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Solar wind
speed: 311.3 km/sec
density: 2.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B5
1827 UT Feb26
24-hr: B6
1454 UT Feb26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 26 Feb 13
New sunspot AR1682 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 59
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 26 Feb 2013

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Update
26 Feb 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 95 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 26 Feb 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.6 nT
Bz: 0.2 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 26 Feb 13
Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on March 2-3. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 Feb 26 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
15 %
15 %
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: 2013 Feb 26 2200 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
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
10 %
10 %
 
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013
What's up in space
 

Thirty-five new items have just been added to our Meteorite Jewelry collection. Browse the Space Weather Store for something out of this world.

 
Meteorite jewelry

SLIGHT CHANCE OF FLARES: New sunspot AR1682 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of an eruption. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

FARSIDE CME: There is an active sunspot on the farside of the sun. Yesterday, Feb. 25th, it blasted a coronal mass ejection (CME) over the sun's northwestern limb, shown here in a movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory:

A 3D model of the CME prepared by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab shows that the CME will miss everything--no planets are in the line of fire.

NASA's STEREO-Ahead spacecraft is stationed over the farside of the sun, almost directly above the CME. Images from the spacecraft pinpointed the source of the blast: It is active sunspot AR1678, which rotated off the Earthside of the sun just a few days ago.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SNOW MOON: According to folklore, last night's full Moon was the "Snow Moon," so-called to mark the heavy snows of February. Göran Strand of Östersund, Sweden, photographed the moonrise and wrapped his images into a 360-degree self-portrait of snowy moon-watching:

"To visualize the Snow Moon, a friend and I decided to go for a walk out on a big lake, covered with snow, so that I could create a snowy planet matching the snowy moon," says Strand. "As we stood there watching the moon, a mist blew in from the south, adding some 'atmosphere' to the composition."

More moonshots from last night may be found in the realtime gallery:

Realtime Full Moon Photo Gallery


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]

  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 February 26, 2013 there were 1381 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2013 CW129
Feb 18
1.3 LD
12 m
2013 CZ87
Feb 19
7 LD
28 m
2013 DS9
Feb 24
8.7 LD
24 m
2009 AV
Feb 25
59.7 LD
1.0 km
2007 EO88
Mar 18
4.4 LD
23 m
1993 UC
Mar 20
49 LD
3.8 km
1997 AP10
Mar 28
45.9 LD
1.8 km
2010 GM23
Apr 13
3.9 LD
50 m
2005 NZ6
Apr 29
24.9 LD
1.3 km
2001 DQ8
Apr 30
74.3 LD
1.1 km
2004 BV102
May 25
69.9 LD
1.4 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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