| | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 2 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled explanation | more data Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 3.0 nT Bz: 0.1 nT north more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 2345 UT Coronal Holes: 11 Apr 22 Solar wind flowing from this equatorial coronal hole should reach Earth on April 11-12. Credit: SDO/AIA Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds is over. It ended on Feb. 20, 2022, concluding the weakest NLC season in 14 years. The northern season will begin in late May.. Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated at: SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2022 Apr 11 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 01 % | 01 % | 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: 2022 Apr 11 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 01 % | 01 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 20 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 20 % | 20 % | | | | | | | | | | | | Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when auroras appear in your area. Aurora tour guides and professional astronomers use this service. Now you can, too! | | | SCRAMBLED RADIO TRANSMISSIONS: Yesterday's strong geomagnetic storm scrambled HF radio transmissions in North America. Jim Falls (K6FWT) of Eureka, CA, reports: "When the geomagnetic storm alert arrived, I went out to my Ham Shack and listened to Morse code and digital signals in the 80 meter band fighting their way through the storm. They have a particular warbly sound distinctive of trans-aurora propagation; some say it sounds like it's bubbling up through water. Very cool!" Next time, Fall says, he will make a recording for us. Stay tuned. DEAD SUNSPOT EXPLODES (UPDATED): The corpse of old sunspot AR2987 exploded today, April 11th, hurling debris directly toward Earth. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the eruption: The S-shaped magnetic filament at the base of the explosion is a classic "sigmoid structure." Solar magnetic fields often assume this shape just before they explode. One study shows that sigmoid precursors are present in over 50% of CMEs. Indeed, shortly after the explosion, a full-halo CME emerged from the blast site. Here it is. The CME is expected to reach Earth on April 14th; a new NOAA model pinpoints its arrival time at 1100 UTC. The impact could spark a G2-class geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: SMS Text Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter STEVE APPEARS DURING GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A surprise geomagnetic storm on April 10th sparked auroras across Canada and many northern-tier US states. Upon closer inspection, not all the lights were auroras. "STEVE was there, too," reports Harlan Thomas, who sends this picture from Station Flats in Alberta, Canada: STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) is a purple band of light that appears during some geomagnetic storms. It looks like an aurora, but it is not. The purple glow is caused by hot (3000°C) ribbons of gas flowing through Earth’s magnetosphere at speeds exceeding 6 km/s (13,000 mph). "This was the brightest STEVE that I have seen," says Thomas. "It was so bright it overcame a 22-degree halo around the moon!" Rocky Raybell of Keller, Washington, saw it, too. For reasons researchers don't fully understand, STEVE comes out most often around equinoxes--that is, now. We can expect to see more of him in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned. Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter OCEAN BLUE CRYSTAL DOLPHIN PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the Ocean Blue Crystal Dolphin Pendant. It flew to the stratosphere on April 8th onboard a cosmic ray research balloon: You can have it for $172.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling these crystal cetaceans to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. The dolphin is wrapped in a sterling silver wave and suspended from a matching 18-inch chain. It contains no nickel, no lead, no cadmium; the pendant is totally hypoallergenic. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the dolphin in flight, and telling the story of its trip to the edge of space and back again. Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store All sales support hands-on STEM education Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter 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 Apr 10, 2022, the network reported 3 fireballs. (3 sporadics) 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 April 11, 2022 there were 2273 potentially hazardous asteroids. | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | 2022 GN1 | 2022-Apr-06 | 0.3 LD | 15.5 | 10 | 2022 GZ1 | 2022-Apr-06 | 0.6 LD | 11.2 | 6 | 2022 GA2 | 2022-Apr-07 | 1 LD | 8.1 | 5 | 2022 GO | 2022-Apr-07 | 15 LD | 9.6 | 26 | 2022 GQ1 | 2022-Apr-07 | 0.6 LD | 7.8 | 9 | 2022 GP1 | 2022-Apr-07 | 4.5 LD | 6.6 | 16 | 2022 GR3 | 2022-Apr-07 | 2.7 LD | 11.9 | 9 | 2022 GM3 | 2022-Apr-07 | 7.9 LD | 7.3 | 16 | 2022 GC4 | 2022-Apr-07 | 6.4 LD | 6.4 | 13 | 2022 GQ3 | 2022-Apr-07 | 4.1 LD | 10 | 11 | 2022 GP | 2022-Apr-08 | 2.3 LD | 17.6 | 19 | 2022 GX | 2022-Apr-08 | 3.8 LD | 12.9 | 13 | 2022 GG2 | 2022-Apr-08 | 1.9 LD | 5.5 | 6 | 2022 GK2 | 2022-Apr-08 | 4 LD | 25 | 26 | 2022 GK4 | 2022-Apr-09 | 7.4 LD | 5.4 | 11 | 2022 GT | 2022-Apr-09 | 12.4 LD | 4.9 | 16 | 2022 GY1 | 2022-Apr-09 | 6.8 LD | 10.5 | 36 | 2022 GF3 | 2022-Apr-09 | 0.6 LD | 17.4 | 9 | 2022 FU4 | 2022-Apr-09 | 8.3 LD | 4.7 | 13 | 2022 GV2 | 2022-Apr-09 | 8.1 LD | 7.8 | 9 | 2022 GV3 | 2022-Apr-10 | 16.9 LD | 5.2 | 15 | 2022 GE2 | 2022-Apr-10 | 12.1 LD | 9.1 | 15 | 2022 GW2 | 2022-Apr-10 | 7.7 LD | 7.7 | 9 | 2020 GH1 | 2022-Apr-10 | 17.7 LD | 7.2 | 28 | 2022 GN3 | 2022-Apr-10 | 1.1 LD | 7.3 | 6 | 2022 FT3 | 2022-Apr-10 | 19.8 LD | 11 | 23 | 2022 GO2 | 2022-Apr-10 | 3 LD | 9 | 10 | 2017 TO2 | 2022-Apr-10 | 17.9 LD | 11.6 | 78 | 2022 GG3 | 2022-Apr-11 | 1.5 LD | 11.4 | 6 | 363599 | 2022-Apr-12 | 19.3 LD | 24.5 | 221 | 2022 GU2 | 2022-Apr-12 | 4.8 LD | 11.8 | 18 | 2022 GD3 | 2022-Apr-12 | 8.1 LD | 8.6 | 42 | 2022 GP3 | 2022-Apr-13 | 17.1 LD | 7.5 | 18 | 2022 GM4 | 2022-Apr-13 | 1.5 LD | 23.1 | 13 | 2022 GS3 | 2022-Apr-13 | 2.8 LD | 9.7 | 50 | 2022 GL4 | 2022-Apr-14 | 2.9 LD | 13.6 | 15 | 2022 FR3 | 2022-Apr-14 | 18.3 LD | 8.4 | 93 | 2022 GR2 | 2022-Apr-16 | 10.4 LD | 26.6 | 72 | 2022 GL3 | 2022-Apr-16 | 2.1 LD | 5.4 | 13 | 2020 TQ6 | 2022-Apr-18 | 13.4 LD | 15.4 | 43 | 2022 GJ4 | 2022-Apr-18 | 3.8 LD | 15.5 | 19 | 2022 FN3 | 2022-Apr-19 | 15.1 LD | 6.3 | 40 | 2022 GU3 | 2022-Apr-22 | 4.5 LD | 8.7 | 25 | 2017 UR2 | 2022-Apr-22 | 19.4 LD | 9.3 | 10 | 2020 VN1 | 2022-Apr-25 | 19.3 LD | 2.3 | 9 | 418135 | 2022-Apr-28 | 8.5 LD | 10.4 | 443 | 2017 XO2 | 2022-May-01 | 18.8 LD | 12.4 | 118 | 2017 HG1 | 2022-May-04 | 18.2 LD | 6 | 11 | 467460 | 2022-May-09 | 14.9 LD | 11.3 | 513 | 2019 JE | 2022-May-11 | 4.9 LD | 7.2 | 20 | 2012 UX68 | 2022-May-15 | 2.8 LD | 8.2 | 54 | 388945 | 2022-May-15 | 15 LD | 8.2 | 287 | 2013 UX | 2022-May-17 | 16.8 LD | 16.3 | 141 | 2021 WY | 2022-May-18 | 16.9 LD | 9 | 65 | 7335 | 2022-May-27 | 10.5 LD | 13.1 | 1108 | 2021 KO2 | 2022-May-30 | 3.1 LD | 14.8 | 9 | 2020 DA4 | 2022-Jun-01 | 5.5 LD | 8.9 | 26 | 2021 GT2 | 2022-Jun-06 | 9.5 LD | 7.5 | 50 | 2018 LU2 | 2022-Jun-09 | 14.8 LD | 10.7 | 16 | 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. | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere | SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements. Latest results (Nov. 2021): Our balloons have just measured a sudden drop in atmospheric radiation. It happened during the strong geomagnetic storms of Nov. 3-4, 2021. Here are the data: This is called a "Forbush decrease," named after American physicist Scott Forbush who studied cosmic rays in the early 20th century. It happens when a CME from the sun sweeps past Earth and literally pushes cosmic rays away from our planet. Radiation from deep space that would normally pepper Earth's upper atmosphere is briefly wiped out. We have measured Forbush decreases before. For example, here's one from Sept. 2014. The Forbush Decrease of Nov. 3-4, 2021, was the deepest in the history of our 7-year atmospheric monitoring program. Radiation levels in the stratosphere over California dropped nearly 20%, more than doubling the previous record from our dataset. En route to the stratosphere, our sensors also pass through aviation altitudes, so we can sample radiation where planes fly. This plot shows how the Forbush decrease was restricted to the stratosphere; it did not affect lower levels of the atmosphere: The dose rates shown above are expressed as multiples of sea level. For instance, we see that boarding a plane that flies at 25,000 feet exposes passengers to dose rates ~10x higher than sea level. At 40,000 feet, the multiplier is closer to 50x. The higher you fly, the more radiation you will absorb. .Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. Somewhat more controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) link cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. .Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners. Data points in the first graph ("Stratospheric Radiation") correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today. | 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. | | information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | the underlying science of space weather | | Going above and beyond to provide the best homes listings in the Comox real estate market to keep you up to date and informed | | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings. 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