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WEAK IMPACT: A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) hit Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 14th, but the impact did not cause a geomagnetic storm. CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind, containing shockwave-like gradients of solar plasma. Think of them as "mini-CMEs" (coronal mass ejections). Sometimes CIRs spark bright auroras ... but not this time. Free: Aurora Alerts.
NEW SUNSPOT: A new sunspot is emerging over the sun's eastern limb, interrupting a string of 13 spotless days. Guilherme Grassmann photographed the new region from his backyard observatory in Brazil:
"Using a 120 mm refractor and a Daystar solar filter, I was able to see multiple dark cores in this sunspot group," says Grassmann.
The sunspot has been numbered AR2687. Although it has broken a long string of spotless days, AR2687 probably won't alter the current state of low solar flare activity. The sunspot has a stable magnetic field that poses little threat for explosions.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
DOUBLE MOONBOW AND AURORAS: Seeing a rainbow at night: rare. Seeing a double rainbow at night: ridiculously rare. Seeing a double rainbow at night alongside the aurora borealis: "I couldn't believe my eyes," says Giuseppe Petricca who photographed the phenomenon on Nov. 7th from Stornoway, Eilean Siar, Scotland:
"Surely, this is a display that will remain in my memory forever," says Petricca. "Between fast moving rainclouds a gap formed, which lasted no more than two or three minutes. Beams of light from the full Moon lanced through the gap. The combination of falling raindrops and moonlight formed a lovely rainbow."
At the same time, a geomagnetic storm was underway. Parting clouds revealed a bright band of green auroras overhead, completing the unlikely scene.
Lunar rainbows are also called "moonbows." What made this moonbow a double? Moonlight reflecting once inside raindrops made the primary 'bow. A second reflection produced the double arc.
"I could continue on and on to describe this view, but I think that the picture does it way better," says says Petricca. "An unforgettable emotion!"
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
THIS CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT HAS TOUCHED SPACE: On Nov. 2, 2017, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a space weather balloon to the stratosphere. These kids do science, and the payload of their balloon carried an array of cosmic ray sensors to measure radiation coming from deep space. Oh, and one more thing…. BB-8:
During the 2.5 hour flight, the plucky robot experienced temperatures as low as -67 C and cosmic ray dose rates 100x Earth-normal. After the balloon exploded 107,342 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California, BB-8 parachuted back to Earth, landing in the desert near Silver Peak, Nevada.
You can have BB-8 for $79.95. Each ornament comes with a unique gift card showing BB-8 floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight. It also comes with a bonus photo of BB-8 in the stratosphere. Hang it on your Christmas tree alongside BB-8 to impress holiday visitors!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education
Every night, a network of
NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On Nov. 15, 2017, the network reported 39 fireballs.
(24 sporadics, 9 Leonids, 5 Northern Taurids, 1 omicron Eridanid)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]
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 November 15, 2017 there were 1853 potentially hazardous asteroids.
|
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
2017 VL2 | 2017-Nov-09 | 0.3 LD | 8.7 | 22 |
2017 TZ3 | 2017-Nov-09 | 10.3 LD | 8.7 | 39 |
2017 VC | 2017-Nov-10 | 9.9 LD | 7.3 | 77 |
2017 VZ1 | 2017-Nov-11 | 8.7 LD | 12 | 23 |
2017 VE2 | 2017-Nov-12 | 7.2 LD | 14 | 33 |
2017 VM2 | 2017-Nov-15 | 17.9 LD | 8.9 | 94 |
444584 | 2017-Nov-17 | 8.7 LD | 14.8 | 324 |
2017 VN2 | 2017-Nov-18 | 6.2 LD | 4.9 | 12 |
2008 WM61 | 2017-Dec-03 | 3.8 LD | 4.7 | 16 |
2015 XX169 | 2017-Dec-14 | 9.7 LD | 6.3 | 11 |
2011 YD29 | 2017-Dec-19 | 17.6 LD | 7.7 | 20 |
2006 XY | 2017-Dec-20 | 6.5 LD | 5 | 56 |
2017 TS3 | 2017-Dec-22 | 18.1 LD | 10.2 | 136 |
418849 | 2017-Dec-22 | 15.3 LD | 17.4 | 257 |
2015 YQ1 | 2017-Dec-22 | 17.3 LD | 11.1 | 9 |
2017 QL33 | 2017-Dec-30 | 13.3 LD | 8.2 | 191 |
2015 RT1 | 2018-Jan-02 | 19.7 LD | 9 | 30 |
2004 FH | 2018-Jan-10 | 20 LD | 8.5 | 26 |
Notes: LD means "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. | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
Readers, thank you for your patience while we continue to develop this new section of Spaceweather.com. We've been working to streamline our data reduction, allowing us to post results from balloon flights much more rapidly, and we have developed a new data product, shown here:
This plot displays radiation measurements not only in the stratosphere, but also at aviation altitudes. Dose rates are expessed as multiples of sea level. For instance, we see that boarding a plane that flies at 25,000 feet exposes passengers to dose rates ~10x higher than sea level. At 40,000 feet, the multiplier is closer to 50x. These measurements are made by our usual cosmic ray payload as it passes through aviation altitudes en route to the stratosphere over California.
What is this all about? Approximately once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with radiation sensors that detect cosmic rays, a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. Cosmic rays can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. Furthermore, there are studies ( #1, #2, #3, #4) linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in the general population. Our latest measurements show that cosmic rays are intensifying, with an increase of more than 13% since 2015:
Why are cosmic rays intensifying? The main reason is the sun. Solar storm clouds such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays when they pass by Earth. During Solar Maximum, CMEs are abundant and cosmic rays are held at bay. Now, however, the solar cycle is swinging toward Solar Minimum, allowing cosmic rays to return. Another reason could be the weakening of Earth's magnetic field, which helps protect us from deep-space radiation.
The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Reneger-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Reneger and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
| The official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory |
| Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
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