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

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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 442.1 km/s
density:
7.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B2 1935 UT Nov09
24-hr: B3 0830 UT Nov09
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 09 Nov '06

One of these dark spots is not a sunspot! From its position in space, SOHO saw the Transit of Mercury on Nov. 9th. Credit:
SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 38
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 08 Nov 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals a sunspot group on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 15.1 nT
Bz:
7.6 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT

Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could hit Earth today. Credit: NOAA GOES-13.


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 Nov 09 2203 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 10 % 10 %
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 Nov 09 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 25 % 15 %
MINOR 10 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 40 % 25 %
MINOR 25 % 11 %
SEVERE 10 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 9 Nov 2006
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Autumn is here, and it's a wonderful time for stargazing. Find out what's up from Spaceweather PHONE.

AURORA WATCH: Right now, Earth is entering a solar wind stream and this could spark a mild geomagnetic storm. Sky watchers in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia, be alert for auroras tonight.

SUDDEN QUIET: Sunspot 923 has emerged from behind the sun's limb into full view. As expected, it's a big one:

Suddenly, however, sunspot 923 has gone quiet. The explosions that heralded the sunspot's approach earlier this week have ceased--temporarily? Stay tuned.

TRANSIT OF MERCURY: In Ocala, Florida, yesterday, the neighbors watched Howard Eskildsen drag his telescope "from sunlit area to sunlit area between the trees by the house." He had to dodge the shadows to catch Mercury passing in front of the sun:

He photographed the transit using a Meade 6-inch telescope capped with a Baader solar filter. The perfectly circular silhouette of Mercury appears at bottom, the ragged expanse of sunspot 923 at top. "It was a great view."

Transit of Mercury Photo Gallery
Return for updates later today.



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 9 Nov 2006 there were 825 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

Oct-Nov 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
2006 UC185

Oct. 23

6.3 LD

17

95 m
2006 UZ215

Oct. 27

7.6 LD

19

35 m
2006 UJ185

Oct. 30

0.7 LD

17

10 m
2006 UA216

Oct. 31

6.0 LD

16

90 m
2006 UQ216

Nov. 7

5.6 LD

21

15 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.

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.

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;

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

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


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