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M104 Sombrero Galaxy

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Solar Type III Radio Burst January 10

The Solar magnetic field near active regions can accelerate electrons to very high velocities (one third the speed of light or more). A jet of electrons can interact with the solar wind plasma and produce radio waves over a broad frequency range, as seen in the spectrum above, recorded by the STEREO observatory trailing the Earth.

The image shows an event in the 16 MHz to 100 KHz radio band. This burst was observed by participants in NASA's Radio Jove educational project for schools, with small antennas and inexpensive receivers.