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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: -9999.9 km/sec
density: 0.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C6
2003 UT Jul16
24-hr: C6
2003 UT Jul16
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 16 Jul 12
Sunspot 1520 poses a continued threat for X-class solar flares. As the sunspot turns away from Earth, however, the chances of a geoeffective eruption are decreasing. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 134
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 15 Jul 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 15 Jul 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 148 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 15 Jul 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 6
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 9.6 nT
Bz: 4.2 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 14 Jul 12
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Jul 16 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
40 %
40 %
CLASS X
05 %
05 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2012 Jul 16 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
10 %
SEVERE
10 %
05 %
 
Monday, Jul. 16, 2012
What's up in space
 

Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio.

 
Spaceweather Radio is on the air

SUBSIDING STORM: The geomagnetic storm of July 14th through 16th is subsiding. Solar wind conditions are trending toward quiet, and Earth's magnetic field is responding by settling down. The remarkable 36-hour event was triggered by a CME impact on July 14th around 11 am PDT (1800 UT).

When the CME first arrived on July 14th, its effect appeared weak. However, conditions in the wake of the CME soon become stormy. On July 14-16 Northern Lights appeared in the United States as far south as Oregon, California, Colorado, Missouri, Utah, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington, Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, Michigan and Arkansas. Travis Novitsky sends this picture from Grand Portage, Minnesota:

"Anticipating the CME's arrival on Saturday, I planned an Aurora Party with my girlfriend and a couple of friends," says Novitsky. "Just after midnight the sky erupted and suddenly we were surrounded by the shimmering, dancing lights. The intense activity continued through the rest of the night until the first light of dawn started to creep into the sky. Certainly one of the most amazing aurora nights I've ever witnessed in northern Minnesota!" Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Meanwhile in the southern hemisphere, the aurora australis has been sighted in New Zealand, Tasmania, and directly above the South Pole itself. Visit our aurora gallery for a complete set of images:

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

THE SOURCE OF THE DISPLAY: Big sunspot AR1520, the source of the X-flare that instigated this weekend's auroras, can attract observers even without exploding. During a quiet moment yesterday in France, it showed itself at sunset:

Photographer VegaStar Carpentier took the picture on July 15th overlooking an island near the Coast of Marseilles.

The behemoth sunspot has a beta-gamma-delta magnetic field that harbors energy for more X-class solar flares. The odds of a geoeffective eruption are decreasing, however, as the sunspot turns toward Earth. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-flares and a 15% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Sunspot Photo Gallery


Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

  Near Earth Asteroids
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 July 16, 2012 there were 1320 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.3 km
2004 EW9
Jul 16
46.8 LD
--
2.1 km
2002 AM31
Jul 22
13.7 LD
--
1.0 km
37655 Illapa
Aug 12
37 LD
--
1.2 km
2000 ET70
Aug 21
58.5 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 TU3
Aug 25
49.2 LD
--
4.9 km
2009 AV
Aug 26
62.8 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 UO1
Oct 4
60.1 LD
--
2.1 km
2005 GQ21
Oct 12
77 LD
--
1.0 km
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.
  Essential web links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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