Solar Radio Burst Tracker-Citizen Science campaign

Every day, the Sun emits bursts of energetic particles, primarily electrons, at high speeds during solar flares. As these particles travel through space, they interact with the interplanetary medium, exciting the surrounding plasma and generating radio waves known as Type III solar radio bursts. These bursts appear as distinct “hockey stick” shapes in radio spectra and provide crucial insights into solar activity and space weather.

As the solar cycle reaches its peak in 2025, these events are becoming more frequent and intense. Studying them helps scientists understand the solar activity and its impact on our planet. However, detecting these bursts is not always straightforward. While ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been recording these emissions since 2020 using the Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument, current automated algorithms struggle to identify weaker or more complex signals.

This is where the citizen science come in! The Solar Radio Burst Tracker, hosted on the Zooniverse platform, invites the public to help classify Type III bursts by analyzing real data from Solar Orbiter. By carefully inspecting six-hour spectra collected over five years, participants will contribute to the largest-ever space-based catalog of these radio bursts.

Each spectrum will be analyzed by multiple participants to ensure accuracy, and the results will not only advance solar physics but also improve machine learning models for future automatic detections.

Join us and become a solar burst hunter today!