Moscow's real-time cosmic rays

1 November 2000

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The highest energy cosmic rays may pack a real punch, but more common are the cosmic rays at lower energies, many of which are now known to originate from the Sun. The best way of studying the solar cosmic rays is by detecting the neutrons in the showers of particles that the cosmic-rays produce when they interact in the atmosphere. This week's picture shows the variation in neutrons detected during October 2000 at the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation (IZMIRAN) in Moscow. It is taken from a real-time display that updates every hour. As the web-site says, "The Sun paints these pictures with the solar wind as a brush". The site also shows one-minute and five-minute variations for the past hour - see if you find only random variations or if you are lucky and observe the onset of a new solar event, indicating a solar flare.

Credit: Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division, IZIMRAN