Hang the Transit of Venus on your wall! Hubble-quality images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory are now available as metallic posters in the Space Weather Store. | | |
SLIGHT CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot 1575 has developed a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 5% chance of an eruption during the next 24 hours. The odds are low, but if a flare occurs, it will be Earth-directed. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.
AUTUMN LIGHTS: The onset of northern autumn means it's aurora season. For reasons researchers don't fully understand, equinoxes are the best times to see Northern Lights. And, right on cue, the Arctic Circle is glowing. Casey Thompson sends this picture from Chatanika, Alaska:
"The auroras beamed right through the clouds over Chatanika on Sept. 21st," says Thompson. "Open water doesnt last long in the interior of Alaska, so it is always nice to find a place to get some reflections of the beautiful Lights along with a staple in Alaska history, the gold dredge."
The solar wind velocity this weekend is low, but at this time of year it only takes a gentle gust to ignite bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. High latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
SEASON IN A BEER CAN: Jan Koeman of the Netherlands has captured an entire season in a single beer can. On June 21st, Koeman assembled a solargraph--a simple pinhole camera consisting of a beer can lined with photographic paper--and throughout the summer of 2012 he used it to record the sun's daily motion across the Dutch sky. On Sept. 21st, he removed the photo-paper for inspection:
"As you can see, the summer wasn't too bad at all!" says Koeman. "There was lots of sunshine in the backgarden of my parents in Middelburg."
Next up: Autumn in a beer can. Stay tuned.
Solargraph How-to Guides: #1, #2, #3
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
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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 23, 2012 there were 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 |