People who got a good look at the sun's glowing corona during its recent eclipse may have seen faint veils of light trailing off into space. Appearing as harmless as thistledown, they were visible evidence of the sun's far-reaching violence. Stormy weather on the sun sometimes tosses out clouds of deadly particles, mostly protons, that can kill in a few minutes any humans riding in thin-walled spacecraft. So among the scientists who studied the corona were members of a new, specialized profession: solar meteorology. Their job is to learn to forecast solar weather and try to pick times...
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