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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 802.1 km/s
density: 4.8 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C7 2225 UT Sep12
24-hr: M6 0900 UT Sep12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 12 Sep '05

Sunspot 798 poses a threat for strong X-flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 101
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 11 Sep 2005

Far Side of the Sun

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

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 7.4 nT
B_z: 5.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun.Image credit: NOAA Solar X-ray Imager.

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 2005 Sep 11 2222 UTC

FLARE	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
CLASS M	90 %	85 %
CLASS X	75 %	70 %

Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2005 Sep 11 2222 UTC
Mid-latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	30 %	50 %
MINOR	35 %	30 %
SEVERE	35 %	20 %

High latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	25 %	40 %
MINOR	40 %	35 %
SEVERE	35 %	25 %

What's Up in Space -- 12 Sep 2005
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Would you like a call when auroras are brewing over your hometown? Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE.

AURORA WATCH: A geomagnetic storm is underway, and it could spark auroras tonight over Canada, Alaska and northern-tier US states from Maine to Washington. Keep an eye on northern skies!

The ongoing storm, which is relatively mild, follows an intense magnetic disturbance on Sept. 11. On that night auroras were photographed as far south as Arizona:

"The brightest period was short-lived, and provided us with a deep ruby glow in the north east," says photographer Chris Schur of Payson, AZ. "Thank you SpaceWeather PHONE for the tip!"

September 11th Aurora Gallery

ACTIVE SUN: Solar activity remains high. Earth-orbiting satelites have detected seven X-class solar flares since Sept. 7th, including an X17-class monster-flare. NOAA forecasters say there's a 75% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms.

Above: "Into the maelstrom." A close-up of sunspot 798 from Alan Friedman of Buffalo, NY, on Sept. 11th.

The source of all this activity is giant sunspot 798, shown above. You can see it with the unaided eye--but never look directly at the sun. Try these safe solar observing tips.

MOVIE: On Sept. 9th, Birgit Kremer of Marbella, Spain, caught sunspot 798 in the act of exploding--and he took 47 pictures of the X6-category flare. His friend Sabine Börsch combined all the photos to create a jaw-dropping movie.

SOUNDTRACK: The same flare produced strong radio bursts. Using a 22 MHz ham rig in New Mexico, Thomas Ashcraft recorded the sounds. These slowly undulating signals, known as Type II radio bursts, are emitted by shocked gas at the leading edge of a coronal mass ejection (CME) racing away from the blast site. [more]

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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.

On 12 Sep 2005 there were 710 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

August 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters

ASTEROID	DATE (UT)	MISS DISTANCE	MAG.
1992 UY4	August 8	16 LD	12

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

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

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.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU ?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar., 2005;

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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