SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 461.4 km/s
density: 6.8 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B2 1755 UT Sep08
24-hr: B5 0000 UT Sep08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 08 Sep '03
The sun is practically blank today. There are no sunspots to unleash strong solar flares. Image credit: SOHO MDI

The Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals perhaps one or two sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 54
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 07 Sep 2003

Coronal Holes:

Solar wind gusts from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth as early as Sept 9th, although the 10th is more likely. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
More about coronal holes

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 10.0 nT
B_z: 3.9 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2226 UT

What's Up in Space -- 8 Sep 2003 Subscribe to Space Weather News! CLOSE ENCOUNTER: The Moon and Mars will be pleasingly close together tonight. Look for the pair rising in the east after sunset on Monday, Sept. 8th. They will converge during the night, so look again before dawn on Tuesday, Sept. 9th, for the best possible view. Watch a live broadcast of the event from Japan, where the Moon and Mars will almost "touch." Showtime: 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. EDT on Sept 9th. MARS AND A MOONDOG: On Sept. 6th, photographer Jerry Xiaojin Zhu of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, took this picture of the Moon and Mars. The rainbow-colored splash of light between the two is a rare moondog. (continued below) Moondogs are to the moon as sundogs are to the sun. Both are caused by light-bending ice crystals floating 5 to 10 km above Earth. When the Moon is nearly full and the sky is filled with wispy clouds, be alert for such 'dogs--and halos, too. With a full moon coming on Sept. 10th, this week is a good time to look. AURORA OUTLOOK: Earth is approaching a solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun. Gusts could trigger auroras as early as Sept 9th--although Sept 10th is more likely. Would you like a phone call when auroras appear over your home town? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE. Spaceweather PHONE | Upcoming Events | Archives

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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.

September 2003 Earth-asteroid encounters

ASTEROID		MISS DISTANCE	MAG.
2003 RS1	Sept. 2	13 LD	16
2003 RB5	Sept. 4	11 LD	15
2003 RB	Sept. 28	38 LD	17

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.

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.

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 Soft 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

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

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.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

Vandenberg AFB missile launch schedule.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; Jan-Mar., 2003; Apr-Jun., 2003;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL