Strongest solar storm since 2005 hitting Earth

On Sunday January 22,the largest solar flare since 2005 has released radiation that hit the earth.The radiation — in the form of protons — came flying out of the sun at 93 million miles per hour.The radiation is mostly a concern for satellite disruptions and astronauts in space. It can cause communication problems for polar-traveling airplanes.And unlike last October, when a freak solar storm caused auroras to be seen as far south as Alabama, the northern lights aren't likely to dip too far south this time.Parts of New England, upstate New York, northern Michigan, Montana and the Pacific Northwest could see an aurora but not until Tuesday evening.For the past several years the sun had been quiet, almost too quiet. Part of that was the normal calm part of the sun's 11-year cycle of activity. Last year, scientists started to speculate that the sun was going into an unusually quiet cycle that seems to happen maybe once a century or so.Scientists watching the sun with a new NASA satellite launched in 2010 — during the sun's quiet period — are excited.