The fine folks over at NASA are preparing the launch of a new telescope designed specifically to study our warm mass of hydrogen and helium; the sun. The new telescope, called the Solar Dynamics Observatory, will set out on a quest to study the sun’s weather patterns and hopefully provide more information regarding the solar flares that emanate from it. These solar flares can blast the Earth with radiation and while our magnetic field is able to absorb most of them, there are times when severe bursts cause some particles to get through. These particles can disrupt many satellite and electrical systems we use on a daily basis.

The sun currently has an eleven year cycle of relatively little activity to periods of massive action. Scientists are expecting the sun to become very active again in 2013 and hope the new telescope will provide much more details on the intricacies of its actions.

The telescope is expected to launch on February 9th. For more information, check out the original article at www.space.com.