The first solar storm of this cycle hit the Earth early this month, causing it to light up spectacularly / NASA

• Sun ramping up for Solar Max
• First Max event since mid-80s
• US studies effects of ‘digital bomb’
• ISS search for dark matter, anti-universe

AFTER 10 years of comparative slumber, the sun is waking up – and it’s got astronomers on full alert.

This week several US media outlets reported that NASA was warning the massive flare that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet’s power grid.

NASA has since rebutted those reports, saying it could come “100 years away or just 100 days”, but an Australian astronomer says the space community is betting on the sooner scenario rather than the latter.

Despite its rebuttal, NASA’s been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates – 2012.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sun-storm-to-hit-with-force-of-100-bombs/story-e6frfro0-1225909999465#ixzz0xjM8JQYq

Friday August 20 will bring a Mercury RETROGRADE  and reversal at 20 degrees of Virgo that lasts until Mercury regains its composure to go direct again on September 12.

While Mercury retrograde is not the end of the world, it does imply the need to review, reflect and re-evaluate what’s been happening for you mentally, in key communications, on the literary horizon and in business matters over the past few months.

Uranus, the planet of change and independence, which moved briefly into Aries in May, now reverses back into Pisces until March 2011.

Uranus spends approximately seven years in each sign, and will be in Aries from 2011 until 2018. But for now it is tying up a few loose ends in Pisces where it was from 2003 until May of this year.

Uranus in Pisces is an odd combination of energies since Uranus is essentially a sky planet and Pisces is a watery one. On the positive side, it can bring revelations and new insights into creativity, spiritual beliefs and psychology. It wants you to dig deeper for answers, to go into the core of your being and shed a little light on what had been hidden from view. So it can promote inner growth and understanding, and can bring stronger intuitive abilities. At best, it helps us bring together intellect and emotions, gives depth to ideas at the same time as brings a sense of perspective to feelings.

However, Uranus energy is a highly sensitive energy so the negative side can be high anxiety, needless worry and confusion. It is vital to stay clear and centered, not to be misled by delusions, odd hunches or indulge in escapist pursuits, or get lost in unrealistic fantasies.

Uranus wants to free you from the past, from old muddled attitudes of mind especially where relationships are concerned. So it is vital to understand where you have gone wrong and how you can put it right.

We start off the month of August with two days of mega-high-octane energy starting with Jupiter in Aries squaring Pluto on August 3. Jupiter in Aries is go-ahead, self confident; it acts as a motivator, a crusader and can be wildly impulsive. When it meets powerful Pluto at a square, then it can boost all those tendencies way over the top.

Jupiter and Pluto together have a reputation for making certain people think that rules and regulations don’t apply to them, so you may find yourself in situations that are tricky to handle. This cosmic energy can make some of us become a law unto to ourselves and thoroughly stubborn. Although, if you find yourself on the receiving end, be prepared to be slapped down by the boss, or end up with traffic or parking tickets. The upside of Jupiter Pluto is that it boosts confidence so if you’re normally timid it will help enormously.

What complicates matters is that by very next day, August 4, Pluto moves on to square Mars, and Jupiter has moves into an opposition to Mars – across the zodiac. So there will be a dizzying combination of assertion and dynamism from Mars, expansive though possibly unrealistic optimism from Jupiter, and Pluto’s drive for control and influence.

Jupiter – Pluto combinations tend to work on the might makes right theory of life. Mars – Jupiter can be self justifying, tending to wrap its’ aggression in high minded moral excuses. Mars – Pluto just knows that relentless determination pays off.

If you get it right you could move mountains, start grandiose new projects, or turn your life around. But you could just as easily find yourself pushed around by someone else’s inflated schemes. The key is to be centred. Be neither too stubbornly intent on getting your own way, nor too submissive. Be yourself and use this time as productively as possible.

However, we all act and react depending upon our individual make-up or personal psyche and personality. What perturbs one person may not bother another.

Taken from Astrology.com