this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Space Weather

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Welcome to Space Weather

Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the varying conditions within the Solar System and its heliosphere. This includes the effects of the solar wind, especially on the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Though physically distinct, space weather is analogous to the terrestrial weather of Earth's atmosphere (troposphere and stratosphere). The term "space weather" was first used in the 1950s and popularized in the 1990s. Later, it prompted research into "space climate", the large-scale and long-term patterns of space weather.

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What tools are available for space-weather enthusiasts? (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 month ago by Sal@mander.xyz to c/spaceweather@mander.xyz
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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/ ?

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[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

You've still got time! Between 10pm and 2am are the golden hours for this sort of thing, but look north as it gets dark. Use your phone camera with a long exposure to check. :) I think we may still be quite lucky. Beware of a lot of the posts in real time there, nobody knows what's going to happen until the L1, remember, so it's a lot of guesswork! It's kind of half the fun is trying to figure out what is going on with it. The stars have to align just right, pun intended.

[–] Sal@mander.xyz 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

You’ve still got time! Between 10pm and 2am are the golden hours for this sort of thing, but look north as it gets dark. Use your phone camera with a long exposure to check. :)

I'm living in Amsterdam at the moment, in a city environment. From what I have found, I would need to travel to the north of the Netherlands to have a good chance of seeing something. A difficult trip to improvise on a Sunday night. Hopefully when the next opportunity arises I will know enough to appreciate it more deeply.

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Sal@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Stay up until 3:30 the other night. When it exploded again it gave a giant middle finger to Europe:

Aahh, that's rough 😅

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.

Nice! Is this your first time seeing it, or is this something that you get to attempt often?

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Oct 10, 2024, just after midnight right above our little town!

[–] Sal@mander.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

Wow, that is spectacular!

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Sal@mander.xyz 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Solar Maximum happens every 11 years or so, right? I will keep paying attention!

[–] fossilesque@mander.xyz 2 points 3 weeks ago

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.