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Solar wind
speed: 324.5 km/sec
density: 8.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B7
1942 UT Apr30
24-hr: C1
0620 UT Apr30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 30 Apr 14
Sunspot AR2049 has developed a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 80
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 30 Apr 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 Apr 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 120 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 30 Apr 2014

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 8.9 nT
Bz: 0.2 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 30 Apr 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: 02-28-2014 16:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 Apr 30 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
20 %
20 %
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: 2014 Apr 30 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
40 %
40 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
25 %
25 %
SEVERE
50 %
55 %
 
Wednesday, Apr. 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

MOTHER'S DAY AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: Mother's Day is right around the corner. Looking for a unique gift? How about an Edge of Space Mother's Day Card? This weekend, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus will launch a helium balloon to the stratosphere. For only $49.95, your Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthday or anniversary card could be on the payload. Profits from the flight are used to support the students' space weather balloon research program. Contact Dr. Tony Phillips for details.

ANVIL SCREAMER: In a remote area of New Mexico, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft operates a shortwave radio observatory. He routinely records bursts of radio energy from the sun and Jupiter, as well as echoes from passing meteors. On April 20th, a more hair-raising sound emerged from the loudspeaker. "It was the banshee howl of an 'anvil screamer.'" Click on the image for a sample of what he heard:

An "anvil screamer" is a burst of static caused by a thunderstorm passing directly over a radio telescope, raising strong electric fields around the antenna. "Small corona discharges occurred off of pointy objects (grasses and cactus spines) in the vicinity of the antennas due to a charge differential between the ground and the air," says Ashcraft. "I did not look outside because I was busy disconnecting sensitive electronics, but it is possible my antennas might have been glowing violet blue in this moment with St. Elmo's Fire."

"I was able to capture a one minute forty second radio recording, which builds in intensity and frequency and then stops abruptly as I got my system unplugged," he says. "I thought a lightning bolt would surely strike as the charged anvil of the thunderhead passed by, but a strike did not occur." Listen again. "It was a close call in any case." More information about the event may be found here.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

SOLAR ECLIPSE: When the sun set over Australia on April 29th, sky watchers noticed something odd. A piece of the sun was missing. The new Moon passed in front of the sun producing a partial eclipse as deep as 70%. This was the view from Adelaide, South Australia:

"Here the eclipse peaked at 51% and was still in progress as the sun was setting," says photographer Martin Lewicki. "We could see it clearly through the clouds."

Visibility of this eclipse was restricted to Australia and the coast of Antarctica: map. While Australians witnessed a partial eclipse, in Antarctica the Moon passed directly in front of the sun, producing a "ring of fire" annular eclipse. Photographs of that phase, however, might not be forthcoming because of the remote location. Browse the eclipse gallery for updates:

Realtime Eclipse Photo Gallery

SOLAR SUPERSTORM NARROWLY MISSES EARTH: Two years ago, a Carrington-class solar storm narrowly missed Earth. If it had hit, researchers say, we could still be picking up the pieces. Get the full story from Science@NASA. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Mars Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet 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 Apr. 27, 2014, the network reported 7 fireballs.
(7 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 April 30, 2014 there were 1469 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2014 HW
Apr 27
2.1 LD
10 m
2007 HB15
Apr 27
6 LD
12 m
2014 HL2
Apr 28
8.8 LD
25 m
2014 HE5
Apr 29
9.7 LD
36 m
2014 HV2
Apr 29
1.4 LD
27 m
2014 HL129
May 3
0.8 LD
10 m
2014 HT46
May 4
7 LD
21 m
2014 HO132
May 5
2.1 LD
36 m
2010 JO33
May 17
4 LD
43 m
2005 UK1
May 20
36.7 LD
1.1 km
1997 WS22
May 21
47.1 LD
1.5 km
2002 JC
May 24
48.7 LD
1.4 km
2014 HQ124
Jun 8
3.2 LD
860 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 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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