You are viewing the page for Dec. 22, 2005
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 441.8 km/s
density:
1.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
C2 1650 UT Dec22
24-hr: C2 0945 UT Dec22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 22 Dec '05

These sunspots do not pose a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 45
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 21 Dec 2005

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.4 nT
Bz:
0.4 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on or about Dec. 28th. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.


SPACE WEATHER
NOAA
Forecasts

Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below.
Updated at 2005 Dec 22 2202 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 05 % 05 %
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 2005 Dec 22 2202 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 15 % 15 %
MINOR 05 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

What's Up in Space -- 22 Dec 2005
Subscribe to Space Weather News

Auroras for Christmas? It could happen... Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE.

CHRISTMAS MORNING: Mom, dad, wake up, it's Christmas! If this happens to you at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 25th, steal a glance out the window on your way to the tree. The crescent moon will be gliding by the bright star Spica--a pretty close encounter. In some places the moon will actually blot out the star. It's a nice way to start the day: sky map.

GREEN SHADOWS: "I love it," says photographer Joseph Hall. "The auroras turned the shadows green." That's what he observed near Fairbanks, Alaska, on Dec. 21st when bright auroras filled the sky. Their green light beamed down into the moon-shadows of the trees, turning the shadows themselves green:

Earth is exiting the solar wind stream that sparked these auroras. Geomagnetic activity is low. Another solar wind stream is coming, however, possibly bringing more auroras on Dec. 28th

SHRINKING PLANET: If you get a telescope for Christmas, point it at Mars--fast! The red planet is receding from Earth at a speed of 30,000 mph and shrinking as it goes. Using an 8-inch telescope, Joel Warren of Amarillo, Texas, took these two pictures of Mars five weeks apart:

What a difference: By mid-January, Mars will be only half as bright as it is tonight, and its apparent diameter will have decreased from 13 to 9 arcseconds. So now is the time to observe Mars. Look for it straight overhead after sunset: sky map.



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 22 Dec 2005 there were 749 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

December 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
(meters)
2005 XA8

Dec. 5

0.6 LD

15

~35 m
2005 XX

Dec. 9

2.2 LD

18

~20 m
2005 WC1

Dec. 14

7.9 LD

15

~370 m
2005 XO66

Dec. 19

5.0 LD

17

~50 m
Notes: LD is a "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 Environment Center -- The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar 2005; Apr-Jun 2005; Jul-Sep 2005; Oct-Dec 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email

You are visitor number 33648756 since January 2000.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.