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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 405.1 km/sec
density: 2.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C3
2140 UT Feb07
24-hr: M4
0235 UT Feb07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 07 Feb. 10
Sunspot 1045 is crackling with C- and M-class solar flares. New sunspot "1046" has not yet been officially numbered by NOAA; its designation here is therefore provisional. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 30
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 06 Feb 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 2 days (5%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 772 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 06 Feb 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 88 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Feb 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 8.8 nT
Bz: 2.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about Feb. 10th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Feb 07 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
50 %
50 %
CLASS X
10 %
10 %
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 Feb 07 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
25 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
35 %
30 %
MINOR
10 %
05 %
SEVERE
05 %
01 %
What's up in Space
February 7, 2010

SATELLITE FLYBYS APP: Turn your iPhone or iPod into a field-tested satellite tracker! Spaceweather.com presents the Satellite Flybys app.

 

NIGHT LAUNCH RESCHEDULED: More than five thousand people gathered along the "NASA Causeway" early Sunday morning, Feb. 7th, to watch a spectacular night launch of space shuttle Endeavour. With just minutes left on the countdown clock, however, the 4:39 am launch attempt was scrubbed. "On a long, cold and windy night, the only thing that got off the ground was clouds," reports Terry Allshouse, who photographed the beautiful yet disappointing scene. NASA will try again on Monday morning, Feb. 8th, at 4:14 am. Stay tuned.

BIG NEW SUNSPOT: In less than 24 hours, a monsterous sunspot group has materialized in the sun's northern hemisphere. Rogerio Marcon sends this picture of new sunspot 1045 taken earlier today from his backyard observatory in Campinas, Brasil:

"There are some beautiful magnetic arcs swirling around the sunspot's dark cores," notes Marcon. "This big active region is an easy target for amateur solar telescopes."

The arcs in Marcon's photo are unstable and they have already erupted at least six times this weekend, producing a series of C- and M-class solar flares. These flares have caused brief ionization events in Earth's upper atmosphere, but little else so far. There is a 5% chance of a much more powerful X-flare in the next 24 hours, according to NOAA forecasters, so bigger things could be in the offing.

more images: from John Stetson of Portland, Maine; from Steve Riegel of Sanata Maria, CA; from Jo Dahlmans of Ulestraten, The Netherlands; from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Stefano Sello of Pisa, Italy; from James Kevin Ty of Manila, Philippines; from Cirioni Davide of Cilavegna, Pavia, Italy; from Kristian Molnar of Blahova, Slovakia; from Luigi Manganotti of Verona, Italy; from Stephen Ames of Hodgenville, KY

LAST NIGHT LAUNCH OF THE SHUTTLE PROGRAM: Monday morning, February 8th, at 4:14 am EST, space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled lift off from Kennedy Space Center on a 13-day mission to the ISS. There are only five missions left before NASA ends the shuttle program, and this will be the last one to launch at night. Endeavour's previous night launch looked like this:

The spectacle attracted sightseers from hundreds of miles around. If you plan to be in Florida this weekend, here are some places you can watch the launch in person. Otherwise, tune in to NASA TV for full coverage.

EXTRA: "And if you can arrange to be at azimuth 40 degrees (WNW) of the launch site, you'll have a crescent moon in the background," notes University of Kentucky astronomer Timothy Knauer. "Photo-Op alert!"

Endeavour Launch Blog
[recommended viewing sites] [NASA TV]


February Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Februarys: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]

 

 
       
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 7, 2010 there were 1094 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Jan. 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 AL2
Jan. 11
11.5 LD
20
23 m
24761 Ahau
Jan. 11
70.8 LD
16
1.4 km
2000 YH66
Jan. 12
69.5 LD
17
1.1 km
2010 AL30
Jan. 13
0.3 LD
14
18 m
2010 AG3
Jan. 19
8.9 LD
21
14 m
2010 AN61
Jan. 19
8.0 LD
20
17 m
2010 AF40
Jan. 21
2.3 LD
16
43 m
2010 BC
Jan. 24
7.6 LD
16
160 m
2010 BU2
Jan. 27
6.4 LD
17
52 m
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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
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