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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 327.6 km/sec
density: 2.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Sep20
24-hr: A0
2245 UT Sep20
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 20 Sep 08
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 18 Sept. 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.1 nT
Bz: 0.5 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Sep 20 2201 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: 2008 Sep 20 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
September 20, 2008
AURORA ALERTS: Did you miss the Northern Lights of August 9th? Next time get a wake-up call from Space Weather PHONE.  

DOOMED SPACECRAFT: Jules Verne is about to become a fireball. On Sept. 29th, with NASA airplanes looking on, the 22-ton European spacecraft will plunge into Earth's atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean. Jules Verne recently spent five months docked to the space station where it delivered supplies, used its engines help the station avoid a piece of space junk, and served as an impromptu bedroom for the ISS crew. Mission accomplished, the doomed spacecraft is now making its final orbits around Earth. If you'd like to see it, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times.

COOL DUO: The International Space Station (ISS) is so bright, you can see it through trees. Don Bradbury took this picture last night among the pines of Weaverville, California:

"As I shot the ISS using my Canon 30D, I also caught another satellite traveling perpendicular to it--a cool duo by accident!" says Bradbury. "This photo demonstrates just how bright the ISS can be in relation to ordinary satellites orbiting our planet."

The space station is flying over many US towns and forests this weekend. Its amazingly easy to see. Check the Satellite Tracker for viewing times.

more images: from Bill Gucfa of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; from David McKune of Lansing, Kansas;

SUN PILLAR: When the sun went down this evening in Frankfurt, Germany, a blood-red column of light lept up to signal its exit. Horst Templin snapped this picture using his Nikon Coolpix 4500:

This is a sun pillar and it is a sign of ice in the sky. Flat, plate-shaped ice crystals fluttering down like leaves from high clouds caught the red rays of the setting sun and redirected them into a vertical column of light. Sun pillars may be seen whenever icy clouds drift across the sunset. Look for your own this evening!

more images: from Alan Barrington of Hammerfest, Norway; from Jon Hayden of Indian Trail Springs, Oregon; from Marek Nikodem of Kcynia, Poland; from John Stetson of Sebago Lake, Maine; from Mike Sessions of Mauna Kea, Hawaii;


Sept. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Aurora Alerts] [Night Sky Cameras]

       
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 September 20, 2008 , there were 979 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Sept. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 WT153
Sept. 7
5.8 LD
23
11 m
1996 HW1
Sept. 12
53 LD
12
3.7 km
2003 SW130
Sept. 19
8.6 LD
23
7 m
1998 UO1
Sept. 26
25 LD
18
2.0 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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
  a one-stop hub for all things scientific
  more links...
   
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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