First Steps Towards a Solar Flare Detector Using the AAVSO Design (Poster abstract)

Volume 37 number 2 (2009)

James F. Breitmeyer

Abstract

(Abstracct only) Solar flares—ephemeral events often lasting only twenty minutes or so—can be detected indirectly using “sudden ionospheric disturbances,” or SIDs. SIDs increase the efficiency of very low-frequency radio waves being reflected by the Earth’s ionosphere. During a solar flare, a terrestrial radio station that is normally received as a weak signal can suddenly become much stronger. This characteristic rise in signal strength has been recognized for its correlation with observed solar flares. The AAVSO SID Program offers instructions on its website for construction, tuning, and use of a very low frequency radio receiver appropriate for monitoring solar flares. We have begun building and testing a SID detector, and we look forward to participating in the AAVSO SID Program as solar activity increases in the current new Cycle 24. Our experience may suggest improvements that will make building future SID detectors easier. Besides contributing to the AAVSO database, we are interested to detect solar flares in a timely way for visual observation using a hydrogen-alpha filter. We are also interested in the inevitable, eventual recurrence of “monster” solar flares—for example, the white-light event of 1859 observed by Richard Carrington and the consequent world-wide, violent geomagnetic storm.