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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: 290.5 km/sec
density: 9.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Nov06
24-hr: A9
1135 UT Nov06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 06 Nov 08
New-cycle sunspot 1007 is about to disappear over the sun's western limb. Credit: SOHO/MDI

more images: from Paul Haese of Blackwood, South Australia; from Robert Arnold on the Isle of Skye, Scotland
Sunspot number: 11
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 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: 4.1 nT
Bz: 1.8 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on Nov. 6th or 7th. Credit: Hinode X-ray Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Nov 06 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 06 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
50 %
30 %
MINOR
35 %
10 %
SEVERE
05 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
35 %
MINOR
50 %
15 %
SEVERE
20 %
05 %
What's up in Space
November 6, 2008
WAKE UP! Did you sleep through the auroras of October? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.  

PROMINENCE ALERT: "We just looked at the sun with our Personal Solar Telescope and--WOW--there is a huge wreath-shaped prominence on the edge, one of the most unusual I have ever seen" reports amateur astronomer Chris Schur of Arizona. "Check it out!"

TAURID METEORS: The annual Taurid meteor shower is underway and it could be a good show. 2008 is a "swarm year" for the Taurids: Between Nov. 5th and 12th, Earth is due to pass through a swarm of gritty debris from parent comet 2P/Encke. When the same thing happened in 2005, sky watchers observed a slow drizzle of midnight fireballs for nearly two weeks.

Roman Piffl sends this report from Slovakia: "Last night, a very bright Taurid fireball streaked over the northern horizon of Marianka near our capital city Bratislava." He and colleagues Ivan Majchrovic and Tomas Maruska captured the meteor in this 30 second exposure with a Canon 5D:

"We estimate the magnitude of the fireball to be -10, about as bright as a quarter Moon," he says.

Readers, be alert for more of these in the nights ahead. The best time to look is anytime after dark. The constellation Taurus (where Taurids appear) rises at sunset and hangs high overhead at midnight: sky map.

KASATOCHI, WEEK 12: Twelve weeks ago in Alaska's Aleutian islands, the Kasatochi volcano erupted. More than a million tons of ash and sulfur dioxide rocketed into the stratosphere, giving rise to sunsets of rare beauty around the northern hemisphere. Those sunsets are still with us....

On Nov. 2nd, "we had another great Kasatochi sunset with bright light and colors!" reports P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden. He snapped this picture using a Canon 450D:

"This sunset has several volcanic hallmarks," says atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Stratospheric ash and sulfate aerosols have scattered light near the horizon to produce an intense yellow twilight arch. Higher up, the sky shows signs of the purple light, a mixture of dust-scattered blue light and reddened sunset rays. Finally, to the left is a long dark shadow across the stratosphere where a low-hanging cloud over the horizon has blocked the sun’s light." (Note: The shadow is best seen in the full-sized photo.)

"It’s been 12 weeks since Kasotochi erupted. Some volcanoes have given years of colorful sunsets and, who knows, this one could also!"

more images: from Lionel Bernardi of Toulouse, France; from Aymen Ibrahem of Giza, Egypt: from Bizik Péter of Eger, Hungary; from Elaine Parker of Westover, Maryland; from Anne Patterson at the Dingle peninsula, Ireland; from Valentin Grigore of Targoviste, Romania; from John C McConnell of Maghaberry Northern Ireland.


Oct. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Octobers: 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 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 6, 2008 there were 996 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
4179 Toutatis
Nov. 9
20 LD
14
3.8 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 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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