I just learned about hobby and read through some discussions about space weather in the spaceweatherlive forum.
It is not clear to me from those discussions where the data they discuss is coming from.
Are there tools that one can have at home to track space weather events? Through hobby-grade telescopes can one observe solar activity? Are diagnostic radio signals detectable with an SDR? Can an X-ray/gamma burst produce a strong enough diagnostic signal to detect with a radiation detector? Or are there some other type of detectors?
Is the main source of data used for interpreting solar activity patterns as a hobby the data that can be found here: https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/ ?
The joy of aurora hunting:
Stay up until 3:30 the other night. When it exploded again it gave a giant middle finger to Europe:
Noonish the next day:
And into the eve:
But lo, the density died and the pillars are diffused. My friend caught a little bit on the horizon in camera. I saw a little bit of red but nothing stunning. Very faint. You can just see the pink on the horizon. This is facing north.
Aahh, that’s rough 😅
Nice! Is this your first time seeing it, or is this something that you get to attempt often?
Nah, I am always checking in, especially considering we are arount the Solar Maximum. I believe that the best shows come as it winds down iirc. I am in southern England, and we get it’s hazy glow more often than people realise. :) I have caught a good show here before, though. I’ll dig up pics from last year in a bit. I get alerts so I am always waiting for it.
Solar Maximum happens every 11 years or so, right? I will keep paying attention!
Yes, that is correct. It is likely to be slow until Fall, but there is always hope.
https://mander.xyz/post/31327758 <- Check out the tracker here. Solar Maximums are only determined after they happen.
Oct 10, 2024, just after midnight right above our little town!
Wow, that is spectacular!