Eruptions of hot gas, called solar storms, produce shock waves that travel through space at millions of miles per hour. The energy from their unimaginable speeds causes electrons to create radio waves that eventually reach the earth’s atmosphere.

These waves disrupt satellite and terrestrial communications on earth on a weekly if not daily basis, according to University of Hawaii scientist Dr. Jason Byrne.

Dr. Byrne contributed to a recent study by Trinity College Dublin, University College London and the University of Hawaii that makes never-before-known connections between these solar storms and radio wave disruptions on earth.