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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 574.5 km/s
density:
1.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2256 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B1 1940 UT Aug08
24-hr: B1 1940 UT Aug08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 08 Aug '06

A miniscule suspot is emerging near the sun's southeastern limb. It poses no threat for solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 07 Aug 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.6 nT
Bz:
1.1 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2257 UT

Coronal Holes:

There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun today. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV telescope.


SPACE WEATHER
NOAA
Forecasts

Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below.
Updated at 2006 Aug 08 2203 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 01 % 01 %
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 2006 Aug 08 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 25 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

What's Up in Space -- 8 Aug 2006
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PERSEID EARTHGRAZERS: When the Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12th, the nearly-full Moon is going to spoil the show. But there might be something to see before the Moon rises: a side-show of Perseid Earthgrazers.

STURGEON MOON: Have you ever looked into the eyes of a sturgeon? Some people say it produces a strange sensation of great age, of primeval forests and terrifying dinosaurs. And so it should: Sturgeon are ancient creatures that have changed little for hundreds of millions of years. (continued below)

If you don't have a sturgeon handy, try looking at tonight's full Moon. It's the Sturgeon Moon, named long ago by Native Americans who fished for sturgeon during the month of August. The Sturgeon Moon is even more ancient than sturgeon; you get all the same sensations without the fishy smell.

(Don't like fish? There is an alternative.)

AURORA SURPRISE: A solar wind stream hit Earth yesterday, sparking a geomagnetic storm. The arrival of the stream was unexpected, but the auroras it produced were a pleasant surprise.

"At 3:59 am, I pointed my camera north. Even though my eyes couldn't see the auroras, the camera captured them in this 75-sec exposure," says photographer Thad V'Soske in Grand Valley, Colorado:


Auroras over Colorado. August 7, 2006. Credit: Thad V'Soske.

North of Colorado, the auroras were bright enough to see with the unaided eye, but V'Soske's photographic auroras were most interesting. They show that, sometimes, auroras are "up there" even when you can't see them. All it takes is a well-timed click of the camera to make a very pretty picture.

August 2006 Aurora Gallery



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 8 Aug 2006 there were 800 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

July 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
2004 XP14

Jul 3

1.1 LD

12

600 m
2006 BQ6

Jul 29

14 LD

16

500 m
Notes: LD is a "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 Environment Center -- The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; Jan-Mar 2006;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email


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