Sunspot signals new solar cycle

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say the first sunspot of a new solar cycle has appeared in the sun's Northern Hemisphere.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity brings increased risks for power grids, critical military, civilian and airline communications, global positioning system signals, and even cell phones and automated teller machine transactions.

"This sunspot is like the first robin of spring," solar physicist Douglas Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said in a release. "In this case, it's an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years."

A sunspot is an area of highly organized magnetic activity on the surface of the sun.

During a solar storm, highly charged material ejected from the can bring down power grids, disrupt critical communications and threaten astronauts with harmful radiation. Storms can also knock out commercial communications satellites and swamp GPS signals, NOAA said.