New technique can track solar storms as they head toward Earth

Chinese scientists say they've found a new way to track solar coronal mass ejections, hazardous ejections of matter from the sun that can affect Earth. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, working with colleagues from the United States and Europe, have developed a technique called geometric triangulation that can determine the trajectory and velocity of CMEs in real time as they travel in space, China's official Xinhua news agency reported Friday. Triangulation, used in fields such as surveying and navigation, involves using observations from two separated points to determine the location of a third point. Researcher Liu Ying and his fellow researchers said data from NASA's solar observation mission known as STEREO, which utilizes twin spacecraft in Earth orbit -- one slightly ahead of the planet and one slightly behind -- can provide geometric triangulation to determine the trajectory and velocity of CMEs. That data can allow predictions of when a CME will reach Earth and at what velocity, the researchers said. "Once a CME has occurred, we will be able to track it continuously and determine its path and velocity with the triangulation measurements, in much the same way the terrestrial weather forecast works," Liu said. CMEs, when they reach Earth, can be hazardous to spacecraft, satellites and astronauts in orbit and can disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and mobile phone networks.