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NO CMES ARE HEADING OUR WAY: For the past three days, the sun has emitted a non-stop fusillade of solar flares. Yet no CMEs are heading our way. Why not? The source of the explosions, sunspot AR3234, was not facing Earth. This is about to change, however, as the the sun's rotation turns the sunspot more directly toward our planet. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SUNSPOT EVOLUTION: Active sunspot AR3234 is not only turning toward Earth, but also growing. This 48-hour movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows AR3234 quadrupling in size as it comes around the solar limb:
AR3234 has a beta-gamma magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M-class solar flares. Any eruptions in the days ahead will be geoeffective as the sunspot lines up with our planet. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SUNSET SKY SHOW: "Last night, we saw a spectacular scene in the evening sky," reports Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland. "The young Moon was approaching Venus and Jupiter, forming a bright triangle in the sunset sky. Even random people stopped and took pictures."
Hours after Nikodem photographed the Moon approaching Jupiter, the two bodies "kissed" over South America.
"Here in Santiago, Chile, we were favoured with an incredible show," says Patricio Leon, who caught Jupiter arcseconds away from the lunar limb:
"The pair was only 12° above the horizon so the turbulence was quite noticeable, but I managed to get a good picture," says Leon. "The last occultation of Jupiter I saw was a long time ago back in 1998, so I really enjoyed this one!"
The show continues tonight with a nearly-vertical Moon-Jupiter-Venus line in the sky. Look west at sunset, and submit your pictures here. Sky map: Feb 23.
more images: from Hari Kumar of Trivandrum, India; from Daniele Gasparri of Nellim, Finland; from Petr Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava) in Thoddoo, Maldives; from Peter Zimnikoval of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; from Marko Posavec of Virje, Croatia
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SOLAR ECLIPSE CRYSTAL PYRAMID: On Aug. 21, 2017, during the Great American Solar Eclipse, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched 11 space weather balloons from the path of totality. The armada soared into the stratosphere, touching the shadow of the Moon more than 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. This pyramid hitched a ride:
You can have it for $159.95. With the sun, Earth, and Moon perfectly aligned, the faces of the 5-sided crystal caught the reflection of the eclipsed sun. Watch the video! The pyramid comes with a gift card showing the crystal floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere and passing through the Moon's shadow. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight and confirms that this gift has been to the edge of space and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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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 Feb 23 2023, the network reported 2 fireballs.
(2 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 February 23, 2023 there were 2331 potentially hazardous asteroids.
|
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
2023 CC1 | 2023-Feb-18 | 15 LD | 12.2 | 41 |
2023 DN | 2023-Feb-18 | 2.6 LD | 6.2 | 20 |
2023 CS2 | 2023-Feb-18 | 4.3 LD | 7.6 | 9 |
2023 DH | 2023-Feb-18 | 6.6 LD | 4.9 | 11 |
2023 CE2 | 2023-Feb-18 | 13.6 LD | 16.1 | 28 |
2023 CH1 | 2023-Feb-18 | 7.6 LD | 7.5 | 17 |
2023 CW | 2023-Feb-18 | 6.7 LD | 7.6 | 26 |
2020 CX1 | 2023-Feb-19 | 17.4 LD | 7.7 | 53 |
2023 DC | 2023-Feb-20 | 8.6 LD | 7.8 | 12 |
2023 CR2 | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.2 LD | 17.3 | 21 |
2023 DJ | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.6 LD | 12.4 | 75 |
2023 DF | 2023-Feb-21 | 4.3 LD | 9.8 | 14 |
37638 | 2023-Feb-21 | 17 LD | 11.1 | 493 |
2023 AA2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 17.4 LD | 10.1 | 133 |
2023 CM2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 2.1 LD | 11.2 | 22 |
2023 DE | 2023-Feb-22 | 8.6 LD | 16.9 | 25 |
2023 CS1 | 2023-Feb-23 | 15.1 LD | 9.1 | 31 |
2023 DK | 2023-Feb-25 | 6.6 LD | 4 | 9 |
2023 CG1 | 2023-Feb-25 | 15.2 LD | 6.5 | 32 |
2023 DA | 2023-Feb-26 | 2.8 LD | 5.9 | 18 |
2023 CX2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 7.6 LD | 2.3 | 11 |
2023 CC2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 16.2 LD | 5.1 | 31 |
2012 DK31 | 2023-Feb-27 | 12.6 LD | 15.5 | 143 |
2006 BE55 | 2023-Feb-28 | 9.4 LD | 13.3 | 145 |
2021 QW | 2023-Mar-03 | 13.9 LD | 12.1 | 79 |
2017 BM123 | 2023-Mar-03 | 12.1 LD | 7.8 | 61 |
2007 ED125 | 2023-Mar-03 | 11.7 LD | 13.1 | 224 |
2015 EG | 2023-Mar-04 | 13.9 LD | 10.6 | 27 |
2023 BK5 | 2023-Mar-05 | 17.8 LD | 8.4 | 62 |
535844 | 2023-Mar-07 | 10.5 LD | 7.7 | 149 |
2020 FQ | 2023-Mar-09 | 14 LD | 6.3 | 13 |
2020 FV4 | 2023-Mar-13 | 17.6 LD | 8.2 | 30 |
2023 CM | 2023-Mar-14 | 10.3 LD | 14 | 190 |
2023 DM | 2023-Mar-15 | 8.5 LD | 7.4 | 65 |
2018 UQ1 | 2023-Mar-17 | 10.7 LD | 11.7 | 143 |
2016 WH | 2023-Mar-19 | 18.1 LD | 11.8 | 14 |
2018 FE3 | 2023-Mar-21 | 10.1 LD | 5.4 | 13 |
2023 CE4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 20 LD | 10.1 | 93 |
2022 YK4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 11.9 LD | 2.3 | 25 |
2017 SE12 | 2023-Mar-30 | 5.2 LD | 8.4 | 15 |
2016 GH1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 7.7 LD | 5.8 | 11 |
2022 GO3 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17 LD | 11.6 | 15 |
2021 GN1 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17.7 LD | 14.2 | 18 |
2018 FD | 2023-Apr-07 | 17.9 LD | 8.2 | 47 |
2019 GK21 | 2023-Apr-13 | 15.2 LD | 8.1 | 27 |
2022 YK9 | 2023-Apr-13 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 175 |
436774 | 2023-Apr-13 | 12.5 LD | 17.6 | 719 |
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. | 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 (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, 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. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking 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 graph labeled "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 |
| current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page |
| Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| 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 |
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