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Solar wind
speed: 423.2 km/sec
density: 1.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2351 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B8
2058 UT Feb05
24-hr: C3
0953 UT Feb05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 05 Feb 15
Sunspot AR2277 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares: Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 85
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 05 Feb 2015

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2015 total: 0 days (0%)

2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)

Update 05 Feb 2015


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 145 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 05 Feb 2015

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 7.2 nT
Bz: 3.6 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2351 UT
Coronal Holes: 05 Feb 15
A Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind flowing from this southern coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Noctilucent Clouds As of Nov. 22, 2014, the season for southern hemisphere noctilucent clouds is underway. The south polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from NASA's AIM spacecraft.
Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Penninsula, East Antarctica, Polar
Updated at: 02-02-2015 16:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2015 Feb 05 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
20 %
20 %
CLASS X
01 %
01 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2015 Feb 05 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
20 %
MINOR
30 %
30 %
SEVERE
25 %
25 %
 
Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015
What's up in space
 

Learn to photograph Northern Lights like a pro. Sign up for Peter Rosen's Aurora Photo Courses in Abisko National Park.

 
Lapland tours

QUIET WITH A CHANCE OF FLARES: Solar activity is low. However, sunspot AR2277 has an unstable 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that could erupt. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of M-class solar flares on Feb. 5th. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH JUPITER: This week, Jupiter is at its biggest, brightest, and closest to Earth for all of 2015. For reasons this diagram makes clear, astronomers call this "the opposition of Jupiter." The giant planet rises in the east at sunset and soars overhead at midnight, outshining everything except the Moon and Venus. Giorgia Hofer sends this picture from Laggio di Cadore, Veneto, Italy:

"I caught Jupiter and its satellites setting behind the Marmarole on the morning of February 4th at 6:50 am," says Hofer. "It was very bright."

Oppositions of Jupiter happen every 13 months, but this one is special. In a rare coincidence, Jupiter's opposition on Feb. 6th coincides almost perfectly with its equinox on Feb. 5th when the Sun crosses Jupiter's equatorial plane. It is an edge-on apparition of the giant planet that sets the stage for a remarkable series of events.  For the next couple of months, backyard sky watchers can see the moons of Jupiter executing a complex series of mutual eclipses and transits.

For instance, on Feb. 5th, volcanic Io will cast its shadow on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon.. Two days later, on Feb. 7th, icy Europa will cast its shadow on Io.  Events like these will continue, off and on, until July 2015.

Look up at midnight for the brightest light from the outer solar system you'll see all year.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SPACE ROSES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY: Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and many people are preparing to give the gift of roses. But wait. How about space roses, instead? On Jan. 28th, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a batch of rose seeds to the stratosphere. They went aloft inside a standard Space Weather Buoy, nestled alongside cameras, radiation sensors and GPS trackers. Here is a picture of the seeds 107,300 above Earth's surface:

En route to the edge of space, the seeds experienced cosmic radiation levels, temperatures, and pressures akin to those on the planet Mars. What kind of roses will these "space seeds" produce? We only know this: A seed packet of space roses would make a unique Valentine's gift.

Get yours now. For only $49.95 we will mail you a packet of seeds along with a Valentine's card authenticating their flight. 100% of funds received will be used for student research. For more information, contact Dr. Tony Phillips.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SOLAR FILAMENT: Most solar flares come from sunspots. The next big explosion, however, could come from a different source: A huge filament of magnetism is snaking over the sun's southeastern limb, shown here in a Feb. 5th image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

This structure is, essentially, a tendril of plasma more than 400,000 km long held suspended above the surface of the sun by magnetic forces. If it becomes unstable and erupts, it could hurl parts of itself into space. Pieces of the filament falling back to the solar surface would explode upon impact, creating one or more Hyder flares.

Astronomers with backyard solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor the structure as it turns toward Earth. A photogenic explosion may be in the offing. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery

  All Sky Fireball Network

Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.

On Feb. 5, 2015, the network reported 17 fireballs.
(17 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

  Near Earth Asteroids
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.
On February 5, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2015 BD511
Jan 30
4.5 LD
19 m
2008 CQ
Jan 31
4.8 LD
36 m
2015 BF92
Feb 7
8.5 LD
63 m
2015 AZ43
Feb 15
7.7 LD
87 m
2000 EE14
Feb 27
72.5 LD
1.6 km
2063 Bacchus
Apr 7
76 LD
1.6 km
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.
  Essential web links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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