Leonids

The Leonids meteor shower is set to peak on the 17th of November 2009 and should be especially good over North America and parts of Asia.

Unfortunately, my radio equipment is offline at present pending a move to a new office so I will not be participating this year.

Another problem is the lack of suitable TV transmitters as the ones that I used are being switched off as their respective countries move to digital. Quite where that will leave my meteor tracking in the future I am not certain.

The photo shows my efforts at the Perseids shower recently.

More information on the current Leonid shower can be found on this page of Science at NASA.

The Old 1029 - Still Going Strong!

Sunspot 1029 - the most active sunspot of the year so far - is still going strong and set for a reappearance soon!

This was the spot that produced a whole host of 'C' flares some week or so ago and since then it has been orbiting around on the far side of the sun. Now, however, it is set to reappear any day now and the good news is that it's still as lively as it was.

STEREO B picked up the spot just yesterday - 6th November 2009 - and caught a fierce eruption taking place. If you are quick you can still catch the link to the movie in the report on SpaceWeather. The movie shows that it still have plenty of life left in it yet!

It is due to come back into view for us at the end of the week so it is worth keeping an eye out as it may have more surprises yet.

While the spot has been away we have had mostly a blank face on the sun apart from another small and extremely timid spot that vanished shortly after it appeared.

A Proper Spot At Last!

At last we have a proper looking sunspot on the face of our sun!

Sunspot 1029 is growing as I write this and producing quite a barrage of flares. Of course, a few years ago this spot would be considered so small as to not be worthy of note but, in these days of the quiet sun, it is certainly worth a fanfare.

The photo is from SOHO (ESA and NASA) and shows the spot clearly.

Let us hope that this is the first of many more!

At Last - A Flare!

The twin sunspots, like angry wasps slowly orbiting the face of the sun have, at last, produced some magnetic activity.

Mind you, a 'C' class flare, in better times, would go unnoticed but, in this deepest of deep solar minimums this is a major event.

The spots are, really, the first proper spots we have had this cycle and some magnetic activity was guaranteed so this is hardly surprising but it is very pleasing to see that the sun hasn't forgotten how to shoot out a burst of x-rays.

To recap, a flare is when the lines of magnetic force that accompany (and cause) sunspots get twisted and then break ejecting vast amounts of matter out into space at considerable speed.

On the scale of severity, it has to be said, 'C' class flares are very minor ones but major ones cause radio blackouts, disrupt communications and may harm astronauts.

The sunspots have been around for some time now and seem to be lasting well, showing little sign of diminishing so perhaps this is the start of some real solar activity. Wait a minute! I seem to have said all this before!

Image from NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.

Multiple Spots On The Sun

For the first time in a long, long time we have not just one sunspot but two!

The first spot - I have already written about this - was seen forming on the far side of the sun and has at last rotated into view to be noticed and numbered (it's 1026). But now a second spot is emerging to join the first one.

According to Spaceweather this is the first time we have had more than one reasonable sized spot for at least a year.

If this marks the beginning of a period of renewed solar activity remains to be seen and it is anyone's guess if this activity will continue or die down again since this is, without question, the deepest solar minimum for a very long time.

It will, however, be interesting to see what happens now!

The photo is of from SOHO and shows the magnetogram as it exists today with the two anomalies easily seen. A photo of the sun is available from SOHO at the url below:

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/home.html

Spot On The Way - Well, Maybe!

The sun has been blank for, let me see, another long period of 14 days again but all that may be about to end.

On the far side of the sun and about to rotate into view is a sunspot, or what appears to be the beginning of a spot. It also looks as if it has the potential, at least, to be a good sized spot.

That's one piece of good news and the other is that it's located around the 30 degree latitude mark which will identify it firmly as a spot of the new cycle, Cycle 24.

The sun is off to a very slow start and the spots that have appeared so far have been less than spectacular but this one, if it really does appear, could be a more substantial offering.

Let's keep our eyes on the sun and see what the next few days bring!

Photo of the sun from SOHO (ESA & NASA).

Lashenden (Headcorn) NDB

The Lashenden beacon is near Headcorn in Kent in the UK and sends the identifier 'LSH' on 340 kHz.

It's position is given from the waypoint website as 510917N by 0003853E

Headcorn is the base for one of the most active parachute centres in the South of England with jumping taking place up to 15,000 feet. More information can be found on the excellent page for the airfield:

http://www.headcornaerodrome.co.uk/pilots_page.html

I made several attempts to log the beacon and I could definitely hear something but I was unable to make a positive identification. You can see the beginnings of a trace at 400 Hertz but I could not make out any signal. The aid is only about 140 miles from me