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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 399.6 km/sec
density: 1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2343 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B5
1701 UT Aug26
24-hr: C2
1313 UT Aug26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 26 Aug 11
The Earthside of the sun is peppered with small sunspots. Only sunspot 1271 poses a threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 97
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 25 Aug 2011

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

Updated 25 Aug 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 104 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 25 Aug 2011

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: 4.2 nT
Bz: 3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
Coronal Holes: 26 Aug 11
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Aug. 28-29. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 Aug 26 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
10 %
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: 2011 Aug 26 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
20 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
30 %
MINOR
01 %
15 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
 
Friday, Aug. 26, 2011
What's up in space
 

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

SUNSPOT BREAKTHROUGH: A new breakthrough in sunspot detection could provide days of extra early warning for strong solar storms. Get the full story from Science@NASA.

CORONAL HOLE: A yawning dark hole in the sun's atmosphere is spewing solar wind toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the opening during the early hours of Aug. 26th:

Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole is expected to arrive on Aug. 28-29, possibly causing geomagnetic activity around the poles. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras on those dates. As summer winds down, the midnight sun is waning for improved visibility of Northern Lights. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

more images: from Brandon Lovett of Fairbanks, Alaska; from Francis Anderson of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Canada; from Frank Olsen of Stø, Norway; from Bjarki Mikkelsen of Jokkmokk Porjus, Lapland, Sweden; from Sean M. Scully of Akureyri, Iceland;

August 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Augusts: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]

SUNSPOT MOVIE: Sunspots are planet-sized islands of magnetism floating in a fiery sea of solar plasma. Unlike the hard-rocky islands of Earth, however, the "firmament" of sunspots is in a constant state of flux. Boiling motions in the underlying plasma cause sunspot magnetic fields to move and shift, so that the active regions change shape on a daily basis. This movie from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the process at work in sunspot AR1271:

Readers, you can witness these changes with your own eyes using a safe sunspot telescope. Several new active regions are popping up across the solar disk, so there should be plenty of targets for sight-seeing this weekend.

more images: from Francois Rouviere of Mougins, France; from John Chumack of Dayton, Ohio; from Steve Wainwright of Gower S.Wales UK; from Pawel Warchal of Cracow, Poland


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

  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 August 26, 2011 there were 1241 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 AV
Aug 22
49.7 LD
--
1.1 km
2003 QC10
Sep 18
50 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 SV55
Sep 19
67.5 LD
--
1.2 km
2007 TD
Sep 23
3.8 LD
--
58 m
2002 AG29
Oct 9
77.1 LD
--
1.0 km
2000 OJ8
Oct 13
49.8 LD
--
2.5 km
2009 TM8
Oct 17
1.1 LD
--
8 m
2011 FZ2
Nov 7
75.9 LD
--
1.6 km
2005 YU55
Nov 8
0.8 LD
--
175 m
1994 CK1
Nov 16
68.8 LD
--
1.5 km
1996 FG3
Nov 23
39.5 LD
--
1.1 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
 
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