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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 542.3 km/s
density:
0.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2244 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B2 1650 UT Dec30
24-hr: B2 0145 UT Dec30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 30 Dec '05

These sunspots do not pose a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 77
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 29 Dec 2005

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.9 nT
Bz:
2.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Coronal Holes:

Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.


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 2005 Dec 30 2203 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 05 % 05 %
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 2005 Dec 30 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 15 % 25 %
MINOR 05 % 15 %
SEVERE 01 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 25 %
MINOR 10 % 15 %
SEVERE 01 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 30 Dec 2005
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The space station is visible in the night sky this month. Would you like to see it? Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE.

SOLAR ACTIVITY: A coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from the sun yesterday: movie. The source of the blast is uncertain; it could be an active sunspot just over the sun's southeastern limb. If so, solar rotation will turn the 'spot toward Earth in the days ahead. Stay tuned.

AURORA MEGA-GALLERY: This is new. We've collected every aurora photo ever published on SpaceWeather.com in one "mega-gallery." There are spooky auroras, man-made auroras, auroras in Florida, auroras at the South Pole, auroras beneath the space shuttle--thousands of photos. Start browsing.

Above: Auroras illuminate the historic Marquette lighthouse in Marquette, Michigan, on July 25, 2004. Photo credit: Duane Clausen. You can see more pictures like this one in the mega-gallery.

EBONY MOON: According to modern folklore, when there are two Full Moons in a month, we call the second a Blue Moon. Question: what do you call it when there are two New Moons in a month?

It's about to happen. On New Year's Eve, Saturday, Dec. 31st, the moon will be new for the second time this month. (The first time was Dec. 1st.) Double New Moons occur about once every 2.5 years, the same frequency as Blue Moons.

There's no widely accepted name for a second New Moon, so we asked SpaceWeather readers to suggest one. Hundreds of names were submitted. Our staff voted and here are the favorites:

  • Honorable Mention--Astronomer's Moon, Double Dark Moon, Dark Blue Moon
  • Runner-up--Monkey Moon (from the verb "to monkey," which means to imitate), suggested by Henk Bril of the Netherlands.
  • The Winner--Ebony Moon, suggested by Troy Silvey of Atlanta, Georgia.

The next Ebony Moon (after this Saturday's) is due on August 30, 2008: calendar.



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 30 Dec 2005 there were 753 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

December 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
(meters)
2005 XA8

Dec. 5

0.6 LD

15

~35 m
2005 XX

Dec. 9

2.2 LD

18

~20 m
2005 WC1

Dec. 14

7.9 LD

15

~370 m
2005 XO66

Dec. 19

5.0 LD

17

~50 m
2005 XO4

Jan. 1

18.5 LD

20+

~150 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.

Essential Web Links

NOAA Space Environment Center -- The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar 2005; Apr-Jun 2005; Jul-Sep 2005; Oct-Dec 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email

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