| | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 2 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet explanation | more data Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 6.18 nT Bz: -3.86 nT south more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 01 May 22 There are no coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds is over. It ended on Feb. 20, 2022, concluding the weakest NLC season in 14 years. The northern season will begin in late May.. Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated at: SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2022 May 01 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 15 % | 10 % | 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: 2022 May 01 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 30 % | 10 % | MINOR | 15 % | 01 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 30 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 45 % | 20 % | | | | | | | | | | | | Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when magnetic storms erupt. Aurora your guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | | MERCURY AND THE PLEIADES: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Mercury is in conjunction with the Pleiades star cluster. Observers using a 589 nm sodium filter may be able to photograph Mercury's comet-like tail, which is unusually bright right now. Sky maps: May 1, May 2 X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Perfect. Timing. "A first glance through my solar telescope yesterday provided a stunning suprise - a huge eruption," says Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York. "I inserted a camera quickly and caught this remnant of an X-class solar flare." Friedman's observing session coincided with one of the biggest flares in years--an X1-category explosion on April 30th @ 1347UT. The source was departing sunspot AR2994; it blew its top shortly after it rotated onto the farside of the sun. Even with the sunspot completely hidden, the explosion still produced enough radiation for a strong shortwave radio blackout over the mid-Atlantic Ocean and Europe: map. Signals below 30 MHz were attentuated for nearly an hour. Coronagraph images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) confirm that the explosion hurled a CME into space: movie. The CME will not hit Earth--a result of the sunspot's farside location. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text PARTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE: Yesterday, the new Moon passed in front of the sun over South America, producing a partial solar eclipse. Joerg Schoppmeyer watched the crescent-shaped sun set into the Pacific Ocean from Vina del Mar, Chile: The shape of the sun was altered not only by the eclipse, but also by temperature inversions near the sea surface, which created strange mirages. "The eclipsed sunset was incredible!" says Schoppmeyer. more images: from Esmeralda Sosa of Rosario, Argentina; from Patricio Leon of Santiago, Chile; from Erwin Enrique Sandoval of Coyhaique,Chile; from Petr Horálek at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile; Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 8TH: Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love: Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed! Mother's Day Special: Use coupon code "SPACEMOM" at checkout for a 10% discount. Offer valid from now until Mother's Day (May 8, 2022) . Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store All sales support hands-on STEM education Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter 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 May 01, 2022, the network reported 3 fireballs. (3 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] 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 1, 2022 there were 2278 potentially hazardous asteroids. | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | 2022 HJ2 | 2022-Apr-26 | 15.7 LD | 6.5 | 25 | 2022 HB1 | 2022-Apr-26 | 0.5 LD | 14.1 | 12 | 2022 HR3 | 2022-Apr-27 | 4.5 LD | 8.5 | 12 | 418135 | 2022-Apr-28 | 8.5 LD | 10.4 | 466 | 2022 HL4 | 2022-Apr-28 | 2.1 LD | 9.2 | 14 | 2022 HH2 | 2022-Apr-29 | 3.9 LD | 15.7 | 14 | 2022 HO2 | 2022-Apr-30 | 4.4 LD | 15.7 | 28 | 2022 HX1 | 2022-Apr-30 | 6.5 LD | 11.8 | 16 | 2022 HA3 | 2022-Apr-30 | 4.2 LD | 8.4 | 13 | 2022 HS | 2022-May-01 | 6.7 LD | 5.7 | 20 | 2017 XO2 | 2022-May-01 | 18.8 LD | 12.4 | 125 | 2022 HD3 | 2022-May-01 | 3 LD | 12.7 | 16 | 2022 HO3 | 2022-May-01 | 18.8 LD | 7.9 | 24 | 2022 HQ3 | 2022-May-01 | 2.3 LD | 9.2 | 11 | 2022 HA2 | 2022-May-02 | 12.1 LD | 12.9 | 36 | 2022 HW | 2022-May-02 | 16.1 LD | 16.1 | 46 | 2022 HK4 | 2022-May-02 | 3.4 LD | 13.7 | 19 | 2022 HN3 | 2022-May-03 | 8.1 LD | 20.7 | 32 | 2022 HW1 | 2022-May-03 | 9.9 LD | 7.7 | 19 | 2022 HS3 | 2022-May-03 | 14 LD | 21.1 | 34 | 2022 HY3 | 2022-May-03 | 1.8 LD | 7.2 | 12 | 2022 HU3 | 2022-May-03 | 6 LD | 13.7 | 22 | 2022 HC4 | 2022-May-03 | 3.4 LD | 11.4 | 11 | 2022 HR1 | 2022-May-03 | 5.1 LD | 13.3 | 23 | 2017 HG1 | 2022-May-04 | 18.2 LD | 6 | 11 | 2022 HL2 | 2022-May-05 | 7.7 LD | 7 | 21 | 2022 HA4 | 2022-May-07 | 11.1 LD | 13 | 31 | 2022 HF1 | 2022-May-08 | 8.8 LD | 17.1 | 60 | 2022 HL3 | 2022-May-08 | 11.7 LD | 11.7 | 54 | 467460 | 2022-May-09 | 14.9 LD | 11.3 | 513 | 2019 JE | 2022-May-11 | 4.9 LD | 7.2 | 20 | 2012 UX68 | 2022-May-15 | 2.8 LD | 8.2 | 54 | 388945 | 2022-May-15 | 15 LD | 8.2 | 290 | 2013 UX | 2022-May-17 | 16.8 LD | 16.3 | 141 | 2021 WY | 2022-May-18 | 16.9 LD | 9 | 65 | 2022 HD1 | 2022-May-20 | 15.3 LD | 6.8 | 61 | 7335 | 2022-May-27 | 10.5 LD | 13.1 | 1058 | 2021 KO2 | 2022-May-30 | 3.1 LD | 14.8 | 9 | 2022 HT2 | 2022-May-30 | 11.9 LD | 15.7 | 229 | 2020 DA4 | 2022-Jun-01 | 5.5 LD | 8.9 | 26 | 2021 GT2 | 2022-Jun-06 | 9.5 LD | 7.5 | 50 | 2018 LU2 | 2022-Jun-09 | 14.8 LD | 10.7 | 16 | 2006 XW4 | 2022-Jun-12 | 5.9 LD | 7.3 | 49 | 2022 GU6 | 2022-Jun-12 | 3.2 LD | 8.4 | 88 | 2015 WP2 | 2022-Jun-26 | 18.5 LD | 11.4 | 3 | 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. | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere | SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements. Latest results (Nov. 2021): Our balloons have just measured a sudden drop in atmospheric radiation. It happened during the strong geomagnetic storms of Nov. 3-4, 2021. Here are the data: This is called a "Forbush decrease," named after American physicist Scott Forbush who studied cosmic rays in the early 20th century. It happens when a CME from the sun sweeps past Earth and literally pushes cosmic rays away from our planet. Radiation from deep space that would normally pepper Earth's upper atmosphere is briefly wiped out. We have measured Forbush decreases before. For example, here's one from Sept. 2014. The Forbush Decrease of Nov. 3-4, 2021, was the deepest in the history of our 7-year atmospheric monitoring program. Radiation levels in the stratosphere over California dropped nearly 20%, more than doubling the previous record from our dataset. En route to the stratosphere, our sensors also pass through aviation altitudes, so we can sample radiation where planes fly. This plot shows how the Forbush decrease was restricted to the stratosphere; it did not affect lower levels of the atmosphere: The dose rates shown above are expressed as multiples of sea level. For instance, we see that boarding a plane that flies at 25,000 feet exposes passengers to dose rates ~10x higher than sea level. At 40,000 feet, the multiplier is closer to 50x. The higher you fly, the more radiation you will absorb. .Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. Somewhat more controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) link cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. .Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners. Data points in the first graph ("Stratospheric Radiation") correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today. | The official U.S. government space weather bureau | | The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. | | Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. | | 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory | | Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. | | information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | the underlying science of space weather | | Going above and beyond to provide the best homes listings in the Comox real estate market to keep you up to date and informed | | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings. 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