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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 329.8 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B5
2245 UT Nov05
24-hr: B6
2014 UT Nov05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 05 Nov 10
Old sunspot 1112 is back, renumbered 1121 for its second pass across the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SDO/HMI. 2-day movie: 7 MB mpg
Sunspot number: 34
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 Nov 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 45 days (15%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 813 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 04 Nov 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 79 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 04 Nov 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.2 nT
Bz: 0.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 05 Nov 10
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could brush past Earth's magnetic field around Nov. 9th. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Nov 05 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
70 %
70 %
CLASS X
05 %
05 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2010 Nov 05 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
08 %
 
Friday, Nov. 5, 2010
What's up in space
 

AURORA ALERTS: Did you miss the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call from Space Weather PHONE

 

ACTIVE SUNSPOT: Old sunspot 1112 is back and it is crackling with C- and M-class solar flares: SDO movie. So far none of the blasts has been geo-effective because of the sunspot's location on the sun's eastern limb. Solar rotation is, however, turning the active region toward Earth, so stay tuned.

LAUNCH POSTPONED: Space shuttle managers have scrubbed Discovery’s launch attempt for today due to a hydrogen leak at the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate. The next launch attempt would be no earlier than Monday. Check the launch blog for updates.

COMET FLYBY: Yesterday, Nov. 4th, NASA's Deep Impact (EPOXI) probe flew past Comet Hartley 2 only 435 miles from the comet's active nucleus. Soon after the encounter, the spacecraft turned its high-gain antenna toward Earth and began transmitting close-up images to Earth. The view was spectacular:


The first five close-up images: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, mission scientists discussed their first impressions. The comet has a dumbbell shape, they noted, with rough ends and a smooth middle. The rough terrain seems to be the "land of jets," with geysers spewing from many specific topographic features. The middle, on the other hand, is relatively smooth and quiet. It is covered with some kind of fine dusty material that seems to have collected in a broad topograhical low point.

Researchers expressed their continued amazement at Comet Hartley 2's hyperactivity. The comet is absolutely bristling with gaseous jets even on the comet's nightside where volatile ices are shielded from solar heating. They also noted distinct lines of jets tracing the comet's day-night terminator, a phenomenon never seen before.

Stay tuned for updates as the analysis continues.

3D BONUS: Spaceweather.com reader Hanno Falk combined two of the comet photos to produce a semi-stereoscopic pair. Cross your eyes to merge the nuclei and scan the 3D terrain:


Click to view a larger pair

"The two images I combined were not ideal for this purpose," says Falk. Nevertheless, they produce a fairly strong 3D effect. Better 3D views will become available after a full set of flyby images have been beamed back to Earth.

more 3D images: from Patrick Vantuyne of Belgium


October 2010 Aurora Gallery
[previous Octobers: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001]

  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 November 5, 2010 there were 1157 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 TQ19
Oct 8
9.6 LD
18
37 m
2010 TS19
Oct 10
3.7 LD
18
31 m
2010 TD54
Oct 12
0.1 LD
14
7 m
2010 TB54
Oct 13
6.1 LD
20
19 m
1999 VO6
Oct 14
34.3 LD
16
1.8 km
2010 TK
Oct 16
4.5 LD
18
37 m
1998 TU3
Oct 17
69.1 LD
13
5.2 km
2010 TG19
Oct 22
1.1 LD
15
70 m
1998 MQ
Oct 23
77.7 LD
15
1.9 km
2007 RU17
Oct 29
39.2 LD
15
1.1 km
2003 UV11
Oct 30
5 LD
12
595 m
3838 Epona
Nov 7
76.8 LD
14
3.4 km
2005 QY151
Nov 16
77.7 LD
17
1.3 km
2008 KT
Nov 23
5.6 LD
21
10 m
2002 EZ16
Nov 30
73.9 LD
16
1.0 km
2000 JH5
Dec 7
47 LD
-
1.5 km
2010 JL33
Dec 9
16.6 LD
13
1.3 km
2008 EA32
Jan 7
76.5 LD
-
2.1 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
   
  more links...
 
 
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