Moore Observatory VLF Monitor for Space Weather and Solar Flares (original) (raw)

This resource provides a continuous record of the reception at Moore Observatory in Brownsboro, Kentucky, of the very low frequency (VLF) 24 KHz signal from NAA in Cutler, Maine.

During daylight hours over the path to this source the strength of the reception is modified by solar activity, and a sudden change in the level usually indicates that a solar flare has occurred. The receivers are sensitive to C-class or stronger flares, those that cause an x-ray flux increase of a few microwatts per square meter in the 1 to 8 Angstrom band monitored by the GOES satellites. It also responds to strong gamma-ray bursts.

We automatically record the 24 KHz signal from NAA, and maintain an archive of the original data with plots of daily graphs. NAA is an indicator of solar flare activity from about 13h to 21h UT during the winter, and from 9h to 1h UT during the summer. Examples of exceptional events are cataloged with corresponding SOHO images and GOES flux measurements when available. The American Association of Variable Star Observers Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance (AAVSO-SID) websiteprovides current information about solar flares and the ionosphere.

• VLF Monitor

  • Most recent NAA monitor plot
  • NAA receiver explanation
  • NAA monitor archive plots
  • NAA monitor archive data
  • Very low frequency radio waves
  • NAA Cutler transmitter information
  • Exceptional solar flare events
  • Sample animations
  • AAVSO SID Database

• Gamma Ray Bursts

  • GCN - The GRB Coordinates Network
  • GCN Circulars

• Solar Observatories, Images, and Data

  • National Solar Observatory
  • GONG 10-minute synoptic white light averages
  • Latest GONG hydrogen-alpha
  • NJIT's Big Bear Observatory in California
  • Mauna Loa Solar Observatory

• Current Solar Observatories in Space

  • Parker Solar Probe
  • SDO - Solar Dynamics Observatory
  • STEREO - Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory
  • SOHO - Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

• Space Weather

  • NOAA Space Weather Overview
  • Stanford Solar Center - Space Weather Monitors
  • Space weather today

• Aurora

  • AuroraMAX from the Canadian Space Agency
  • Aurora 30-minute forecast from NOAA
  • Space weather predictions from NOAA
  • Aurora forecast from the University of Alaska
  • Recent images of aurora

• Remote Operations from Moore Observatory

  • Northern Shared Skies at Moore Observatory
  • Snapshots from the observatories
  • Moore weather station
  • Moore environmental monitor
  • Moore IR sky monitor

Moore and Mt. Kent Observatories
Astronomy Classes

Last update: January 26, 2023
kielkopf at louisville dot edu