SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
speed: km/s
density: protons/cm3
explanation
| more
data
Updated: Today at UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: UT
24-hr: UT
explanation
| more
data
Updated:
Today at UT
Daily
Sun: 23 Aug '02
Sunspot 69 has a delta-class
magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class
solar flares. Sunspot 83 is a potential source of M-class flares.
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:
More
about sunspots
Updated:
Coronal
Holes:
There are no substantial coronal holes on the Earth-facing side
of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.
More about coronal holes
Interplanetary Mag.
Field
Btotal:
nT
Bz: nT
explanation
| more data
Updated: Today at UT
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
FLARE |
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
CLASS M |
% |
% |
CLASS X |
% |
% |
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities
for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given
for three activity levels: active,
minor storm, severe
storm
Updated
at
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
ACTIVE |
% |
% |
MINOR |
% |
% |
SEVERE |
% |
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
ACTIVE |
% |
% |
MINOR |
% |
% |
SEVERE |
% |
% |
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SOLAR BLAST: Twisted
magnetic fields above sunspot 69 erupted this morning at 0110
UT, sparking
an X3-class solar flare
and hurling a bright coronal mass ejection (CME, pictured right)
into space. If the eruption had happened one week ago when the
sunspot was facing Earth, the CME would have struck our planet.
Now, though, sunspot 69 is near the Sun's western
limb, so the expanding cloud will mostly miss. Even so, sky
watchers should be alert for auroras this weekend. An S3-class
radiation storm is in progress as a result of the explosion.
Above: These SOHO images spanning
August 12th - 24th show giant sunspot 69 crossing the Sun.
NORTHERN LIGHTS: Last week was a good
one for auroras. A pair of coronal mass ejections swept past
Earth on Aug. 15th and 18th, then the
interplanetary magnetic field turned south on Aug.
20th. All three events stirred geomagnetic activity. Visit our
gallery and see what happened
in the skies of Europe and North America.
Above: Photographer Dominic Cantin saw the sky over
Quebec turn purple on August 19th during a geomagnetic storm.
[more]
NEARBY ASTEROID: Asteroid
2002 NY40
came so
close
to Earth on August 18th that people could see it through binoculars
or small telescopes. Visit our gallery for the latest images
and videos.
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
there
were 453 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids
August 2002
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.
- PERSIEDS
2002:
Sky watchers spotted plenty
of bright shooting stars--including some colorful earthgrazers--during
the 2002
Perseid
meteor shower. [gallery]
- AURORA SURPRISE: An unexpected geomagnetic storm began
on August 1st as night fell across North America. Sky watchers
spotted vivid
auroras
over both the United States and Canada.
- CRESCENT
SUN: The June
10th solar eclipse is long over, but new pictures of the event keep
appearing. Visit our growing photo
gallery
and see for yourself. There are strange shadows, weird sunsets,
eclipse dogs, crescent-eyed turkeys and extraordinary rings of
fire. [more]
- COMET IKEYA-ZHANG:
The brightest
comet in years delighted sky watchers in March and April 2002.
[gallery]
- GONE JUPITER:
On Feb.
22, 2002, the Moon had a
close encounter with
Jupiter. [gallery]
- GONE SATURN:
On Feb.
20, 2002, the Moon glided
in front of
Saturn and its mysterious
rings.
[gallery]
- HOT COMET:
Periodic
comet 96P/Machholz put on a dazzling
show
as it swung by the Sun on Jan. 8, 2002.
- ASTEROID
FLYBY: Asteroid
2001
YB5 raced
past Earth on Jan. 7, 2002, only two times farther away than
the Moon. [gallery]
- SUBTLE ECLIPSE:
The Moon
dipped into the outskirts of Earth's shadow on Dec. 30, 2001.
[gallery]
- MOON &
SATURN: The
Moon keeps getting in the way of Saturn! See the series of close
encounters here.
- CHRISTMAS
LIGHTS: On
Christmas Eve, 2001, a solar wind stream triggered Northern Lights.
[gallery]
- SOLAR ECLIPSE:
Sky watchers
in Hawaii and most parts of North America experienced a
partial solar eclipse on Dec. 14th. [gallery]
- BRIGHT ASTEROID:
Videos
and images of 1998 WT24 -- a big and bright near-Earth asteroid
that came close to our planet on Dec. 16, 2001. [gallery]
- NORTHERN
LIGHTS: On
Nov. 24th a pair of coronal mass ejections swept past Earth and
triggered worldwide
auroras.
- LEONIDS 2001: Some people saw it. Others heard it. In either case, they'll never forget
it: The 2001
Leonid meteor storm.
- 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]
- 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]
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