The Sun occasionally enters periods of high activity, sometimes releasing powerful bursts of highly energetic elementary particles that could have dramatic consequences for Earth. These solar bursts can lead to power grid failure, damage to electrical circuits, disruption of radio communication and GPS, interference with civil aviation, and more, all of which can severely disrupt daily life.

However, early detection and prediction of such events can provide critical time to prepare for their impacts. Remote observation of “space weather” allows for preventative action to be taken as a solar burst approaches Earth, such as temporarily shutting down key electrical systems to protect them from damage.
The last generation of radio telescopes (as well as space-borne probes) allow us to detect and quantify incoming solar bursts through their signature emitted as radio waves, as soon as they are emitted from the Sun. The remote signal measured from solar bursts can be turned into dynamic movies showing the evolving structure with time (around the Sun) and with frequency (as a sound spectrogram). This information allows researchers to evaluate potential threats with regard to solar of burst size, energy and trajectory crossing Earth orbit.