Lindsey and Braun's new imaging technique used the Michelson Doppler Imager on board the SOHO spacecraft to observe sound wave ripples on the sun's near surface. Lindsey and Braun were then able to use solar physics laws to convert these sound wave ripples into images of the solar far side. It's like we're looking right through a star. For one thing, the far side is where currently unpredictable eruptions of solar gases originate. These eruptions can swoop by Earth and interact with our atmosphere when they rotate around to the solar near side, often causing major disruptions in communications systems and power grids.
Scientists now know that sound bursts indicate areas of surface activity.
As a result, being able to image sound bursts on the sun's far side will alert researchers to solar events that could come around and hit Earth days to weeks later. We can also say whether a new region is likely to be the kind to produce solar storms that could have some effect on Earth or near-Earth space. In the past several decades communications satellites and electric power transmitters have been strongly affected as a result of large-scale solar storms. Spacecraft in orbit near Earth are also susceptible to damage from the sun's charged particles, as are astronauts who are either are docked in a space station, in orbit around Earth, or traveling to the moon or a planet. Advanced warning about large ejections of solar energy could help scientists shield spacecraft and people from danger.