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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: 462.6 km/s
density:
1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2244 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
A8 1945 UT Dec31
24-hr: B4 1055 UT Dec31
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 31 Dec '05

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


Sunspot Number: 67
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 30 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: 7.0 nT
Bz:
0.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

Earth is exiting 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 31 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 31 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 30 % 30 %
MINOR 15 % 15 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 30 % 30 %
MINOR 20 % 20 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 31 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.

SOMETHING COMING? An active sunspot might soon appear on the sun's southeastern limb. How do we know? In recent days, SOHO coronagraphs have observed at least three CMEs hurled over the limb by unseen explosions: movie. The blast site will be revealed when the sun's rotation turns it to face Earth. Stay tuned.

AURORA MEGA-GALLERY: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly through the aurora borealis? Can you see auroras from Florida? Is there a season for geomagnetic storms? Answers await in the new Aurora Mega-Gallery.

Above: Auroras over New Carlisle, Ohio, on Nov. 7, 2004. Photo credit: John Chumack.

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

It's a timely question. Tonight, on New Year's Eve, 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 tonight'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 31 Dec 2005 there were 754 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

January 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
(meters)
2005 XO4

Jan. 1

18.5 LD

20+

~150 m
2005 YM128

Jan. 1

19.8 LD

19

~75 m
2005 YO128

Jan. 3

6.5 LD

16

~60 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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