Sure, your GPS-enabled cellphone might tell you which way is north, but why settle for a mere compass when you can monitor the Earth’s entire magnetic field?
According to its developer, Tomasso, a Droid app called Solaris weaves together data from several satellites that monitor the Sun’s activity and its effects on our planet’s magnetic field.
NASA satellite team STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) provides information on “Earth-directed solar ejections.” NASA’s SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) also gives stats on what the Sun is sending our way in the forms of solar wind and energetic particles. Finally, the NOAA’s polar orbiter satellites provide information on the Earth’s weather.
Combining this information, the app allegedly can show (almost) real-time changes in the Earth’s magnetic field from solar activity and even indicate when trapped, Sun-spewed subatomic particles are making a spectacular show, in the form of the northern or southern lights.
The app can also tell you when to look up since, as reported by Gizmodo, the “Phone vibrates when geomagnetic storm level rises or aurora may be overhead at your location.”
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Image: Solaris / Tomasso via AndriodPIT
