SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind speed: 348.1 km/s density:10.2 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: X2 2005 UT Jul15 24-hr: X2 2005 UT Jul15 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 15 July '02 Sunspot 30 has a twisted beta-gamma-delta magnetic field that poses a threat for X-class solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals a southern sunspot on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 152 More about sunspots Updated: 14 Jul 2002 Coronal Holes: The indicated coronal hole might be too far south to spray Earth with a solar wind stream. Nevertheless, solar wind gusts from hole could arrive as early as July 16. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope. More about coronal holes Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 3.6 nT Bz: 0.4 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT 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 2002 Jul 15 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 75 % | 75 % | CLASS X | 15 % | 15 % | Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at 2002 Jul 15 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 30 % | 40 % | MINOR | 15 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 10 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 35 % | 45 % | MINOR | 20 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 10 % | 15 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 15 Jul 2002 Subscribe to Space Weather News! X-FLARE: A powerful X2-class solar flare erupted at 2005 UT (1:05 p.m. PDT) on July 15thand triggered a strong (R3-class) radio blackout across North and South America. The source of the explosion was probably the giant sunspot pictured below. Stay tuned for more information Above: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this image of sunspot 30 on July 15, 2002. BIG SUNSPOT: Sunspot group 30 is still growing and now stretches twenty Earth-diameters from end to end. You can see it yourself--but never stare directly at the Sun. Use safe solar projection methods. The active region has a twisted "delta-class" magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful X-class eruptions. A BUNCH OF PLANETS: Jupiter, Mars and Mercury will soon (July 17-- July 27) appear remarkably close together in the sky. But don't bother looking. The trio are too near the glaring Sun; you can't see them without hurting your eyes. The orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, however, can. SOHO's coronagraph blocks the Sun's blinding glare with an opaque disk, revealing stars, planets and the Sun's faint corona. SOHO captured the above coronagraph image on July 15th. Later this week Mars will join Mercury and Jupiter in the field of view. (Note: the horizontal lines are digital imaging artifacts, not planetary rings.) AURORAS UNDERFOOT: Auroras happen 80 km (or more) above Earth's surface; they are always far away when we see them from the ground. But what would it be like to fly right through them? Some NASA astronauts did it. Get the full story from Science@NASA. 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. On 15 Jul 2002 there were 447 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids June-July 2002 Earth-asteroid encountersNotes: 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. - CRESCENT SUN: The June 10th solar eclipse is long over, but new pictures of the event keep appearing. Visit our growing photo gallery and see for yourself. There are strange shadows, weird sunsets, eclipse dogs, crescent-eyed turkeys and extraordinary rings of fire. [more]
- COMET IKEYA-ZHANG: The brightest comet in years delighted sky watchers in March and April 2002. [gallery]
- GONE JUPITER: On Feb. 22, 2002, the Moon had a close encounter with Jupiter. [gallery]
- GONE SATURN: On Feb. 20, 2002, the Moon glided in front of Saturn and its mysterious rings. [gallery]
- HOT COMET: Periodic comet 96P/Machholz put on a dazzling show as it swung by the Sun on Jan. 8, 2002.
- ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 2001 YB5 raced past Earth on Jan. 7, 2002, only two times farther away than the Moon. [gallery]
- SUBTLE ECLIPSE: The Moon dipped into the outskirts of Earth's shadow on Dec. 30, 2001. [gallery]
- MOON & SATURN: The Moon keeps getting in the way of Saturn! See the series of close encounters here.
- CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: On Christmas Eve, 2001, a solar wind stream triggered Northern Lights. [gallery]
- SOLAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers in Hawaii and most parts of North America experienced a partial solar eclipse on Dec. 14th. [gallery]
- BRIGHT ASTEROID: Videos and images of 1998 WT24 -- a big and bright near-Earth asteroid that came close to our planet on Dec. 16, 2001. [gallery]
- NORTHERN LIGHTS: On Nov. 24th a pair of coronal mass ejections swept past Earth and triggered worldwide auroras.
- LEONIDS 2001: Some people saw it. Others heard it. In either case, they'll never forget it: The 2001 Leonid meteor storm.
- PERSEIDS 2001: Perseid watchers on August 12th spotted meteors, auroras, and a disintegrating Russian rocket! [gallery]
- MORNING PLANETS: In July and Aug. 2001, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury put on a dazzling early-morning sky show. [gallery]
- ECLIPSE SAFARI: Onlookers cried out in delight on June 21, 2001, when the Moon covered the African Sun, revealing the dazzling corona. [gallery]
- 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]
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