AVOIMET OVET – Auringon havainnointi // OPEN DAY – Observing the Sun

OPEN DAY 3rd of June 2026
Observing the Sun from the Botanic Gardens with the Ruissalo Radio Antenna Array

The Sun produces the most powerful explosions in the Solar System, often accompanied by fast particles with speeds comparable to the speed of light. These fast particles escape the solar atmosphere and when they arrive at Earth, they can have a harmful impact on satellites and technology in space.

However, there are ways of monitoring these  explosions and particles directly from Earth before they arrive using radio observatories. One such observatory has recently been opened at the Botanic Gardens of the University of Turku: the Ruissalo Radio Antenna Array, commissioned in the summer of 2025 to monitor the Sun during the day and other objects in the sky at night. The array aims to bring radio astronomy to Turku and also actively monitor space weather as part of the the e-Callisto network, where real-time data from Ruissalo is available. Numerous solar radio bursts, lightning emission from local thunder storms and also echoes from meteorite trails have already been observed.

We invite you to the public launch of the Ruissalo Radio Antenna Array at UTU’s Botanic Gardens to share some of these new observations and the role of the Ruissalo Array in monitoring solar activity.

Programme

16.00 – 16.40 – Observing the Sun from the Botanic Gardens (Diana Morosan and Sanna Normo)

16.40 – 16.50 – Walk to antennas

16.50 – 17.50 – Observatory tour (including demonstration scanning for radio stations with the array