SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 492.2 km/s density:1.6 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2247 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C5 1945 UT Aug28 24-hr: M1 1610 UT Aug28 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 28 Aug '01 Sunspot 9591 has a twisted delta-class magnetic field and continues to pose a threat for powerful X-class solar flares. A new large sunspot is emerging on the northeast limb. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals no substantial sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 182 More about sunspots Updated: 27 Aug 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 27 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 28 Aug 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.1 nT Bz: 3.1 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2247 UT Coronal Holes: A small coronal hole is forming northeast of sunspot 9591. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV 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 Aug 28 2200 UT FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 80 % | 80 % | CLASS X | 20 % | 20 % | 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 Aug 28 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 28 Aug 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! IMPACT! An interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetosphere on Monday, August 27th, at 19:52 UT (3:52 p.m. EDT). The impact triggered only modest geomagnetic activity, and middle-latitude sky watchers did not spot auroras last night. Above: NASA's ACE spacecraft registered a sudden increase in solar wind speed at 1920 UT on August 27th. The shock wave was the leading edge of a solar coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the Sun on Saturday, August 25th, when sunspot group 9591 unleashed a powerful X5-class solar flare. The CME took two days to cross the divide between the Sun and our planet and finally reached Earth yesterday. Sunspot 9591 has a twisted magnetic field that harbors energy for more such eruptions in the days ahead. Above: This false-color movie captured by an extreme ultraviolet telescope aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory shows Saturday's explosion above sunspot 9591. LISTEN: Saturday's X5-category solar flare sparked radio emissions within the Sun's corona that were detectable from Earth. Using a 50 MHz receiver located in Lamy, New Mexico, Tom Ashcraft recorded the sounds of impulsive solar radio bursts during the flare. Select one of the following audio formats to hear a two-minute sampler: 365 kB mp3, 1.6 MB RealPlayer, or 1.3 MB wav. NEW COMET: Last weekend amateur astronomer Vance Petriew peered through the eyepiece of his telescope and saw a curious-looking smudge. Intrigued, he consulted his star charts and found ... nothing. The uncharted blob was no galaxy or nebula -- he had found a new comet! Haul out your telescopes and see Comet Petriew for yourself as it glides through the early morning sky in the weeks ahead. [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. On 28 Aug 2001 there were 316 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids August 2001 Earth-asteroid encountersNotes: 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. - PERSEIDS 2001: Perseid watchers on August 12th spotted meteors, auroras, and a disintegrating Russian rocket! [gallery]
- MORNING PLANETS: In July and Aug. 2001, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury put on a dazzling early-morning sky show. [gallery]
- C/2001 A2 (LINEAR): This volatile comet is still visible through small telescopes as it recedes from Earth. [gallery]
- ECLIPSE SAFARI: Onlookers cried out in delight on June 21, 2001, when the Moon covered the African Sun, revealing the dazzling corona. [gallery]
- 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]
July 27, 2001: Meteorites Don't Pop Corn -- A fireball that dazzled Americans on July 23rd probably didn't scorch any cornfields, contrary to widespread reports. June 12, 2001: The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System -- NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares. Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar, NASA 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 |