|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
velocity: 654.5 km/s
density:0.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B8 1700 UT Apr12
24-hr: X1 1025 UT Apr12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2250 UT
Daily Sun: 12 Apr '01 
AR9415, which has unleashed four X-class solar flares since it appeared near the beginning of April, is rotating away from the Sun's central meridian. That means that additional explosions will be less squarely directed at our planet. The active region still has a complex delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful explosions.
Sunspot Number: 178
More about sunspots
Updated: 11 Apr 2001
Radio Meteor Rate
24 hr max: 29 per hr
Listen to the Meteor Radar!
Updated: 12 Apr 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.5 nT
Bz: 4.7 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT Coronal Holes:
A substantial coronal hole might be developing in the Eastern half of the Sun's visible disk. Image credit: Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope.
More about coronal holes
 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 2001 Apr 12 2200 UT
| FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | | CLASS M | 80 % | 80 % | | CLASS X | 25 % | 25 % |
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2001 Apr 12 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | | MINOR | 20 % | 25 % | | SEVERE | 40 % | 45 % |
High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 35 % | 25 % | | MINOR | 25 % | 30 % | | SEVERE | 15 % | 40 % |
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| What's Up in Space -- 12 Apr 2001
Subscribe to Space Weather News! INCOMING! Today at 1025 UT (6:25 am EDT) another X-class solar flare exploded near sunspot group 9415. The blast triggered an hour-long radio blackout across the Atlantic Ocean, Europe and parts of Asia, and hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. That makes two such clouds currently heading for our planet. A renewed episode of geomagnetic activity could begin late Friday or Saturday when the CMEs arrive.  AURORAS: A pair of coronal mass ejections hit Earth's magnetosphere on April 11th, triggering a strong geomagnetic storm that lasted from 1500 UT on Wednesday until 1200 UT on Thursday. At its peak, soon after the CMEs arrived, the storm was a severe G4-category event. Sky watchers in northern Europe described the light show over their part of the world as one of the best in years. See our growing AURORA GALLERY.
Above: The planetary K-index, an indicator of global geomagnetic activity, soared to severe storm levels on April 11th and 12th.  CME FAMILY TREE: The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that hit Earth on Wednesday were hurled into space by a pair of explosions: an M8-class flare on Monday followed by a X2-class flare on Tuesday -- both from sunspot group 9415. Tuesday's CME, pictured right, was a fast-moving cloud that caught its predecessor on the way to Earth, resulting perhaps in a cannibalistic combination of the two.
- LISTEN On Monday a M8-class solar flare near sunspot 9415 produced a strong 50 MHz Type II radio burst recorded by radio astronomer Tom Ashcraft. Listen to the two minute audio file in the format of your choice: wav, RealPlayer, or MP3. Each of the files is approximately 1.5 megabytes.
WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER |  
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. [more]
On 12 Apr 2001 there were 299 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids ASTEROIDS GALORE: March was a good month for asteroid hunters. Between March 21st and 31st astronomers discovered seven Earth-approaching space rocks (click to view 3D orbits): 2001 FM129, 2001 FE90, 2001 FB90, 2001 FD58, 2001 FC58, 2001 FA58 and 2001 FO32. There is no danger of a collision with any of these asteroids. Earth-asteroid encounters (Mar 1 - Apr 30) 
- TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
- LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]
 Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar at the Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet. Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun. Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001. Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights" Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |
