Learn to photograph Northern Lights like a pro. Sign up for Peter Rosen's Aurora Photo Courses in Abisko National Park, winner of the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award 2015. | | | (ALMOST NO) CHANCE OF FLARES: There are only two small sunspots on the Earth-facing side of the sun, and neither one has the type of unstable magnetic field that harbors energy for strong explosions. NOAA forecasters estimate a scant 1% chance of M- or X-type solar flares on Aug. 16th. Solar flare alerts: text or voice WEEKEND GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Arriving a full day earlier than expected, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field on August 15th (~0800 UT). The impact triggered a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm and bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. South-pointing magnetic fields in the wake of the CME have kept the storm going, at lower levels, for more than 24 hours. Christian Begeman sends this picture, taken during the early hours of Aug. 16th, from Pickerel Lake, South Dakota: "I was lucky enough to catch this display over the Zoar Church just before some storm clouds rolled in and obstructed my view," says Begeman. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% to 60% chance of continued intermittent storms on Aug. 16-17. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. The hours around local midnight are usually the best time to look. Aurora alerts: text or voice Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery SPRITES AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: We all know what comes out of the bottom of thunderclouds: lightning. But rarely do we see what comes out of the top. On August 10th, astronauts onboard the International Space Station were perfectly positioned to observe red sprites dancing atop a cluster of storms in Mexico. They snapped this incredible photo: This shows just how high sprites can go. The photo shows their red forms reaching all the way from the thunderstorm below to a layer of green airglow some 100 km above Earth's surface. This means sprites touch the edge of space, alongside auroras, meteors and noctilucent clouds. They are a true space weather phenomenon. Although sprites have been seen for at least a century, most scientists did not believe they existed until after 1989 when sprites were photographed by cameras onboard the space shuttle. Now "sprite chasers" regularly photograph the upward bolts from their own homes. Give it a try! Realtime Sprite Photo Gallery HAPPY BIRTHDAY AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: Photographer Annika Ebbinghaus turned 30 today, Aug. 15th--and what better way to celebrate than with an Edge of Space Birthday Card? Here she is 111,000 feet above Earth's surface: "Happy birthday Annika!" says her mother, Adelheid Ebbinghaus, who made a generous donation to Earth to Sky Calculus to fly the card. "You are my sunshine…, and I love you so much!" Annika is starting a new career as a photographer (heavenlyphotography@web.de). She is starting at the top! Realtime Venus Photo Gallery Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Realtime NLC Photo Gallery 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 Aug. 16, 2015, the network reported 54 fireballs. (40 sporadics, 12 Perseids, 1 Southern iota Aquariid, 1 Southern delta Aquariid) 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 August 16, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids. 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. | 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. | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | the underlying science of space weather | | Web-based high school science course with free enrollment | |