|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
velocity: 635.7 km/s
density:0.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C4 2045 UT Jun20
24-hr: C4 2325 UT Jun19
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 20 Jun '01 
Active regions 9503 and 9506 have a twisted beta-gamma magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
The Far Side of the Sun
This holographic image reveals no substantial sunspot groups on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot Number: 222
More about sunspots
Updated: 19 Jun 2001
Radio Meteor Rate
24 hr max: 53 per hr
Listen to the Meteor Radar!
Updated: 19 Jun 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.0 nT
Bz: 0.6 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT Coronal Holes:
A small coronal hole is emerging near the Sun's east limb. Image credit: Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope.
More about coronal holes
 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 2001 Jun 20 2200 UT
| FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | | CLASS M | 40 % | 40 % | | CLASS X | 10 % | 10 % |
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2001 Jun 20 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 25 % | 20 % | | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % |
High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 30 % | 25 % | | MINOR | 15 % | 10 % | | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % |
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| What's Up in Space -- 20 Jun 2001
Subscribe to Space Weather News! STAY TUNED: During tomorrow's total eclipse of the Sun (see below) SpaceWeather.com will post images of the event transmitted by NASA scientists in Lusaka, Zambia, as well as thermometer readings from the path of totality -- where the temperature drops as the Moon's shadow sweeps by! Tune in between 5:30 and 7:00 am PDT (1230 - 1400 UT) on June 21st to see the show.  SOLAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers in south Africa Thursday are in for a treat when the New Moon passes in front of the Sun and produces a dazzling solar eclipse. Our star's ghostly corona will spring into view -- shimmering and dancing across the sky for nearly 4 minutes. Dedicated eclipse-chasers say it's a mind-blowing experience.
During the precious minutes of totality, the Sun will no longer be the brightest object in the sky. The planet Jupiter, only 5 degrees from the Sun, will take over that job. "Jupiter will be bright enough to knock your socks off," says astronomer Jay Pasachoff from Zambia. "Mercury will also be readily visible."  Right: This June 20th SOHO coronagraph image previews what African sky watchers might see during totality: bright Jupiter shining through the Sun's dynamic corona. A 300 kb animation shows three coronal mass ejections recorded earlier today.
Thursday's eclipse takes place with our star very near the peak of its 11-year activity cycle. As a result there's a good chance sky watchers in the path of totality will glimpse something truly rare: a coronal mass ejection (a many-billion ton cloud of gas, or "CME") billowing through the corona and away from the Sun. SOHO coronagraphs record CMEs all the time, but this could be the first time in recorded history that humans view such an eruption with their unaided eyes. See also:  AURORAS: A dense interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere on June 18th and lit up the midnight skies above North America with shimmering auroras. The disturbance began its journey toward Earth last Friday when a coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from the Sun. Although that CME was not Earth-directed, the expanding cloud generated a "bow shock" as it plowed through the gaseous interplanetary medium, and that bow shock struck our planet's magnetic field.
Above: The Planetary K-index rose to storm levels on June 18th. THE BIGGEST EXPLOSIONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM: NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares. [full story] WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | 
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. [more]
On 20 Jun 2001 there were 310 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids May-June 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters | ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | | 2001 JV1 | 2001-Jun-06 07:53 | 18.0 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. 
- TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
- LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]
 Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar at the Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet. Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun. Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001. Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights" Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |
