SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind speed: 583.4 km/s density: 3.2 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: A3 1730 UT Oct29 24-hr: B1 0440 UT Oct29 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 29 Oct '06 Yesterday's new sunspot, 919, is already gone. Meanwhile, today's new sunspot, 920, is emerging near the sun's western limb. Credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 28 What is the sunspot number? Updated: 28 Oct 2006 Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.8 nT Bz: 3.9 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2247 UT Coronal Holes: Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: NOAA GOES-13. SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below. Updated at 2006 Oct 29 2203 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 2006 Oct 29 2203 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 20 % | MINOR | 15 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 01 % | | Autumn is here, and it's a wonderful time for stargazing. Find out what's up from Spaceweather PHONE. AURORA WATCH: A solar wind stream hit Earth on Oct 28th, sparking no full-fledged geomagnetic storm but auroras anyway over northern Europe, Canada and Alaska. "It was another great night for auroras here in Lapland, Sweden," says photographer Patricia Cowern. "These two pictures show the contrast between a calm night (Oct. 25th) and last night (Oct. 28th). Auroras light up the whole village!" Earth is still inside the solar wind stream. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for more auroras tonight. October 2006 Aurora Gallery COMET SWAN: Just 15 seconds. That's all the exposure time Brian Klimowski needed to photograph Comet Swan setting over the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona, on Oct. 27th: Photo details: Canon 5D, 85mm, f/1.8, 15 sec, ISO 1600. Comet Swan (C/2006 M4) is receding from Earth and no longer visible to the naked eye, but as Brian's photo shows it remains a good target for astrophotography. All you need is a digital camera, a tripod, and a direction to point them: sky map. Comet Swan Photo Gallery | 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 29 Oct 2006 there were 821 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Oct-Nov 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | MAG. | SIZE | 2006 EU64 | Oct. 21 | 0.4 LD | 18 | 11 m | Notes: LD is a "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. |