BIG BEAR--Scientists at the Big Bear Solar Observatory have detected the beginning of a new solar cycle.

A new year-old telescope has detected activity on the sun that could be forerunners of sunspots and flares that Roy Coulter says they want to investigate.

“We’re hoping to see the more violent events and record those in-progress. That will help a lot with the scientific investigation into what causes these type of outbursts.”

Previous outbursts have been linked to communications problems here on Earth and have been known to interfere with GPS signals, cell phones and ATM transactions. (INT)

Story Date: September 2, 2010