Tiny Astronomers Catch Big Solar Activity

Tiny Astronomers Catch Big Solar Activity

After days of low solar activity, explosions have commenced on both sides of the sun. Sunspot AR2322 near the sun's western limb has unleashed four M-class solar flares in the past 12 hours alone, while a magnetic filament rose up on the sun's eastern limb, creating a magnificent prominence. A group of 2nd graders in Columbus, Georgia, caught one of the M-flares in action:

"Ms. Getz's 2nd grade class at Forrest Road Elementary captured this incredible solar eruption during a session with the Real-time Interactive Solar Observatory," explains Mary Johnson, Assistant Director of the Coca-Cola Space Science Center at Columbus State University. Johnson and colleagues have been developing this online telescope for three years. "To give you an idea of what happens during these sessions, one of our staff members joins the school teacher in the classroom and accesses our telescope online. The students and teacher then use a control system to move the telescope and take images of the features they choose to view."
"Teachers from anywhere in the world can request online telescope sessions for their classes," she continues. "To learn more about this FREE resource, please visit http://observatory.ccssc.org/ or contact Michael Johnson at michaelj@ccssc.org."
Good news for tiny astronomers: More flares are in the offing. NOAA forecasters have boosted the odds of M-class eruptions to 30% on April 22nd. There is even a chance of X-flares, too--about 5%.

From SpaceWeather.com