Solar tsunami data will predict Earth havoc

The tsunamis -- powerful explosions known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs -- produce solar cosmic rays that can interfere with technology, causing power blackouts and disrupting air traffic communications and cell phone networks.

NASA says images captured by its twin Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, spacecraft have enabled scientists to map the tsunamis in 3D to examine their structure, velocity, mass and direction.

The solar ejections, its says, can release billions of tons of high-velocity plasma into space, producing a shockwave that generates cosmic rays which then plow into our atmosphere.

These can create the brightly-colored auroras, more commonly known as the Northern or Sourthern lights, but also have more damaging effects, posing particular threats to spacecraft and astronauts.