Solar-stellar connection

Tracking the space storms.

To see how fast the storms are travelling, I need to use two telescopes, and these aren't what you'd normally think of as telescopes!

Remember that I'm looking for radio waves, and so I need a radio dish, a bit like what you need to get satellite TV, but a lot bigger!

The radar dishes that I use are part of a system of 3 telescopes called EISCAT. There's one telescope in each of Norway, Sweden and Finland. You can see one of the dishes below. That one is in a town called Sodankylä in Finland.

Why use two telescopes?

I need two in order to measure how fast the compression regions move. This works because when I see the star twinkle with one telescope, I also see it with the other but at a slightly different time.

By carefully measuring the time difference, I can then work out the speed. By knowing how fast the storm is travelling, I can then work out when it will hit the Earth and warn people in advance!