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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: 386.2 km/s
density:
5.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2256 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B2 2130 UT Aug12
24-hr: B2 2130 UT Aug12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 12 Aug '06

Sunspot 904 poses a threat for M-class solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 39
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 11 Aug 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.4 nT
Bz:
0.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2257 UT

Coronal Holes:

There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun today. 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 2006 Aug 12 2203 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 2006 Aug 12 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 15 % 15 %
MINOR 05 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

What's Up in Space -- 12 Aug 2006
Subscribe to Space Weather News

Did you miss the aurora surprise of August 7th? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

PERSEID METEORS: This weekend, Earth is passing through the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, and all those little specks of comet dust are turning into Perseid meteors. Look for shooting stars tonight. The best time: between sunset and about 11 PM.

On Friday night, Thad V'Soske photographed this Perseid streaking over the Colorado National Monument:

"It took an exceptional Perseid to compete with the bright moonlight," says V'Soske. "Fortunately, my camera was in position to capture its demise."

2006 Perseid Meteor Gallery

SUNSPOT 904: Every time you look, it's less familiar. Sunspot 904 is growing and changing shape at a remarkable rate. At the moment it resembles a dumbbell with planet-sized weights: movie.

Above: Yesterday, using his Personal Solar Telescope, amateur astronomer Pete Lawrence caught sunspot 904 in the act of flaring--just a small C-class explosion. The sunspot's magnetic field harbors energy for much stronger M-class flares that may provide even better photo-ops in the days ahead.

more images: from Greg Piepol of Rockville, Md; from Dennis Simmons of Brisbane, QLD, Australia; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from John A Blackwell of Northwood, New Hampshire.

Talk about the sun: Solar Chat



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 12 Aug 2006 there were 800 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

July 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
2004 XP14

Jul 3

1.1 LD

12

600 m
2006 BQ6

Jul 29

14 LD

16

500 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

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.

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; 2005; Jan-Mar 2006;

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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