INCREASING CHANCE OF FLARES: A new sunspot (AR3405) is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb, and it appears to pose a threat for M-classsolar flares. Just hours ago it produced a flare only percentage points below M-class. The same explosion hurled a bright CME into space. According to a NASA model, the CME will hit Mercury sometime tomorrow. Solar flare alerts:SMS Text

IS THE SUN SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL? Ham radio operator Scott Tilley (VE7TIL) has been monitoring data from NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft since he 'hacked' the solar observatory in July. A few days ago, images of the sun started spinning strangely:

"No, the sun is not spinning out of control," says Tilley. "This is a side-effect of the flyby."

STEREO-A is flying by Earth this week, coming home after a 17 year journey around the farside of the sun. For the past few days, the fast-approaching spacecraft has had to turn rapidly to keep its antennas pointed at our planet. The sun naturally appears to turn in the opposite direction. 

At closest approach on Aug. 17th, STEREO-A will be only 0.05 AU away. "It's so close, the signal is now audible,"says Tilley. "I can hear it in the loudspeaker of my receiver (8443.580 MHz) using only a 26-inch dish antenna in my back yard. This is a unique time to play with STEREO-A."

Hams, would you like to monitor STEREO-A? A technical blog post published by Tilley explains exactly how to do it.

SpaceWeather.com