Earlier this month a lot of column inches were devoted to the news that the Sun continues to behave in a peculiar manner - and that solar activity could be about to enter a period of extended calm. The story emerged after three groups of researchers presented independent studies at the annual meeting of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society, which appear to support this theory. But are the new findings really that clear-cut and what implications do they have for the climate here on Earth? Physicsworld.com addresses some of the issues.

Why the recent interest in the Sun's activities?

Solar physicists agree that the Sun has been acting strangely of late. It relates to apparent abnormalities in the solar cycle, an approximately 11-year period during which the Sun's magnetic activity oscillates from low strength to high strength, then back again. When the Sun's magnetic activity is low, during a solar minimum, its surface remains relatively quiet, which leads to fewer sunspots. Then, as magnetic activity begins to increase, the surface becomes more dynamic and the sunspot numbers begin to increase in the lead up to a solar maximum.

Britain has been identified among a host of countries scientists believe would be worst affected in the event of an asteroid strike.

Experts at Southampton University have drawn up a league table of countries most likely to suffer severe loss of life or catastrophic damage should a large asteroid hit Earth.

The list is largely made up of developed nations including China, Japan, the United States and Italy, on the basis that the size of their populations would mean millions of deaths.

The US, China, Indonesia, India and Japan are most in danger on this basis. Canada, the US, China, Japan and Sweden are rated most at risk in terms of potential damage to their infrastructure.

If you think that the worst that could happen to us is a run on the banks and economic meltdown then think again.

This Monday 27th June 2011 a small asteroid will pass within 8,000 miles of the Earth, a mere hair's breadth by astronomical standards.

NASA's Near Earth Object Observation Programme though is on the watch for those objects that threaten to actually collide with our planet. Their aim is to detect these threats as far ahead as possible, leaving us many years, if not decades or more, to work out how to prevent any collision.

This month 103 years ago a large comet entered the atmosphere and caused an air burst over Podkamennaya Tunguska River, Siberia. As a result some 80 million trees were flattened. The trees nearest the epicentre were still standing but stripped as bare as telephone poles. Although no-one was reported to have died in this event in such a remote area, hundreds of the reindeer the locals relied on for their livelihood were killed.

Charleston's about to party for the 103rd anniversary of The Tunguska Event

On June 30th, 1908, the largest explosion in Earth's recent history occurred near the Tunguska River in remote Siberia.

A massive space rock traveling at a speed of 33,500 miles per hour plunged into the atmosphere before detonating in the sky, releasing energy equivalent to that of 185 Hiroshima bombs. Seismic shockwaves were registered as far away as England. There is no direct evidence that any humans perished. There are many theories abound as to what exactly happened, but we may never know the entire truth.

To celebrate the 103rd anniversary of this cataclysmic anomaly, Tivoli Studios & Garden will be hosting The Tunguska Event, a celebration of art, music, and mobile cuisine in an explosive setting on Thursday, June 30th, from 6 to 10 p.m. The South Carolina Broadcasters will play several sets throughout the evening, as live art demonstrations take place around the warehouse. Roti Rolls, Diggity Donuts, and Taco Boy will be on hand to feed you from their trucks. All of the artist studios at Tivoli will be open to the public.

Astronomers observing inbound asteroid 2011 MD found that their calculations were a little off. The asteroid, which measures 15 feet by 60 feet wide, is what is known as a PHA (Potentially Hazardous Asteroid), and was headed toward Earth. It is just one of many that NASA's Near Earth Objects Observation Program regularly tracks. But this particular massive space rock was scheduled to arrive Monday morning and pass about 7,500 miles above the Earth's surface. It did neither.

Getting calculations wrong by a degree or two could mean the difference between a fly-by and a devastating impact. This time, the calculations erred in the Earth's favor...

2011 MD arrived as planned, but not where or when astronomers first suspected, according to the Associated Press. Updated information put the asteroid passing by the Earth at just after noon (1:00 p.m. EDT). It did not come as close as they thought it would, either. Calculations also found the asteroid passing by the Earth at a distance of 7,600 miles away.

Although science fiction movies and television shows thrill us with the horrors of an impending asteroid-based cosmic hit job (think: Armageddon and Deep Impact), shelving the thought of an apocalyptic run-in with a gigantic space rock is a distinct possibility. It is theorized -- and subsequent data and studies have reinforced the theory -- that just such a collision occurred 65 million years ago, slamming into the Gulf of Mexico region and forming the Chixulub Crater. It is believed to be the major cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs and the mass die-off at the end of the Cretaceous Period, forming what scientists call the K-T boundary, the geologic boundary that exists between the Cretaceous and Tertiary Periods of geologic time.

Fragments of space debris came perilously close to colliding with the International Space Station on Tuesday, prompting its crew to seek temporary refuge in two Russian-built escape craft.

The worrying incident, thought to be only the third of its kind since the international project began in 1998, saw space debris pass within just 820 feet of the space station at high speed and at late notice.

Asteroid 2011 MD will make its closest approach to Earth at 6.14pm BST on Monday but is highly unlikely to hit anything

A lump of space rock the size of a small house will hurtle past Earth on Monday evening in a close encounter that poses no threat to the planet, astronomers said today.

The asteroid, which is 8 metres across and called 2011 MD, is due to pass within 12,000km of Earth, making its closest approach over the southern Atlantic Ocean at around 6.14pm BST on Monday evening.

With clear skies, the asteroid may reflect enough of the sun's light as it shoots past to be visible to amateur astronomers with sizeable telescopes.

The rock - a fragment smashed off a much larger asteroid - was spotted by astronomers last week using a pair of robotic telescopes in Socorro, New Mexico.

Accomplished amateur astronomer and blogger Peter Lake, a.k.a "AstroSwanny" from Australia captured some of the first images of what will be a very close pass of Earth by asteroid 2011 MD. He actually took the image at 07:00 UTC on June 26th with a 20 inch telescope in New Mexico controlled via his iPhone, through the Global Rent-A-Scope program. Ahh, the wonders of technology! As Peter says, "Its not every day, that an asteroid misses by less than 3-5 earth Radii."

In Sept. 1859, on the eve of a below-average solar cycle, the sun unleashed one of the most powerful storms in centuries. The underlying flare was so unusual, researchers still aren't sure how to categorize it. The blast peppered Earth with the most energetic protons in half-a-millennium, induced electrical currents that set telegraph offices on fire, and sparked Northern Lights over Cuba and Hawaii.

This week, officials have gathered at the National Press Club in Washington DC to ask themselves a simple question: What if it happens again?

"A similar storm today might knock us for a loop," says Lika Guhathakurta, a solar physicist at NASA headquarters. "Modern society depends on high-tech systems such as smart power grids, GPS, and satellite communications--all of which are vulnerable to solar storms."

An asteroid measuring about 16 feet to 35 feet or the size of a house, will fly by Earth at a handshaking distance on Monday and a lucky few people will be able to see the celestial wonder with their naked eye.

The asteroid, called 2011 MD, will graze past Earth's atmosphere on Monday at a distance of 7,500 miles from the Earth's surface.

According to the ranking charts of International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Massachusetts, 2011 MD will be the fifth-closest asteroid to graze past Earth. In the past, three asteroids have zoomed past Earth at a closer distance, including a tiny asteroid (2011 CQ1) which flew by on February 4 this year after coming as close as 3,400 miles away from Earth's surface. The fourth, an asteroid named 2008 TC3 had entered Earth's atmosphere on October 7, 2008, but disintegrated into tiny pieces at a height of around 23 miles off the ground.

2011 MD will be visible to the naked eye as a bright blue light as it hurtles by in a starry background.