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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 326.4 km/sec
density: 0.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
1910 UT Sep19
24-hr: B2
0730 UT Sep19
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 19 Sept 10
There is a small chance of C-class solar flares from sunspot 1108. Credit: SDO/HMI. Resolutions: 4096, 1024, 512
Sunspot number: 42
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 18 Sep 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 41 days (16%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 809 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days
explanation | more info
Updated 18 Sep 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 82 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 18 Sep 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.2 nT
Bz: 1.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 19 Sept 10
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth around Sept. 22nd. Credit: SDO/AIA
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Sep 19 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
10 %
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: 2010 Sep 19 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
20 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
25 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
 
Sunday, Sep. 19, 2010
What's up in space
 

iPHONE VS ANDROID! Actually, it doesn't matter which phone you carry. Our cool, new app turns both smartphones into field-tested satellite trackers. Learn more.

 

SPACE STATION RADAR ECHO: The US Air Force Space Surveillance Radar is scanning the skies above the USA for Earth-orbiting objects. Today, Sept. 19th at 16:09 UT, the International Space Station flew through the radar's primary beam, producing a strong echo. Click here to listen. Because the ISS is traveling at 17,000 mph, the echo sounds Doppler-shifted like the whistle of a moving train. The next favorable radar pass occurs on Sept. 24 at 2142 UT. Stay tuned for live ISS echoes on SpaceWeather Radio.

POLAR ERUPTION: This morning, Sept. 19th around 0200 UT, magnetic fields around the sun's north pole became unstable and erupted. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action:

This was an "empty eruption"--it did not hurl a significant cloud of plasma away from the blast site. Even if it had, Earth would not be in the line of fire.

This event shows that sunspots are not required for explosions on the sun. Sunspots are rare at the sun's poles (indeed, a polar sunspot has never been observed) and there was no sunspot at the base of this eruption. Even when sunspots are absent, the solar disk is festooned with twisted, writhing magnetic filaments that can become unstable and erupt at any time. The sun's underlying magnetism drives many forms of space weather: X-ray flares, coronal mass ejections, solar tsunamis. Add spotless polar blasts to the list!

more solar images: from Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland; from John Stetson of Portland, Maine; from Steve Riegel of Albuquerque, New Mexico; from Wah! of Hong Kong; from Jo Dahlmans of Ulestraten, the Netherlands; from John Minnerath of Crowheart, Wyoming; from Peter Desypris of Island of Syros, Greece; from Francisco A. Rodriguez Ramirez of Cabreja Mountain Observatory, Canary Islands;

JUPITER OVER MT. WILSON: With Jupiter approaching Earth for one of the closest encounters in decades, telescopes around the world are turning toward the giant planet. Here is the view from Mt. Wilson on Sept. 18th:

The bright light in the sky is Jupiter. The blue-white scaffolding is the exoskeleton of the historic 60-inch telescope, the largest telescope in the world available for public viewing. Astrophotographer Alan Friedman was at the controls.

"I took this picture of Jupiter," says Friedman. "Mt. Wilson is a magical location where so much of modern astronomy history was written. I spent three nights observing on the 60-inch and the 16-inch--a truly magical adventure!"

Fortunately, you don't need a famous behemoth telescope for a good view of Jupiter this week. The giant planet won't be this close again until 2022, and it looks great in amateur telescopes. Point your optics toward the bright "star" in the midnight sky for an eyeful of Jupiter's moons, cloud belts and swirling storms. Science@NASA has the full story.


Sept. 2010 Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Septembers: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001, 2000]

  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 September 19, 2010 there were 1145 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 RF12
Sep 8
0.2 LD
28
9 m
2010 RJ53
Sep 9
8 LD
24
69 m
2010 RS80
Sep 9
2.2 LD
26
23 m
2010 RM82
Sep 10
2.2 LD
26
31 m
2009 SH2
Sep 30
7.1 LD
25
45 m
1998 UO1
Oct 1
32.1 LD
17
2.1 km
2005 GE59
Oct 1
77 LD
18
1.1 km
2001 WN5
Oct 10
41.8 LD
18
1.0 km
1999 VO6
Oct 14
34.3 LD
17
1.8 km
1998 TU3
Oct 17
69.1 LD
15
5.3 km
1998 MQ
Oct 23
77.7 LD
17
1.9 km
2007 RU17
Oct 29
40.6 LD
18
1.0 km
2003 UV11
Oct 30
5 LD
19
595 m
3838 Epona
Nov 7
76.8 LD
16
3.4 km
2005 QY151
Nov 16
77.7 LD
18
1.3 km
2008 KT
Nov 23
5.6 LD
28
10 m
2002 EZ16
Nov 30
73.9 LD
18
1.0 km
2000 JH5
Dec 7
47 LD
17
1.5 km
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.
  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
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
 
 
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