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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: 401.9 km/sec
density: 9.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jan28
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jan28
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 28 Jan 09
Yesterday's sunspot has faded away, leaving the sun blank. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 28 Jan. 2009
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= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
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: 2.1 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could hit Earth on or about Jan. 30. However, because of the hole's southern latitude, the stream it is spewing could miss Earth entirely. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Jan 28 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: 2009 Jan 28 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
01 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
January 28, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

NAMIBIA FIREBALL: Last night, Jan. 27th, around 2105 local time in Namibia, sky watchers witnessed a slow, bright fireball that disintegrated into "thousands of lights, almost like fireworks," says Crone Bergh of Windhoek. Fragments of "various sizes [appeared to be on fire] and left white smoke trails in the air," adds J.C. Vorster, also of Windhoek. This was probably the expected reentry of a Russian Molniya-M rocket, which launched a military satellite in Dec. 2008. The ground track of the decaying rocket passed over Namibia in a direction that fits the description of the witnesses. Readers, if you saw or photographed this event, please submit a report.

CLOUDY ECLIPSE: Sometimes clouds are a good thing; the solar eclipse of Jan. 26, 2009, was one of those times. Jia Hao sends this report from Carita, Indonesia: "The thickness of clouds during the annular phase of the eclipse was just right to make the ring a naked eye view. We literally saw a golden ring hanging there without any filter." He photographed the spectacle using a Nikon D50:

"At the same time," he adds, "the surroundings were getting dark and hundreds of swallows were flying in a panic above us. The view was just as amazing as a total solar eclipse!"

In nearby Bandar Lampung, onlooker Dhani Herdiwijaya agreed: "It was really a beautiful moment to catch the 'ring of god' among the capricious clouds." Browse the gallery for more:

UPDATED: Jan. 26 Solar Eclipse Gallery
[Submit your photos] [Animated eclipse maps]

VENUS AND THE ISS: When the International Space Station (ISS) glides across the night sky, its brilliant silvery light reminds many observers of Venus. Here's why:

Venus and the ISS are almost exactly the same apparent size and brightness. "I photographed the pair on the evening of Jan. 25th," says Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands."The ISS was making a high pass over my backyard observatory. I manually tracked it using a 10-inch Newtonian reflector." He then swung the telescope around and photographed Venus using the same setup.

The ISS is making a series of bright evening passes over Europe this week and North America next week. Venus will be in the sky at the same time, so you can compare the two with your own eyes. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times.


Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter telescope] [sky map] [ephemeris]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

 

       
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 January 28, 2009 there were 1018 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Jan. 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 YC29
Jan. 2
3.4 LD
18
35 m
2008 YY32
Jan. 3
6.2 LD
18
40 m
2008 YG30
Jan. 4
3.6 LD
16
50 m
2008 YV32
Jan. 9
2.7 LD
19
25 m
2008 YF29
Jan. 11
9.7 LD
18
65 m
2002 AO11
Jan. 15
7.7 LD
17
120 m
1998 CS1
Jan. 17
11 LD
12
1.3 km
2009 BS5
Jan. 17
2.4 LD
18
15 m
2009 BJ2
Jan. 21
4.6 LD
19
16 m
2009 BE
Jan. 23
2.1 LD
17
26 m
2009 BD
Jan. 25
1.8 LD
19
10 m
2009 BO5
Jan. 25
6.7 LD
20
19 m
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
   
  more links...
   
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