will talk about the features of Earth's Moon alongside a star party at the Highlands Center for Natural History on Jan. 28.

'The City Dark' documentary
Now club members have purchased the rights to show a documentary called "The City Dark" at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15, at the Prescott Library. "Astronomers, cancer researchers. ecologists and philosophers provide glimpses of what is lost in the glare of city lights," says the film's website at thecitydark.com. "Blending a humorous, searching tone with poetic footage of the night sky, what unravels is an introduction to the science of the dark, and an exploration of the human relationship to the stars."

Filmmaker Ian Cheney explores how lights affect efforts in Hawaii to detect dangerous asteroids, birds trying to navigate over Chicago, breast cancer rates in humans, and newborn turtles trying to get from the Florida coast into the sea.

"They see the lights from the city and go the wrong direction," Birck said. The film features an epidemiologist who has shown a correlation between breast cancer and night-shift workers.
 
"The night cycle is very important for hormone balance," Viscio said. After the film, the club will lead a discussion about night skies. Club members want to get the community involved in the issue. "It's not just because you can't see the sky," Viscio said. "It could be a health issue, an environmental issue."
 
Birck and Viscio see the loss of their own night skies taking place, too. Birck said he can see his neighbors' lights inside his home from 150 yards away because Prescott doesn't do enough to protect its night skies.

Prescott limits outdoor residential lights to 70 watts, but doesn't require shielding as it does on commercial properties, said George Worley, the city's planning director. Viscio said his neighbors' lights shine into his bathroom. "It's the same as throwing garbage on your property," he said.

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NASA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the oldest galaxy on record, the space administration announced Tuesday. The space administration said it has captured an image of a group of galaxies located 13.1 billion light years away. The team said the galaxies represent a cluster in the initial stages of development.

“These galaxies formed during the earliest stages of galaxy assembly, when galaxies had just started to cluster together,” said Michele Trenti of the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. “The result confirms our theoretical understanding of the buildup of galaxy clusters. And, Hubble is just powerful enough to find the first examples of them at this distance.”

The space administration notes that galaxy clusters are among the largest structures in the universe, comprising hundreds to thousands of galaxies bound together by gravity. The developing cluster, or protocluster, is seen as it looked 13 billion years ago.

Hubble spotted the five galaxies while performing a random sky survey in near-infrared light. The newfound galaxies are small, ranging from 10 percent to 50 percent the size of our own Milky Way. But they are similar in brightness to the Milky Way, said astronomers

NASA says the galaxy has likely grown into one of today’s massive “galactic cities,” comparable to the nearby Virgo cluster of more than 2,000 galaxies.

Astronomers note that most galaxies in the universe reside in groups and clusters, and astronomers say discovering clusters in the early phases of construction has been a challenge due to the fact that they are rare, dim and widely scattered across the sky. The new find helps demonstrate that galaxies build up progressively over time, researchers said. It also provides further evidence for the hierarchical model of galaxy assembly.

The team of astronomers are scheduled to deliver the results of the findings Tuesday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin, Texas.

“Records are always exciting, and this is the earliest and the most distant developing galaxy cluster that has ever been seen,” said Michael Shull, a member of the team who discovered the protocluster. “We have seen individual galaxies this old and far away, but we have not seen groups of them in the construction process before.”

NASA administration officials said the latest cluster of galaxies represents an enormous contribution to the study of galaxies. The space agency said the size of galaxy cluster, while relatively large, pales in comparison to our own Milky Way galaxy. NASA astronomers also say the brightness of the galaxy cluster is an indication that the galaxies remain fairly young and have likely merged and formed the brightest central galaxy in the cluster.

“The five bright galaxies spotted by Hubble are about one-half to one-tenth the size of our Milky Way, yet are comparable in brightness,” NASA reported. “The galaxies are bright and massive because they are being fed large amounts of gas through mergers with other galaxies.”

The team estimated the distance to the newly spied galaxies based on their colors, but the astronomers plan to follow up with spectroscopic observations to confirm their distance.

The image is the latest victory for Hubble. NASA announced earlier in the week the discovery of the largest cluster of galaxies seen yet in the early universe, a giant that astronomers have dubbed “El Gordo.”

El Gordo — whose name means “the fat one” in Spanish — is officially known as ACT-CL J0102-4915 and “is located more than 7 billion light-years from Earth.

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Nahan, Himachal Pradesh -- (SBWIRE) --01/10/2012 -- A leading astrology website, PowerFortunes.com has recently launched a new Top Ten in Astrology section with data about people’s preferences when it comes to online astrological and Tarot products and services.

This one of a kind list presently shows data from eight different categories and has been compiled from all the information collected by the site since it was launched in 2003. This data includes interesting facts such as, the most frequent questions people ask in an astrology or Tarot reading, the types of talismans that people acquire, the places where people who use such services come from, the most common first names of users of astrology or Tarot services and more.

This information has been collected from the thousands of people who have used PowerFortunes.com services over the years, but care has been taken to keep individual details confidential, in keeping with PowerFortunes.com’s privacy policy.

The information is novel and makes interesting reading even for those for whom astrology might otherwise not have much of an appeal. This top ten list reveals interesting user data in an area that traditionally hasn’t received much research of this nature and adds another niche to PowerFortunes.com, in addition to the other unique features on the site, like the free fortune telling cards and zodiac sign calculator.

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It is a violent environment out there for our Earth, and all that impacts the fragile Earth affects us. As long as the Earth has existed, solar flares have been sending doses of radiation to the planet’s surface.

“A worst-case scenario of an extreme event,” says Michael Hesse, chief of NASA’s Space Weather Laboratory at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “If it were to happen and we don’t take any precautions, it would probably knock out our power grid for an extended period of time and destroy a sizable fraction of our satellite infrastructure.”

Solar flares, a sudden violent release of intense energy from the sun, affect Earth through electromagnetic radiation, the driving force of the potential destruction. The energy released during a large flare can emit up to 1032  ergs of energy per second, a significant increase in the electromagnetic radiation headed our way. This is equivalent to ten million times greater than the energy released from a volcanic explosion, and could wreak havoc on Earth.

Electromagnetic Radiation
Electromagnetic radiation is the movement of radiation and particles through space, close to, or at, the speed of light. Particles, including electrons, protons and heavy nuclei, are heated, accelerated, and released. Magnetic disturbances and electromagnetic radiation, including gamma rays, x-rays (short wavelength, high energy), ultraviolet, optical (visual), infrared, and radio waves (long wave length, lower energy) are released during a solar flare. High-energy radiation reaches Earth first, while the slower particles arrive later.

Solar Flare Radiation: Impact on Earth
Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the Sun facing Earth. Solar flares directed toward the Earth affect the upper atmosphere, the ionosphere, immediately – disrupting long-range radio communications. Flares can also cause magnetic storms and circulating electrical currents. X-ray and UV radiation from a solar flare strips electrons from atoms in the ionosphere producing free negatively-charged electrons, leaving behind positively-charged ions. Both can absorb some wavelengths of electromagnetic energy while bending other wavelengths.

These effects cause the initial radiation increase of the ionization of the upper atmosphere to interfere with short-wave radio communication, and heat the outer atmosphere. The heated air expands and can affect low orbiting satellites and potential orbital decay as well. High energy x-rays can damage spacecraft electronics and pose risks to astronauts outside Earth’s protective shell. Communication systems can be disrupted on airplane flights, and powerful solar flares can even generate huge holes in the ionosphere.

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): "It is surely a great calamity for a human being to have no obsessions," said poet Robert Bly. That's why he decided to learn to love his obsessions. I urge you to keep his approach in mind throughout the coming months, Aries. You are likely to thrive to the degree that you precisely identify and vigorously harness your obsessions. Please note I'm not saying you should allow your obsessions to possess you like demons and toss you around like a rag doll. I'm not advising you to fall down in front of your obsessions and worship them like idols. Be wildly grateful for them; love them with your fiery heart fully unfurled; but keep them under the control of your fine mind.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will spend its whole life believing it is stupid." Rumor has it that this pithy observation was uttered by Albert Einstein. I bring it to your attention, Taurus, because you'll be smart to keep it in mind throughout 2012. According to my astrological analysis, you will have an excellent opportunity to identify and hone and express your specific brilliance. So it is crucial that you eliminate any tendency you might have to see yourself as being like a fish whose job it is to climb a tree.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In his book Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures, former FBI agent Robert K. Wittman tells the story of the world's second largest crystal ball. Worth $350,000 and once belonging to the Chinese Dowager Empress, it was stolen from a museum. Wittman never located the actual robber, but years later he tracked down the crystal ball to a person who had acquired it quite innocently and by accident. She was a young witch in New Jersey who, unaware of its origins or value, kept it on her bedroom dresser with a baseball cap on top of it. I suspect you may have a comparable adventure in the coming months, Gemini. If you look hard and keep an open mind, you will eventually recover lost riches or a disappeared prize in the least likely of places.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): It's impossible for the human body to run a mile in less than four minutes — at least that's what the conventional wisdom used to say. And indeed, no one in history ever broke that barrier until May 6, 1954, when Roger Bannister raced a mile in three minutes, 59.4 seconds. Since then, lots of athletes have done it and the record has been lowered by another 17 seconds. In fact, the sub-four-minute mile is now regarded as a standard accomplishment for middle-distance runners. I suspect that in 2012 you will accomplish your own version of Bannister's feat — a breakthrough that once seemed crazy difficult or beyond your capacity.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Back in 1958, 17-year-old Bob Heft created a 50-star American flag for a high school project. Hawaii and Alaska were being considered for U.S. statehood at that time, and a new design was needed to replace the old 48-star flag. Heft's teacher originally gave him a grade of B- for his work. But when his model was later selected to be the actual American flag, the teacher raised his grade to an A. I suspect that a similar progression is in store for you in the coming year, Leo. Some work you did that never received proper credit will finally be accorded the value it deserves.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Greek philosopher Plato suggested that we may become more receptive to spiritual beauty by putting ourselves in the presence of physical beauty. The stimulation we get when inspired by what looks good may help train us to recognize sublime truths. I'm not so sure about that. In my experience, people often get so entranced by their emotional and bodily responses to attractive sights and sounds that they neglect to search for higher, subtler sources of splendor. But I do believe you may be an exception to this tendency in the coming months. That's why I'm giving you the go-ahead — indeed, the mandate -- to surround yourself with physical beauty.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Before he died in 1902, Libran cartoonist Thomas Nast left a potent legacy. Among his enduring creations were the modern image of Santa Claus, the iconic donkey for America's Democratic Party, and the elephant for the Republican Party. I'm guessing that 2012 is going to be a Thomas Nast kind of year for you Librans. The work you do and the ripples you set in motion are likely to last a long time. So I suggest you choose the influences you unleash with great care and integrity.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): "If you're in a good relationship, chances are you're bored out of your mind," spouts comedian Chris Rock in his show Never Scared. "All good relationships are boring. The only exciting relationships are bad ones. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow when you're in a bad relationship. You never know when they're gonna walk through the door and say, 'Hey, you gave me crabs.' That's exciting!" Rock is making a satirical overstatement, but it does contain grains of truth. Which is why, in accordance with the astrological omens, I deliver the following request to you: In 2012, cultivate stable relationships that are boring in all the best ways.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Once every decade or so, you're asked to make a special point of practicing forgiveness and atonement. According to my reading of the astrological omens, that time will be the next few months. I think it'll be quite important for you to cleanse the grungy build-up of regrets and remorse from your psyche. Ready to get started? Compose a list of the sins you could expiate, the karmic debts you can repay, and the redemptions you should initiate. I suggest you make it into a fun, creative project that you will thoroughly enjoy.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Happiness isn't a state you acquire by luck. It takes hard work and relentless concentration. You have to rise up and rebel against the nonstop flood of trivial chaos and meaningless events you're invited to wallow in. You have to overcome the hard-core cultural conditioning that tempts you to assume that suffering is normal and the world is a hostile place. It's really quite unnatural to train yourself to be peaceful and mindful; it's essentially a great rebellion against an unacknowledged taboo. Here's the good news: 2012 will be an excellent time for you to do this work.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): More and more musicians and authors are choosing to self-publish. That way they retain the full rights to their creative work, keeping it from being controlled and potentially misused by a record label or publishing company. One example is singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix, who owns all 14 of her master recordings. She lives by the motto, "Own Your Own Universe." I urge you to adopt her approach in 2012, Aquarius. The coming months will be prime time for you to do all you can to take full possession of everything you need to become what you want to be.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The coming months will be a time when you'll thrive by seeking out novel ideas, using new words, and regarding your imagination as an organ that's as important to feed as your stomach. In that spirit, I'm offering you a slew of freshly made-up terms that'll help tease your brain in ways that are in alignment with the upcoming astrological factors. They all come from the very NSFW dictionary at http://tinyurl.com/Dixtionary. 1. Assymectricity: energy generated by lopsidedness. 2. Enigmagnetic: a person who attracts mysteries. 3. Indumbnitable: incapable of being dumbed down. 4. Beneviolent: helpful chaos. 5. Fauxbia: a fake fear. 6. Craptometry: ability to see through all the BS. 7. Adoregasm: when you treasure someone to the point of ecstasy.

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