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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 299.1 km/sec
density: 1.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A4
2119 UT Dec22
24-hr: A4
2119 UT Dec22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 22 Dec 10
The Earth-side of the sun has been spotless for four consecutive days, but a new sunspot is trying to form in the circled location. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 21 Dec 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 4 days
2010 total: 49 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 817 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 21 Dec 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 78 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 21 Dec 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 0
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.0 nT
Bz: 0.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 20 Dec 10
Earth is exiting a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Dec 22 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: 2010 Dec 22 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
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
 
Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010
What's up in space
 

These pictures are almost too hot to touch. Metallic photos of the sun make great Christmas gifts.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

QUIET HOLIDAY: The Earth-side of the sun is blank--no sunspots--and solar activity is very low. Geomagnetic storms are unlikely between now and Christmas.

BRIGHT LUNAR ECLIPSE: Yesterday's solstice lunar eclipse turned the Moon a bright shade of red--a fact with implications for terrestrial climate. More on that below, but first, regard the lunar landscape photographed during totality by Jimmy Westlake near Dublin, Georgia:

"The combination of blues and reds at the onset of totality was simply beautiful," says Westlake. "I took the picture using a Nikon D700 digital camera with a 11-inch Celestron telescope."

The luminosity of the eclipse reveals much about the state of Earth's upper atmosphere. University of Colorado Prof. Richard Keen explains: "At the distance of the Moon, most of the light refracted into Earth's shadow passes through the stratosphere. When the stratosphere is clear (not 'dirtied' by volcanic aerosols) the shadow and therefore the eclipsed Moon is relatively bright."

Keen observed the eclipse on Dec. 21st and was able to draw some conclusions. "Using an 8x reversed monocular, I estimated the visual magnitude of the eclipsed moon at mid-totality as -1.9. This compares with a 'clear stratosphere' value of -2.1 to give a volcanic aerosol optical depth of 0.004--essentially zero. The stratosphere remains clear."

This is timely and important because the state of the stratosphere affects climate; a clear stratosphere "lets the sunshine in" to warm the Earth below. Yesterday's bright eclipse reinforces a conclusion Keen reported at the SORCE conference in 2008: "The lunar eclipse record indicates a clear stratosphere over the past decade, and that this has contributed about 0.2 degrees to recent warming."

UPDATED: Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery
[NASA: "Solstice Lunar Eclipse"] [astronomy alerts]


November 2010 Aurora Gallery
[previous Novembers: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000]

  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 December 22, 2010 there were 1167 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 TQ19
Oct 8
9.6 LD
18
37 m
2010 TS19
Oct 10
3.7 LD
18
31 m
2010 TD54
Oct 12
0.1 LD
14
7 m
2010 TB54
Oct 13
6.1 LD
20
19 m
1999 VO6
Oct 14
34.3 LD
16
1.8 km
2010 TK
Oct 16
4.5 LD
18
37 m
1998 TU3
Oct 17
69.1 LD
13
5.2 km
2010 TG19
Oct 22
1.1 LD
15
70 m
1998 MQ
Oct 23
77.7 LD
15
1.9 km
2007 RU17
Oct 29
39.2 LD
15
1.1 km
2003 UV11
Oct 30
5 LD
12
595 m
3838 Epona
Nov 7
76.8 LD
14
3.4 km
2005 QY151
Nov 16
77.7 LD
17
1.3 km
2008 KT
Nov 23
5.6 LD
21
10 m
2002 EZ16
Nov 30
73.9 LD
16
1.0 km
2000 JH5
Dec 7
47 LD
-
1.5 km
2010 JL33
Dec 9
16.6 LD
13
1.3 km
2008 EA32
Jan 7
76.5 LD
-
2.1 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
Science Central
   
  more links...
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