"Coronal Mass Ejections" (CME) is the scientific term for a sunstorm, in which huge clouds of superheated gas escape from the sun. These, in turn, cause magnetic storms around the Earth wreaking havoc with terrestrial power grids and doing nasty things to communications satellites. These also have detrimental effects on the health of astronauts (to put it mildly). The ability to predict these storms - and whether a CME will even result in a magnetic storm around Earth - is undoubtedly a good thing, but before now, has been difficult at best.

Using some of the world's fastest supercomputers, researchers at Science Applications International, Inc. of San Diego, California have designed a computer model based on observations of the sun's photosphere - essentially its surface. Magnetic activity here affects the sun's thin outer atmosphere, the corona, where CMEs originate.

This model proved itself earlier this year during the solar eclipse, successfully predicting the shape of the corona. Normally, the corona cannot be observed directly because of the sun's brightness. Despite this, the researchers admit that the ability to accurately predict space weather on a consistent basis is still a decade away, however.