[Satellite Today 05-12-09] A new active period of Earth-threatening solar storms will be the weakest since 1928, according to a May 8 announcement by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
    A NOAA and NASA panel predicted that solar cycle 24 will peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots per day on average. If the prediction proves true, solar cycle 24 will be the weakest cycle since solar cycle 16, which peaked at 78 daily sunspots in 1928, and ninth weakest since the 1750s, when numbered cycles began.
    Solar storms are eruptions of energy and matter that escape from the sun and may head toward Earth, where even a weak storm can damage satellites and power grids, disrupting communications, the electric power supply and GPS.