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Solar wind
speed: 309.7 km/sec
density: 1.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C4
1604 UT Jan31
24-hr: M1
1542 UT Jan31
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 31 Jan 14
Sunspot AR1967 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 112
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 31 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
31 Jan 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 161 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 31 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= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.2 nT
Bz: 1.0 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 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: 01-31-2014 13:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 Jan 31 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
60 %
60 %
CLASS X
15 %
15 %
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 31 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
30 %
MINOR
01 %
15 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
10 %
MINOR
15 %
25 %
SEVERE
05 %
45 %
 
Friday, Jan. 31, 2014
What's up in space
 

When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.

 
Northern Lights - a Guide

STRONG M-FLARE AND CME: Yesterday, Jan. 30th, big sunspot AR1967 unleashed a strong M6-class solar flare. The explosion sent a CME racing away from the blast site faster than 1400 km/s (3 million mph): movie. The cloud appears to have an Earth-directed component, and could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field on Feb 1st. Aurora alerts: text, voice

LUNAR TRANSIT OF THE SUN: On Jan. 30th, the Moon passed almost directly in front of the sun. No darkness fell on Earth, however, because the "lunar transit" was only visible from space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the entire passage 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.

A highlight of the movie occurs just after the eclipse is finished when sunspot AR1967 erupts. A plume of hot plasma flies away from one side of the sun just as the Moon is exiting the other. That eruption is the source of the CME that could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 1st.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

DIAMOND DUST SKI HALO: Ski resorts are one of the best places to see sun halos--rings of light that surround the sun when ice crystals fill the air. The most sublime halos are caused by jewel-like crystals called "diamond dust." On Jan. 29th, Christian Schartner was skiing in Obertauern, Austria, when he witnessed this specimen:

"The outside temperature was quite chilly at -12°C when we hit the slopes," says Schartner. "Beautiful sun halos made our skiing day even better!"

Most sun halos are caused by ice crystals floating high above Earth's surface in cirrus clouds. "Ski halos," on the other hand, are formed by ice crystals near the ground, kicked into the air by the action of skis and snow-making machines. A close look at Schartner's picture shows specks of light in the air. Those are the glittering crystals of diamond dust which make these halos so beautiful.

If you're on the slopes this weekend, and the sun dips behind a cloud of ice, be alert for "ski halos." They can make your day.

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. 31, 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 31, 2014 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2014 BP8
Jan 26
3.9 LD
15 m
2014 BX57
Jan 26
6.5 LD
25 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 LD
30 m
2014 BW32
Feb 3
1.9 LD
23 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
2014 BR57
Feb 20
4.4 LD
73 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...
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