Scientists and students regularly use the single-dish GAVRT antenna, located in the Mojave Desert of California, to scan the Sun. They use the observations to build maps of radio waves formed along strong magnetic field lines in the outer atmosphere of the Sun. By studying these images, researchers can measure the strength and structure of those powerful magnetic regions. These observations offer insight into magnetically driven processes on the Sun, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections, which generate space weather events that can interfere with satellite electronics, radio communications and GPS signals, spacecraft orbits, and power grids on Earth.
