POSSIBLE EARTH-DIRECTED CME: Over the past three days, sunspot AR2740 has puffed numerous minor coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space. Until this morning, none were Earth directed. However, a faint "halo CME" that left the sun during the early hours of May 7th might have an Earth-directed component. NOAA analysts are modeling the storm cloud now. Stay tuned. Instant Aurora Alerts: SMS Text.
RARE SOLAR RADIO BURST: Last month, sunspot AR2740 strafed Earth with loud shortwave radio bursts. It's doing it again. "Yesterday, May 6th, was an incredible day of strong solar radio bursts including one of the strongest of the current solar cycle," reports Thomas Ashcraft who recorded the outburst with a shortwave radio telescope in New Mexico. Click to listen:
"This one really rips," he says. "I recommend listening with headphones. It is a stereo recording with 20 MHz in one channel and 25 MHz in the other."
How does a sunspot make radio waves? It starts with a solar flare. Beams of electrons accelerated by flares slice through the sun's atmosphere, creating a ripple of plasma waves and radio static detectable on Earth 93 million miles away. Astronomers classify solar radio bursts into five types; Ashcraft's recording captured a mixture of Type III and Type V.
And something else... Ashcraft has been recording solar radio bursts for many years. Yesterday he picked up something new. "In the dynamic spectrum, note the 'feathery' upward drifting radio emissions," he says. "I've never seen anything like that--not even during solar maximum. This is auspicious and rare activity to be happening during the deepest time of solar minimum."
Readers, if you would like to detect solar radio bursts in your own backyard, order a radio telescope kit from NASA's RadioJOVE project.
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
SOLAR FLARE MOVIE: Yesterday, active sunspot AR2740 produced the strongest solar flare in more than a year--an M1-class eruption. Extreme ultraviolet telescopes onboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a must-see movie of the blast:
The bright flash of UV radiation from this flare ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, producing a brownout of shortwave radio signals over Asia and the Indian Ocean: map. Frequencies affected were mainly below 20 MHz. Ships at sea and ham radio operators may have noticed the disturbance on Monday, May 6th, around 05:10 UT.
The movie also shows a filament of matter racing away from the explosion. This formed the core of a coronal mass ejection (CME) which, according to NOAA analysts, will not hit Earth.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
MOTHER'S DAY IS LESS THAN 1 WEEK AWAY: Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something mom will love:
Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education