Those are the sounds of cosmic attacks – massive storms on the Sun firing energy and particles into Earth’s magnetic field. Such outbursts can damage orbiting satellites, cause radio blackouts, foul GPS signals, and even knock out power grids on the surface. And there are indications that we haven’t seen the worst the Sun can produce.

The outbursts are generated by magnetic storms on the Sun. Lines of magnetic force get tangled up, then snap, creating a solar flare. Such an outburst also can produce a massive eruption of charged particles. When those outbursts reach Earth, they cause problems.

The most powerful outburst yet seen was the first one ever seen, in 1859. It knocked out telegraph networks and created brilliant displays of the northern and southern lights. Tree rings and ice cores provide evidence of even stronger outbursts in centuries past.

And a recent study found that Sun-like stars produce outbursts that are a hundred to a thousand times more powerful than anything we’ve seen from the Sun. The researchers looked at observations made by Kepler space telescope more than a decade ago. They studied more than 50,000 stars that are similar to the Sun. And they found almost 3,000 superflares. That’s an average of one superflare per star every century – suggesting that we haven’t seen the worst from our sometimes-cranky star.

Script by Damond Benningfield