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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 342.7 km/sec
density: 3.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2256 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Sep27
24-hr: A0
2245 UT Sep27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 27 Sep 08
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 27 Sept. 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.4 nT
Bz: 0.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2257 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about Oct. 1st. Credit: Hinode X-ray Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Sep 27 2201 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: 2008 Sep 27 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
01 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
01 %
15 %
MINOR
01 %
10 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
September 27, 2008
AURORA ALERTS: Did you miss the Northern Lights of August 9th? Next time get a wake-up call from Space Weather PHONE.  

SHENZHOU 7 SPACEWALK: Chinese astronaut (taikonaut) Zhai Zhigang made history today when he floated out of the Shenzhou 7 spacecraft for his country's first spacewalk. Chinese planners regard this as an important step toward their long-term goal of building an orbital space station. Shenzhou 7 will remain in Earth orbit for at least one more day, and you may be able to see it with your own eyes. Check the Satellite Tracker for viewing times.

GRAND CENTRAL: Last night, in a span of time shorter than 30 minutes, "Shenzhou 7, the Jules Verne ATV, and the International Space Station (ISS) all passed over my home in Melbourne, Australia," reports amateur astronomer Rob Carew, who sends this composite:

"Two different manned spacecraft and the amazing ATV--it was great to see and photograph them all," he says.

In a matter of days, two of the three will vanish from the heavens. China's Shenzhou 7 mission is slated to end on Sept. 28th when the three taikonauts onboard return to Earth inside their Apollo-style capsule. Europe's Jule Verne cargo carrier returns to Earth one day later, on Sept. 29th, when it burns up in the atmosphere over the south Pacific Ocean. Two NASA aircraft and possibly the ISS itself will be positioned to monitor the fireball. Stay tuned for photos of that.

more images: from Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands; from Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from Dave P Smith of Bluebell Hill, Kent, England; from Troy Arkley of Wellington, New Zealand; from Vincent Phillips of Hale Village near Liverpool, UK; from Martin Popek of Nýdek, Czech Republic;

MOVING MARS ROCK: What lies underneath a Mars rock? Phoenix mission scientists decided to find out. On Monday, Sept. 22nd, they commanded the lander to extend its robotic arm and move a rock nicknamed "Headless." Put on your 3D glasses to observe the result:

Graphic artist Patrick Vantuyne of Belgium created the anaglyph by combining two slightly-offset photos from Phoenix's robotic arm camera. "I demonstrate here that you don't need a stereo camera to make 3D images; offset photos work, too. The same technique was used to make a 3D micro-photograph of a rock encountered by NASA's Spirit rover."

Now that Headless has been moved, Phoenix can begin to scrape and scoop some of the icy soil formerly hidden. Of particular interest is the depth of the ice layer beneath the rock. Researchers think rocks on the ground may interfere with a water cycle linking the martian atmosphere with subsurface ice. A measurement of ice depth should distinguish between competing theories: full story.


Sept. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Aurora Alerts] [Night Sky Cameras]

       
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 September 27, 2008 , there were 982 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Sept. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 WT153
Sept. 7
5.8 LD
23
11 m
1996 HW1
Sept. 12
53 LD
12
3.7 km
2003 SW130
Sept. 19
8.6 LD
23
7 m
1998 UO1
Sept. 26
25 LD
18
2.0 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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
  a one-stop hub for all things scientific
  more links...
   
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