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Solar wind
speed: 352.0 km/sec
density: 2.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2351 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1807 UT Feb19
24-hr: C1
0058 UT Feb19
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 19 Feb 15
The sun is peppered with small sunspots. None poses a threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 95
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 19 Feb 2015

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2015 total: 0 days (0%)

2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)

Update 19 Feb 2015


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 121 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 19 Feb 2015

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.1 nT
Bz: 0.5 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2351 UT
Coronal Holes: 19 Feb 15
A Solar wind flowing from these polar coronal holes should reach Earth on Feb. 21-22. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Noctilucent Clouds As of Nov. 22, 2014, the season for southern hemisphere noctilucent clouds is underway. The south polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from NASA's AIM spacecraft.
Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Penninsula, East Antarctica, Polar
Updated at: 02-19-2015 05:55:03
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2015 Feb 19 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
CLASS X
01 %
01 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2015 Feb 19 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
 
Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015
What's up in space
 

Come to Tromsø and share Marianne's passion for rural photography: Chasethelighttours.co.uk invites you to experience "Heaven on Earth" with an aurora, fjord, fishing, whale watching, photography or sightseeing tour.

 
Chase the Light Tours

QUIET SUN: Solar activity remains very low. The sun is peppered with seven sunspot groups, but most of them are small, and none of them is producing strong flares. NOAA forecasters put the odds of an M-class solar flare on Feb. 19th at no more than 1%. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

RED AURORAS OVER MONTANA: Earth is exiting a solar wind stream that sparked bright auroras around the Arctic Circle on Feb. 17th and 18th. At its peak, the display was visible in several northern-tier US states. Philip Granrud sends this picture from the Polebridge Mercantile in northwest Montana:

"The Northern Lights were low to the horizon, but very bright," says Granrud. "It was a clear cold night, which helped with visibility."

Much of the sky was filled with red, a hue typical of auroras seen from a distance. Red auroras occur some 300 to 500 km above Earth's surface, much higher than ordinary green auroras. Because of their high altitude, reds can be seen over the horizon. In this case, the main display was probably taking place in Canada, far to the north of the Polebridge Mercantile.

Red auroras are not fully understood. Some researchers believe the red lights are linked to low energy electrons from the sun, which move too slowly to penetrate deeply into the atmosphere. When such electrons recombine with oxygen ions in the upper atmosphere, red photons are emitted. At present, space weather forecasters cannot predict when this will occur. Aurora alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

VENUS AND MARS: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and face west. Venus is beaming through the twilight, so bright that it is often mistaken for a landing plane. Wait a while as the sky grows darker. Fainter Mars pops out right beside Venus. Didier Van Hellemont photographed the pair at sunset on Feb. 17th over Sint-Laureins, Belgium:

In only a few days, the two planets will be dramatically closer together. At closest approach on Feb. 21st, they will be only 0.4o apart, less than the width of a full Moon. The night before closest approach might be best of all: On Feb. 20th, the crescent Moon will pass right by the converging planets. Mark both dates on your calendar, Feb. 20th and 21st, and watch the western sky at sunset. It's a great way to end the day.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


  All Sky Fireball Network

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 Feb. 19, 2015, the network reported 16 fireballs.
(16 sporadics)

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]

  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 February 19, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2015 CJ13
Feb 15
8.5 LD
66 m
2015 CL13
Feb 15
2 LD
32 m
2015 CQ13
Feb 18
6.7 LD
31 m
2015 DB
Feb 18
1.3 LD
12 m
2015 DU
Feb 23
8 LD
21 m
2015 CA40
Feb 23
6.3 LD
50 m
2000 EE14
Feb 27
72.5 LD
1.6 km
2063 Bacchus
Apr 7
76 LD
1.6 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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