When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms. | | | STORMY SPACE WEATHER: Space weather around Earth is stormy--and might get stormier in the days ahead. Our planet's magnetic field is reverberating from the second CME impact in as many days. According to NOAA forecasters, another CME could arrive late in the day on Feb. 20th followed by another on Feb. 22nd. For the most part, these CME impacts are minor and/or glancing. However, their combined effect is significant. A G1-class geomagnetic storm is now in progress so high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: text, voice AURORAS OVER THE USA: A minor geomagnetic storm was already in progress during the early hours of Feb. 19th when a CME struck Earth's magnetic field. The impact revved-up the storm and sent Northern Lights spilling across the Canadian border into the United States. Jonathan Schiralli sends this picture from Grand Rapids, North Dakota: To capture all the colors, Schiralli says he exposed the sky for 5 seconds using a Canon Rebel T3 digital camera set at 1600 ISO. Northern photographers should take note of those settings as more auroras are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% to 50% chance of geomagnetic storms on Feb. 20-21. Aurora alerts: text, voice Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery M3-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Departing sunspot AR1976 erupted today, Feb. 20th, at approximately 0750 UT, producing an M3-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast: Because of the sunspot's location near the sun's western limb, the flare was not squarely Earth-directed. Nevertheless, there might be some effect on our planet. NOAA forecasters say that a CME expelled by the blast could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 22nd. Stay tuned for updates. Solar flare alerts: text, voice Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY FROM THE STRATOSPHERE: Helium is not free. That's why the student scientists of Earth to Sky Calculus occasionally fly commercial payloads onboard their suborbital research balloons. The profits fund space weather experiments in the stratosphere. On Feb. 11th, the team flew a batch of Valentine's Cards to the edge of space. Spaceweather reader Shiree Schade was one of the customers: "Best Valentine's card...EVER!" she says. "Not only will my valentine cherish the image, but I can't wait to start bragging to my friends that I'VE been to the stratosphere." The student group makes regular flights to the stratosphere to measure radiation and ozone during periods of stormy space weather. If you would like to support their work with, say, a birthday card or Mother's Day greeting, contact Dr. Tony Phillips to book passage. The cost is only $49.95. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Realtime Comet Photo Gallery 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. 20, 2014, the network reported 3 fireballs. (3 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] On Feb. 19, 2014, the network reported 8 fireballs. (8 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] 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 20, 2014 there were 1458 potentially hazardous asteroids. 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. | 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 | | the underlying science of space weather | |