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Solar wind
speed: 494.2 km/sec
density: 7.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B7
1750 UT Jun29
24-hr: C1
1609 UT Jun29
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 29 Jun 13
None of these sunspots poses a threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 83
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 29 Jun 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
29 Jun 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 101 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 29 Jun 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 7
strong
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 9.1 nT
Bz: 2.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 29 Jun 13
Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on June 29-30. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com is now posting daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 06-28-2013 18:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 Jun 29 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 Jun 29 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
35 %
MINOR
15 %
10 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
20 %
25 %
SEVERE
40 %
40 %
 
Saturday, Jun. 29, 2013
What's up in space
 

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SUBSIDING STORM: A geomagnetic storm that began late on June 28th when Earth passed through a region of south-pointing magnetism in the solar wind is subsiding. At its peak (Kp=7), the storm sparked Northern Lights in the USA as far south as Kansas. In total, observers in more than a dozen US states have reported green and purple skies over night. Christian Begeman sends this picture from a farm outside Hartford, South Dakota:

"A clear sky allowed me to the Northern Lights dancing in southeast South Dakota around the midnight hour tonight," says Begeman. "It was quite the show."

The storm also ignited auroras in the southern hemisphere. "There was lots of colour visible to naked eye--very strong," reports Jo Malcomson from South Arm, Tasmania. "It was a nice display" agreed Chris Picking of Wellington, New Zealand. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: For the past few nights, evening sky watchers in northern Europe and Canada have seen bright noctilucent clouds hovering at the edge of space. Alan Dyer photographed these electric-blue waves approximately 70 km above a bank of thunderstorms in Gleichen, Alberta:

"An interesting phenomenon in this display was the fringe of red at the upper edge of the thunderclouds, which contrasted nicely with the light blue color of the NLCs," says Dyer.

2013 is shaping up to be a good year for NLCs. The clouds surprised researchers by appearing early this year, and many bright displays have already been recorded. Once confined to the Arctic, NLCs have been sighted in recent years as far south as Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska. They might spread even farther south in 2013.

Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.

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

EARTH-DIRECTED CME: When the current spate of geomagnetic storms is over, another could follow close on its heels. A coronal mass ejection (CME), pictured below, is expected to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field late on June 30th or early on July 31st.

The cloud was propelled in our direction during the early hours of June 28th when magnetic filaments around sunspot AR1777 erupted. The explosion registered approximately C4 on the Richter Scale of Solar Flares. Because the CME is not heading squarely toward Earth, there is still a chance that it will miss. Stay tuned for updates as the arrival time approaches. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery

  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 June 29, 2013 there were 1397 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2001 PJ9
Jul 17
29.2 LD
1.1 km
2006 BL8
Jul 26
9.3 LD
48 m
2003 DZ15
Jul 29
7.6 LD
153 m
2005 WK4
Aug 9
8.1 LD
420 m
1999 CF9
Aug 23
24.7 LD
1.1 km
2002 JR9
Aug 31
63.5 LD
1.4 km
1992 SL
Sep 23
70 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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