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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: 363.2 km/sec
density: 1.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Nov30
24-hr: A0
2245 UT Nov30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 30 Nov 08
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 29 Nov. 2008
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= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.8 nT
Bz: 1.1 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about Dec. 3rd. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Nov 30 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: 2008 Nov 30 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
November 30, 2008
NORTHERN LIGHTS: Did you sleep through the auroras of November? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.  

ENDEAVOUR RETURNS: "Welcome home, Endeavour!" Mission controllers radioed the greeting moments after the shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base this afternoon. Bad weather in Florida forced a detour to sunny California where Endeavour touched down at 1:25 p.m. PST on Sunday, Nov. 30th. The safe landing brings an end to a 15-day home improvement mission to the ISS.

SUNSET PLANETS: The sky show of the year is underway. Just a few hours ago, Ramiz Qureshi of Karachi, Pakistan, took this picture of the crescent Moon bearing down on Venus and Jupiter:

During the next 24 hours, Luna will continue her approach, converging with the two planets to form a spectacular sunset triangle on Monday, Dec. 1st. The bright 3-way conjunction will be visible from all parts of world, even from light-polluted cities. So pause when the sun goes down and take a look outside; you'll be glad you did. Sky maps: Nov. 30, Dec 1.

more images: from Stephen O'Meara of Kilauea, Volcano, Hawaii; from Brian Kennedy of Orlando, Florida; from John Gauvreau of Binbrook, Ontario, Canada; from Stephen McCaul on the coast of Scotland overlooking the Isle of Skye; from Claudio Bottari of Locorotondo, Italy; from Bum-Suk Yeom of Daejeon, South Korea; from Mike O'Leary of San Diego, CA; from Bill Smith of Cherry Creek, NY; from Albert Engert of Würzburg, Germany; from Marion Haligowski of Phoenix, Arizona; from Gregg Waldron of Morristown, NJ; from Joe Ricci of Rochester, New York; from Katy and John Stetson of Portland, Maine; from Adrian Guzman of San Jose, California; from Claudio Pincelli of Southampton, Massachusetts; from Thierry Demange of Erstein, Alsace, France; from Martin Mc Kenna of Maghera, Co. Derry, N. Ireland;

THE OTHER CONJUNCTION: While all eyes are on Venus and Jupiter in the evening sky, another conjunction is taking place at high noon. Mars and Mercury are having a close encounter of their own within 3o of the sun:

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) took the picture earlier today. SOHO's onboard coronagraph blocked the glare of the sun to reveal the planets and first-magnitude star Antares nearby. Human eyes cannot see this conjunction--it hurts to look. SOHO images, on the other hand, are utterly painless; click here for the latest.


Nov. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Novembers: 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2001, 2000]

       
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 November 30, 2008 there were 1002 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Nov. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 TX3
Nov. 1
9 LD
19
45 m
2008 UT95
Nov. 2
1.5 LD
17
15 m
2008 UC7
Nov. 2
4.5 LD
20
17 m
2008 VM
Nov. 3
0.1 LD
20
4 m
2008 VA4
Nov. 4
7.7 LD
17
49 m
2008 VB4
Nov. 4
1.3 LD
18
10 m
2008 VC
Nov. 4
4.4 LD
20
18 m
4179 Toutatis
Nov. 9
20 LD
14
3.8 km
2008 WO2
Nov. 16
1.0 LD
20
5 m
2004 XK3
Nov. 18
1.8 LD
15
60 m
2008 VZ3
Nov. 22
5.7 LD
18
55 m
2008 WD
Nov. 24
6.9 LD
19
30 m
2008 WC
Nov. 26
5.1 LD
19
23 m
2008 WM61
Nov. 27
3.5 LD
18
20 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
  a one-stop hub for all things scientific
  more links...
   
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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