Researchers from Trinity’s School of Physics and School of Computer Science and Statistics celebrated the launch of a new Smartphone version of SolarMonitor.org, that allows you to view the most recent NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) images of the Sun from your Smartphone. The group, led by Trinity solar physicist, Dr Peter Gallagher, launched the application at the annual European Space Weather Week conference in Belgium recently.

According to Dr Gallagher: “SolarMonitor.org gives everyone the ability to follow the weather on the Sun, and to find out when the northern lights, also called the aurora borealis, are likely to be visible. All this information can now be accessed from your phone using this new web application.”

The web app can be accessed by browsing to SolarMonitor.org on your Smartphone which will display the most recent images of the Sun, including information on how many sunspots are visible and if any flares have occurred. Data for the application is gathered from a number of solar observatories and satellites such as SOHO, STEREO, and Hinode.

Every day, SolarMonitor.org is visited by over 3,000 users from all over the world. Users have a wide range of interests and experience, ranging from secondary school students working on school science projects, to professional solar physicists, to companies operating communications links, power grids, and GPS systems.

The SolarMonitor web app was developed as part of a collaboration between researchers in Physics and in Computer Science, funded by an Innovation Bursary. “What is particularly nice about the SolarMonitor web app is that you don’t have to download anything to your phone - it can be used on an iPhone or an Android. The technology can also be used in many other areas where images need to be viewed on a smartphone.” according to Dr Gallagher.

Want to see what’s going on the Sun right now? Just open up your phone’s browser and go to www. SolarMonitor.org.