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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 432.9 km/sec
density: 2.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2
2300 UT Sep05
24-hr: M1
0428 UT Sep05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 05 Sep 11
Sunspot 1283 is crossing the center of tthe solar disk. Any flares from the region today would be squarely Earth-directed. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 114
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 Sep 2011

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 04 Sep 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 119 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 04 Sep 2011

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.6 nT
Bz: 2.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 05 Sep 11
A minor solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Sept. 6-7. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 Sep 05 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
20 %
15 %
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: 2011 Sep 05 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
 
Monday, Sep. 5, 2011
What's up in space
 

Are we alone? Your iPhone has the answer. Download the all-new Drake Equation app to calculate the population of the Milky Way.

 
DrakeEQ for iPhone and iPad

LIMB FLARES: The northwestern limb of the sun is crackling with M-class solar flares. The source appears to be departing sunspot complex 1280-1286. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) emerging from the blast site are not Earth-directed. Nevertheless, these flares are having a minor effect on Earth as their radiation ionizes our planet's upper atmosphere. For an example, see "Radio-Altering Flare" below the auroras.

AURORA SEASON: September is only 5 days old and it has already been a good month for auroras. With the midnight sun doing a late-summer fade, many Arctic sky watchers are seeing Northern Lights for the first time in months. Sylvain Serre of Ivujivik, Canada, photographed this happy observer on Sept. 3rd:

 

"For the first time this season, we had clear dark skies in the village of Ivujivik in northern Quebec," says Serre. "The Northern Lights were very bright, dense and colorful."

As shown in the gallery, similar displays have been observed every night this month. More auroras are possible on September 6th - 7th in response to the expected arrival of a minor solar wind stream. In September, it seems, a minor gust of solar wind is all it takes to produce a great show. Stay tuned. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

NEW: September 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Septembers: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004]

RADIO-ALTERING FLARE: On Sunday morning at 1145 UT, an active region on the sun's western limb unleashed a strong M3-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation:

Although the blast site was not directly facing Earth, radiation from the explosion nevertheless ionized Earth's upper atmosphere. This altered the propagation of radio signals around Europe, where it was high-noon at the time of the flare. "I detected a sharp change in signal levels from two radio stations on the VLF band," reports Rob Stammes of Lofoten, Norway. More radio anmolaies were detected by Dave Gradwell in Ireland (data) and a team led by Valter Giuliani in Italy (data). This shows that flares can affect our planet even when the underlying explosions are not "Earth-directed."

  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 September 5, 2011 there were 1244 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2011 QD50
Aug 27
8.7 LD
--
72 m
2011 QF48
Aug 27
3.4 LD
--
38 m
2003 QC10
Sep 18
50 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 SV55
Sep 19
67.5 LD
--
1.2 km
2007 TD
Sep 23
3.8 LD
--
58 m
2002 AG29
Oct 9
77.1 LD
--
1.0 km
2000 OJ8
Oct 13
49.8 LD
--
2.5 km
2009 TM8
Oct 17
1.1 LD
--
8 m
2011 FZ2
Nov 7
75.9 LD
--
1.6 km
2005 YU55
Nov 8
0.8 LD
--
175 m
1994 CK1
Nov 16
68.8 LD
--
1.5 km
1996 FG3
Nov 23
39.5 LD
--
1.1 km
2003 WM7
Dec 9
47.6 LD
--
1.5 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
Science Central
 
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