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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: 396.8 km/sec
density: 0.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT May29
24-hr: A0
1235 UT May29
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 29 May 09
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 28 May 2009

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 5 days
2009 total: 121 days (82%)
Since 2004: 632 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 28 May 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= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.4 nT
Bz: 0.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes:
Yesterday's coronal hole has faded away. Now there are no significant coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 May 29 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 May 29 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
May 29, 2009

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

 

NEW SOLAR CYCLE PREDICTION: An international panel of experts has issued a new prediction for the solar cycle which takes into account the surprisingly deep solar minimum of 2008-2009. Read today's story from Science@NASA to find out when they think solar maximum will return.

SOLAR ACTIVITY: NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft, stationed over the sun's eastern horizon, is tracking a new active region. It is circled in this extreme ultraviolet image transmitted from STEREO-B just hours ago:

The high-latitude of the region suggests it is a manifestation of new Solar Cycle 24. If so, this would continue a May trend of intensifying new-cycle activity. The active region is probably a proto-sunspot--a knot of magnetism struggling to form a fully-realized dark core. We'll know for sure in the next day or so when the hot spot turns to face Earth. Readers with solar telescopes, point your optics at the northeastern limb.

JUPITER'S MOON SHOW: Every six years, Earth spends a number of months passing through the orbital plane of Jupiter's moons. During the passage, amateur astronomers get to see a rare display of "mutual occultations." Jupiter's moons eclipse one another in plain view of backyard telescopes.

On May 25th, Mike Salway of Central Coast, Australia, watched Ganymede eclipse Io. Click on the still-frame to launch a 0.25 MB movie:

Images like these are unprecedented. Although Jupiter's moons put on the same kind of show in 2002-2003, no one recorded such clear pictures. "Imaging techniques and equipment have improved immensely over the past 6 years," notes Salway. "So this is the first year where amateurs are recording these events and producing detailed, high-resolution images of the phenomena."

If you missed the Ganymede-Io eclipse, don't worry. There are plenty more to come. Mutual occultations of Jupiter's moons will continue from now until nearly the end of the year. As part of the International Year of Astronomy, professional astronomers are organizing a worldwide observing campaign to record as many of these events as possible. Click here for details.

more images: from Efrain Morales Rivera of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; from Paul Maxson of Surprise, Arizona


April 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]


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 May 29, 2009 there were 1060 potentially hazardous asteroids.
May 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 JA
May 4
7.5 LD
18
37 m
2006 FG3
May 6
60.7 LD
17
1.1 km
2001 SG286
May 17
11.5 LD
16
280 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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