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Solar wind
speed: 285.1 km/sec
density: 1.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
2238 UT Jun17
24-hr: C1
0812 UT Jun17
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 17 Jun 13
A raft of new sunspots emerging over the sun's southeastern limb is increasing the sunspot number and the chance of flares. So far, however, solar activity remains low. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 104
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 17 Jun 2013

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
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

Update
17 Jun 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 116 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 17 Jun 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.1 nT
Bz: 3.5 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 17 Jun 13
Spewing solar wind, a large coronal hole is emerging over the sun's NW limb. Credit: SDO/AIA.

NEW: Spaceweather.com is now posting daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 06-17-2013 10:55:03
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 Jun 17 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
20 %
20 %
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: 2013 Jun 17 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
15 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
25 %
SEVERE
15 %
20 %
 
Monday, Jun. 17, 2013
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

SLIGHT CHANCE OF FLARES: There are 7 sunspot groups on the Earthside of the sun, but none has a complex magnetic field that harbors energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of M-class flares and no more than a 1% chance of X-class flares on June 17th. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

SOUTHERN SUNSPOTS: So far, Solar Cycle 24 has been lopsided. Sunspots north of the sun's equator have outnumbered sunspots to the south by a significant margin: data. But now the southern hemisphere is catching up. Today a raft of southern sunspots is rotating over the sun's eastern limb:

Solar physicist and sunspot forecaster Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center believes Solar Cycle 24 is likely double-peaked. A surge in southern sunspots could herald the second peak, due in late 2013 or early 2014. This solar cycle has been fairly anemic so far, so it could use a boost; the sun's southern hemisphere could be poised to provide it. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SPACE WEATHER BALLOON LAUNCH: On June14th high school students in Bishop, California, launched their seventh "space weather balloon." Its mission: To investigate the effect of solar flares and radiation storms on Earth's ozone layer. The group's mentor, Dr. Tony Phillips, photographed the balloon moments before liftoff from their "Edge of Space Port" in the Sierra Nevada mountains:

The balloon's payload carried two cameras, an ozone sensor, a cryogenic thermometer, and a GPS altimeter to an altitude of 110,000 feet above Earth's surface. All of the payload's core space weather instrumentation was built by the students themselves. After the balloon popped, as planned, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing near the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California's White Mountains. A recovery team has already retrieved the payload, and students are inspecting the data now.

The students launched the balloon on June 14th, a period of low solar activity, because they wanted to compare quiet sun data with a similar data set they collected on May 22nd during a strong solar radiation storm. Stay tuned for their results!

Sponsor a space weather balloon: Would you like to sponsor a flight? The students, who call themselves Earth to Sky Calculus, offer a service for sponsors called "Edge of Space Advertising." During the "ozone flight" on June 14th they flew an ad for Interpret America (flight photo), which paid for the helium in the balloon. The students have also flown banners, cards, cows, running shoes, presidents and other items. If there's something you'd like to fly, please contact Dr. Tony Phillips for rates and details.

SPACE STATION 3D: On June 15th, the International Space Station flew directly above Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse, France. Amateur astronomer Sylvain Weiller trained his telescope on the bright, fast-moving speck of light and recorded a high-res movie of the passing spaceship. Click on the image below--and cross your eyes to see the flyby in 3D:

"To capture a high resolution movie of the ISS, everything must be okay--the weather, the seeing, the scope and mount, an overhead pass, yourself, the PCs and a bit of luck!" says Weiller. "This was the case for me on the evening of June 15. The full story of my lucky observing session and additional movies may be found here."

Readers who wish to try their own luck with the ISS can turn their smartphone into a field-tested satellite tracker. Download Spaceweather.com's Satellite Flybys app and let the flybys begin.


Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet 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 June 17, 2013 there were 1397 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2013 LD2
Jun 10
6 LD
47 m
1999 WC2
Jun 12
39.2 LD
1.9 km
2006 RO36
Jun 18
70.9 LD
1.2 km
2001 PJ9
Jul 17
29.2 LD
1.1 km
2006 BL8
Jul 26
9.3 LD
48 m
2003 DZ15
Jul 29
7.6 LD
153 m
2005 WK4
Aug 9
8.1 LD
420 m
1999 CF9
Aug 23
24.7 LD
1.1 km
2002 JR9
Aug 31
63.5 LD
1.4 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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