A warning system to protect astronauts from solar storms

"If you're in a plane flying over the poles, there is an increased radiation exposure comparable to having an extra chest X-ray you weren't planning on," says John Bieber, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Delaware Bartol Research Institute.

"However, if you're an astronaut on the way to the Moon or Mars, it's a big problem. It could kill you," adds Bieber, who supervised the project led by Su Yeon Oh, post-doctoral researcher at Chungnam National University, South Korea.

The sun is now moving into a peak period of solar storm activity, which generally occurs every 11 years. The solar storms, flares and coronal mass ejections threaten the electrical system on the Earth in addition to some astronauts and fliers, said a University of Delaware study.

"Travelling nearly at the speed of light, it takes just 10 minutes for the first particles ejected from a solar storm to reach the Earth," Bieber said.

These sun storms can cover thousands of miles on the sun, like a wave of exploding hydrogen bombs. The finding comes as a big relief to astronauts and air crews flying over Earth