<p>The most extreme solar flares are visible as bright marks on the face of the sun and the most extreme CME are apparent as aurorae even at low latitudes.</p>

<p>Detecting CME as they leave the sun is difficult: you really need a spaceship to see that close to the sun.</p>

<p>Detecting CME as they interact with the Earth's magnetic field is possible.  You need to make a magnetometer.  There are several designs possible, from a "<a href="http://www.eaas.co.uk/cms/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D74:how-to-make-a-very-sensitive-jam-jar-magnetometer-by-robert-cobain%26catid%3D10:equipment-reviews%26Itemid%3D16" rel="nofollow noreferrer">jamjar/laserpointer</a>" design to <a href="https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/measure-aurora-homemade-magnetometer/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fluxgate designs</a>, and c<a href="https://watson-gyro.com/project/solar-storm-detection/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ommercial detector</a>s at various price points.  </p>

<p>A magnetometer will respond to CME as they interact with the Earth's magnetic field, so they are not an early warning system, and you may find yourself detecting next-door's ironing, but at least the more advanced designs here demonstrate it is possible to get a signal that correlates with observations of the aurora.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T15:58:54.483Z
also see answers to [Does a geomagnetic storm visibly deflect a compass?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/19303/6031) for really big events it may be possible to use a compass, and it might help putting a small mirror on it and deflect a laser pointer.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T12:42:55.440Z
2020-06-13T13:50:28.730Z
2020-06-13T13:50:28.730Z
James K
<p>I was wondering if there are any ways for some amateur to detect let's say solar flares or CMEs from home. What kind of hardware would you need in order to have chance of seeing/measuring those?</p>

<p>I have a background in programming software and I've gotten my feet wet in hardware if that's of any help. </p>

<p>I'm aware that the weather plays a "bit" of a factor and I am sure that I can't afford a satellite but anything is welcome! </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T05:37:52.280Z
I'm no expert but space weather certainly has an effect on the ionosphere. Receiving strong short wave signals from distant stations, especially at higher frequency at night might be somewhat useful, but it's a bit complicated...
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T07:54:01.867Z
@uhoh complicated stuff is my thing!! Could you please point me in the direction of a paper? I have no clue on what to search specifically
CCG
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-13T08:02:29.397Z
I think others will be able to help more on this than I can, there will probably be some answers soon. You can also check out things tagged with [space-weather](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/space-weather) in Space Exploration SE.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-15T16:32:04.717Z
You might look into a hydrogen-alpha solar telescope.  These telescopes have very-narrow bandpass filters at the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, which tends to reveal solar activity at much higher contrast than white light.
antlersoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-16T21:18:10.460Z
@antlersoft I googled it up and they seem pretty expensive... I did not know that they existed though so thank you for pointing that out
CCG
<solar-flare><coronal-mass-ejection>
Detecting anomalies from the sun from home
CCG
# Detecting anomalies from the sun from home

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-13)

I was wondering if there are any ways for some amateur to detect let's say solar flares or CMEs from home. What kind of hardware would you need in order to have chance of seeing/measuring those?

I have a background in programming software and I've gotten my feet wet in hardware if that's of any help.

I'm aware that the weather plays a "bit" of a factor and I am sure that I can't afford a satellite but anything is welcome!

**Tags:** solar-flare, coronal-mass-ejection
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm no expert but space weather certainly has an effect on the ionosphere. Receiving strong short wave signals from distant stations, especially at higher frequency at night might be somewhat useful, but it's a bit complicated...  
> **username_0**: @uhoh complicated stuff is my thing!! Could you please point me in the direction of a paper? I have no clue on what to search specifically  
> **username_1**: I think others will be able to help more on this than I can, there will probably be some answers soon. You can also check out things tagged with [space-weather](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/space-weather) in Space Exploration SE.  
> **username_2**: You might look into a hydrogen-alpha solar telescope.  These telescopes have very-narrow bandpass filters at the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, which tends to reveal solar activity at much higher contrast than white light.  
> **username_0**: @antlersoft I googled it up and they seem pretty expensive... I did not know that they existed though so thank you for pointing that out  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-06-13. Score: 2

The most extreme solar flares are visible as bright marks on the face of the sun and the most extreme CME are apparent as aurorae even at low latitudes.

Detecting CME as they leave the sun is difficult: you really need a spaceship to see that close to the sun.

Detecting CME as they interact with the Earth's magnetic field is possible. You need to make a magnetometer. There are several designs possible, from a "[jamjar/laserpointer](http://www.eaas.co.uk/cms/index.php%3Foption%3Dcom_content%26view%3Darticle%26id%3D74:how-to-make-a-very-sensitive-jam-jar-magnetometer-by-robert-cobain%26catid%3D10:equipment-reviews%26Itemid%3D16)" design to [fluxgate designs](https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/diy/measure-aurora-homemade-magnetometer/), and c[ommercial detector](https://watson-gyro.com/project/solar-storm-detection/)s at various price points.

A magnetometer will respond to CME as they interact with the Earth's magnetic field, so they are not an early warning system, and you may find yourself detecting next-door's ironing, but at least the more advanced designs here demonstrate it is possible to get a signal that correlates with observations of the aurora.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: also see answers to [Does a geomagnetic storm visibly deflect a compass?](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/q/19303/6031) for really big events it may be possible to use a compass, and it might help putting a small mirror on it and deflect a laser pointer.  

---

