Radio amateurs, have you heard any strange roaring sounds coming from the loudspeakers of your shortwave radios this week? It might have been the sun. "The Sun has been generating Type III solar radio bursts and they appear to be intensifying," reports amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft of New Mexico. "The strongest burst so far came at 2155 UTC on October 9th." Here it is as recorded on two radios at 28 MHz and 21 MHz:
Ashcraft recommends listening to the audio using stereo headphones. "Type III bursts drift downward in frequency," he explains. "In stereo you can hear the burst pass through 28 MHz first on one speaker and then flow through 21 MHz on the other sound speaker."
Type III solar radio bursts are produced by electrons accelerated to high energies (1 to 100 keV) by solar flares. As the electrons stream outward from the sun, they excite plasma oscillations and radio waves in the sun's atmosphere. When these radio waves head in the direction of Earth, they make themselves heard in the loudspeakers of shortwave radios around the dayside of the planet.
More radio bursts could be in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours. www.spaceweather.com
Type III solar radio bursts are produced by electrons accelerated to high energies (1 to 100 keV) by solar flares. As the electrons stream outward from the sun, they excite plasma oscillations and radio waves in the sun's atmosphere. When these radio waves head in the direction of Earth, they make themselves heard in the loudspeakers of shortwave radios around the dayside of the planet.
More radio bursts could be in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-class flares during the next 24 hours. www.spaceweather.com
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