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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 386.6 km/sec
density: 0.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1731 UT Sep06
24-hr: M1
0413 UT Sep06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 06 Sep 12
Sunspot 1564 is crackling with borderline M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 105
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 06 Sep 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Update 06 Sep 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 133 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Sep 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.3 nT
Bz: 1.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 06 Sep 12
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Sep 06 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
30 %
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: 2012 Sep 06 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
20 %
MINOR
25 %
20 %
SEVERE
20 %
10 %
 
Thursday, Sep. 6, 2012
What's up in space
 

Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio.

 
Spaceweather Radio is on the air

SDO ECLIPSE SEASON: Twice every year, around the time of the equinoxes, Earth can pass directly between the Sun and NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), producing a series of beautiful eclipses from the point of view of the spacecraft. SDO's autumnal eclipse season began today, Sept. 6th, and already there has been a partial blackout of the sun:

During the eclipse, which was centered around 0700 UT, Earth covered about half of the sun. Because these eclipses typically last only a few minutes, there is still plenty of time remaining in the day for SDO to monitor activity on the sun. The observatory won't miss much even with Earth occasionally getting in the way. The ongoing eclipse season will end on Sept. 26th. Between now and then, stay tuned for some rare blackouts.

MAGNETIC UNREST: Earth's magnetic field is still reverberating from a pair of CME impacts--a relatively strong blow on Sept 3rd followed by a lesser hit on Sept. 4th. The double strike ignited auroras around the Arctic Circle that are only slowly fading. Olivier Du Tré photographed this apparition over Red Deer, Alberta, on Sept. 5th:

"For the second night this week, the Northern Lights put on an awesome show over Alberta," says Du Tré. "At one point about 65%-70% of the sky above the farmlands to the NE of Calgary were lit up. It was incredible."

NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of strong polar geomagnetic storms on Sept. 6th as the reverberations continue. Aurora alerts: text, phone.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]

  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 6, 2012 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 QZ16
Aug 30
7 LD
--
33 m
2012 QG42
Sep 14
7.4 LD
--
335 m
2012 QC8
Sep 14
22.7 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 UO1
Oct 4
60.1 LD
--
2.1 km
2005 GQ21
Oct 12
77 LD
--
1.0 km
1998 ST49
Oct 18
28.7 LD
--
1.3 km
1991 VE
Oct 26
34 LD
--
1.1 km
2012 QF49
Oct 29
77.7 LD
--
1.6 km
2001 CV26
Oct 30
68 LD
--
2.4 km
2007 PA8
Nov 5
16.8 LD
--
2.4 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
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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