You are viewing the page for Jan. 30, 2014
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids Internet Shopping Sites high quality binoculars excellent weather stations all-metal reflector telescopes rotatable microscopes
 
Solar wind
speed: 359.3 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1
1649 UT Jan30
24-hr: M6
1611 UT Jan30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 30 Jan 14
Sunspot AR1967 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 96
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 30 Jan 2014

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2014 total: 0 days (0%)
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%)

Update
30 Jan 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 157 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 30 Jan 2014

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.2 nT
Bz: 2.7 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 30 Jan 14
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com posts 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: 01-30-2014 12:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 Jan 30 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
60 %
60 %
CLASS X
10 %
10 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2014 Jan 30 2200 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
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
 
Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014
What's up in space
 

Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio.

 
Spaceweather Radio is on the air

STRONG M-FLARE: Big sunspot AR1967 unleashed a strong M6-class solar flare on Jan. 30th at approximately 1617 UTC. The explosion, which may be seen at the end of this movie of today's solar eclipse, hurled a CME into space. Radio emissions from shock waves preceding the CME suggest that it could be leaving the sun faster than 2100 km/s (4.7 million mph). Stay tuned for updates about this potentially significant event. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

LUNAR TRANSIT OF THE SUN: Earlier today, the Moon eclipsed the sun. No one on Earth saw it. The "lunar transit" was only visible from space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the whole thing from geosynchronous orbit:

At maximum eclipse as much as 90% of the sun was covered. SDO is solar powered, but it did not "brown out" because mission controllers put an extra charge on the spacecraft's batteries ahead of time.

Every year, SDO observes multiple lunar transits. This one, lasting almost 2.5 hours, was the longest in the history of the spacecraft's 4 year mission.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

NON-STOP NORTHERN LIGHTS: In Sweden's Abisko National Park, Chad Blakley has been an aurora tour guide for many years. "I believe January 2014 will be remembered as the best aurora watching month of my life!" he says. "Last night, for the 25th time this year, we enjoyed an amazing display of northern lights." He stepped outside his teepee for this comemorative shot:

"The contrast of green lights in the sky and the red glow of the teepee was fantastic," he says. "Our eight guests really enjoyed photographing the display."

"With a little luck," Blakley adds, "tonight will be number 26 for the year." He might get his wish. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Jan 30th in response to a minor solar wind stream buffeting Earth's magnetic field. Aurora alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Supernova Photo Gallery


  All Sky Fireball Network

Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.

On Jan. 30, 2014, the network reported 10 fireballs.
(10 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

On Jan. 29, 2014, the network reported 5 fireballs.
(5 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

  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 30, 2014 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2014 BA3
Jan 26
5.9 LD
10 m
2014 BP8
Jan 26
3.9 LD
15 m
2014 BM25
Jan 28
2.7 LD
10 m
2012 BX34
Jan 28
9.6 LD
13 m
2014 BK25
Jan 28
3.2 LD
14 m
2014 BX43
Feb 2
9.1 LD
34 m
2014 BW32
Feb 3
1.9 LD
26 m
2014 BP43
Feb 8
5.5 LD
20 m
2006 DP14
Feb 10
6.2 LD
730 m
2014 BT43
Feb 11
9.8 LD
31 m
2000 EM26
Feb 18
8.8 LD
195 m
2000 EE14
Mar 6
64.6 LD
1.8 km
2003 QQ47
Mar 26
49.9 LD
1.4 km
1995 SA
Apr 2
73.1 LD
1.6 km
2000 HD24
Apr 4
42.2 LD
1.3 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...
©2010 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.