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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 407.6 km/sec
density: 10.4 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0004 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C4
2342 UT Apr04
24-hr: M5
2033 UT Apr 02
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2359 UT
Daily Sun: 04 Apr 17
Sunspots AR2644 and AR2645 have delta-class magnetic fields that harbor energy for strong M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 97
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 Apr 2017

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2017 total: 27 days (29%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
2015 total: 0 days (0%)

2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)

Updated 04 Apr 2017


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 108 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 04 Apr 2017

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 5
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 9.1 nT
Bz: 2.5 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0004 UT
Coronal Holes: 04 Apr 17

There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: NASA/SDO.
Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds began on Nov. 17, 2016. Come back to this spot every day to see the "daily daisy" from NASA's AIM spacecraft, which is monitoring the dance of electric-blue around the Antarctic Circle.
Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar
Updated at: 02-24-2017 17:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2017 Apr 04 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
35 %
20 %
CLASS X
15 %
05 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2017 Apr 04 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
15 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
20 %
SEVERE
20 %
20 %
 
Tuesday, Apr. 4, 2017
What's up in space
       
 

Directly under the Arctic Circle! Marianne's Arctic Xpress in Tromsø offers fjord, whale and wildlife tours by day, aurora tours by night. Email Marianne for bookings and availability.

 

MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Beating low probabilities of magnetic activity, a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm erupted on April 4th, sparking bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. "I enjoyed the show with my kitty," says Ayumi Bakken, who sends this picture from Fairbanks, Alaska:

This unexpected storm started when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tipped south. This opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere.  Solar wind poured in to fuel the display.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

WHERE WILL THE NEXT FLARE COME FROM? Today, there are two sunspots that pose a threat for strong flares: AR2644 and AR2645. Both have unstable delta-class magnetic fields that harbor energy for M- and X-class explosions. Their locations are circled in this April 4th image of the sun from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Sunspot AR2644 is of special interest. Since the month began, it has produced more than half-a-dozen M-class solar flares, with an equal number of shortwave radio blackouts on Earth. Moreover, this sunspot is magnetically well-connected to Earth. Look at this diagram. Magnetic fields spiraling back from AR2644's location on the sun's western limb lead almost directly to our planet. If AR2644 explodes today, energetic particles accelerated by the blast could be funneled toward Earth, producing a radiation storm above Earth's atmosphere.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class flares and a 25% chance of X-flares on April 4th. Free: Solar Flare Alerts

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

ACCIDENTAL SATELLITE SPOTTED: Last Thursday, astronauts spacewalking outside the International Space Station (ISS) had an accident. Just as they were about to install a fabric shield to protect a portion of the station from micrometeoroid impacts ... oops ... the un-tethered shield floated away. On April 3rd, Marco Langbroek of Leiden, the Netherlands, spotted the accidental satellite zipping through the Big Dipper:

"The shield was 1 minute in front of the ISS when I made this image using my Canon EOS 60D digital camera," says Langbroek. "The two bright stars are kappa and iota Uma. "

Weighing about 18 pounds, the 3-inch thick shield measures 5 feet long by 2 feet wide. That's how much of the space station's surface was left exposed to micrometeoroid impacts. No problem. An article in the Washington Post describes how engineers at Mission Control brainstormed a replacement shield using supplies readily available on the ISS.

The stray shield poses no threat to its mother ship.  NASA says it is moving away from the ISS and already starting to experience orbital drag. "It will probably re-enter Earth's atmosphere in late summer of 2017," notes Langbroek.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

FLIGHT OF THE EASTERNAUTS: Looking for an Easter gift for a young scientist? Submitted for your consideration: The Easternauts. On March 2nd, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a payload-full of Easter bunnies to the edge of space--and you can have one for $39.95. (Space helmet included!)

Carried aloft by a giant helium balloon, these plush bunnies went on a hare-raising journey more than 113,000 feet above Earth's surface. They encountered temperatures as low as -63 C and cosmic ray dose rates more than 100 times Earth normal. Each bunny comes with a greeting card showing the Easternaut in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.

More far-out gifts may be found in the Earth to Sky store. All proceeds support STEM education and our atmospheric cosmic ray monitoring program. 


Realtime Comet 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 Apr. 4, 2017, the network reported 14 fireballs.
(14 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 April 4, 2017 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2017 FU102
Apr 2
0.6 LD
8 m
2017 FQ127
Apr 3
2 LD
26 m
2017 FT102
Apr 3
1 LD
6 m
2017 EB3
Apr 4
13.8 LD
43 m
2017 GM
Apr 4
0.04 LD
5 m
2017 FA102
Apr 4
14.2 LD
35 m
2017 FQ91
Apr 4
14.9 LD
39 m
2017 FM101
Apr 4
7 LD
20 m
2017 FX101
Apr 5
9.9 LD
39 m
2017 DC38
Apr 5
14.6 LD
54 m
2017 FO127
Apr 6
11.2 LD
18 m
2017 FU64
Apr 6
3.7 LD
73 m
2017 FW128
Apr 6
5.2 LD
15 m
2017 FN101
Apr 7
10.3 LD
48 m
2017 FS102
Apr 7
7.7 LD
17 m
2017 GT4
Apr 9
3.5 LD
21 m
2017 GP4
Apr 12
11.5 LD
27 m
2017 FF128
Apr 13
6.7 LD
33 m
2017 GO4
Apr 15
13.7 LD
41 m
2003 BD44
Apr 18
21.7 LD
1.9 km
2014 JO25
Apr 19
4.6 LD
1.0 km
1999 CU3
Apr 19
63.7 LD
1.9 km
2017 GM4
Apr 20
13.1 LD
175 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.
  Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere

Readers, thank you for your patience while we continue to develop this new section of Spaceweather.com. We've been working to streamline our data reduction, allowing us to post results from balloon flights much more rapidly, and we have developed a new data product, shown here:

This plot displays radiation measurements not only in the stratosphere, but also at aviation altitudes. Dose rates are expessed 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. These measurements are made by our usual cosmic ray payload as it passes through aviation altitudes en route to the stratosphere over California.

What is this all about? Approximately 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 radiation sensors that detect cosmic rays, a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. Cosmic rays can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. Furthermore, there are studies ( #1, #2, #3, #4) linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in the general population. Our latest measurements show that cosmic rays are intensifying, with an increase of more than 12% since 2015:


Why are cosmic rays intensifying? The main reason is the sun. Solar storm clouds such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays when they pass by Earth. During Solar Maximum, CMEs are abundant and cosmic rays are held at bay. Now, however, the solar cycle is swinging toward Solar Minimum, allowing cosmic rays to return. Another reason could be the weakening of Earth's magnetic field, which helps protect us from deep-space radiation.

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.

The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Reneger-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 Reneger and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.

  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
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NOAA 27-Day Space Weather Forecasts
  fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong.
Aurora 30 min forecast
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
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