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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 643.5 km/sec
density: 2.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1
2150 UT May28
24-hr: M1
2150 UT May28
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 28 May 11
New sunspot 1226 is crackling with C-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 65
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 27 May 2011

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2011 total: 1 day (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 820 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 27 May 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 90 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 27 May 2011

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 6
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.4 nT
Bz: -0.0 nT
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes: 28 May 11
Earth is entering a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 May 28 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
15 %
15 %
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: 2011 May 28 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
20 %
MINOR
20 %
15 %
SEVERE
10 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
30 %
MINOR
25 %
20 %
SEVERE
15 %
10 %
 
Saturday, May. 28, 2011
What's up in space
 

Turn your cell phone into a field-tested satellite tracker. Works for Android and iPhone.

 
Satellite flybys

INTENSIFYING SOLAR ACTIVITY: The quiet sun is waking up. New sunspot 1226 emerging over the sun's southeastern limb is crackling with strong C-class solar flares. So far none of the blasts has been geoeffective, but this could change in the days ahead as the active region turns toward Earth. Stay tuned.

SOUTHERN LIGHTS: A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, sparking Southern Lights around the Antarctic Circle. Ian Stewart sends this picture from a jetty near Hobart, Tasmania:

"Not long after sunset a friend rang to ask whether a faint arc of light crossing over the southern sky was an aurora. It was!" says Stewart. "This is the first time in the new solar cycle that I have managed to photograph the Aurora Australis. Previous events either have not been strong enough to view at 43o South, or have occurred during our daytime. Perhaps this is the beginning of a good aurora season for the southern hemisphere."

more images: from Zoltan Kenwell of East of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; from Tom Luttrell of Mount Nelson Signal Station, Hobart, Tasmania;

WARP SPEED! Space shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station are making a series of bright flybys over North America and Europe this weekend. In Arizona, Mike Weasner pointed his 8-inch telescope at the docked spacecraft and this is what he saw:

"I attempted to video record the ISS and Endeavour, but my tracking was not very good, and most of the time the spacecraft were not in the camera's field of view," says Weasner. "However, this allowed me to record a little-known space station capability: One frame showed the ISS going to Warp Speed!"

"Of course, the effect is a result of motion blurring during the video exposure," he allows, "but it does make for an interesting photo."

This is space shuttle Endeavour's final flight, and the nights ahead offer a last chance to see the shuttle before it returns to Earth for retirement. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker or your cell phone for local flyby times.

more images: from Jesús Carmona de Argila of Madrid, Spain; from P.Nikolakakos of Sparta, Greece; from Roberto Zanola of Abbiategrasso, Milan, Italy; from Davide Cirioni of Abbiategrasso, Milan, Italy; from Kim Cheol-Joong of South Korea;


April 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]

  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 May 28, 2011 there were 1224 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2011 KG13
May 24
3.2 LD
--
31 m
2002 JC
Jun 1
57.5 LD
--
1.6 km
2009 BD
Jun 2
0.9 LD
--
10 m
2011 KE15
Jun 3
3.7 LD
--
18 m
2002 JB9
Jun 11
71.5 LD
--
3.2 km
2001 VH75
Jun 12
42.2 LD
--
1.1 km
2004 LO2
Jun 15
9.9 LD
--
48 m
2011 GA55
Jul 6
64.1 LD
--
1.0 km
2011 EZ78
Jul 10
37.3 LD
--
1.6 km
2003 YS117
Jul 14
73.9 LD
--
1.0 km
2007 DD
Jul 23
9.3 LD
--
31 m
2009 AV
Aug 22
49.7 LD
--
1.1 km
2003 QC10
Sep 18
50 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 SV55
Sep 19
67.5 LD
--
1.2 km
2007 TD
Sep 23
3.8 LD
--
58 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.
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NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
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Solar Dynamics Observatory
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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.
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