This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by Large Language Models is spreading rapidly across the Internet. It's well-written, artificial, frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being. | | |
AURORAS LOVE EQUINOXES: The northern autumnal equinox is only two days away. That's good news for sky watchers because auroras love equinoxes. Researchers call it the "Russell-McPherron effect." At this time of year, cracks form in Earth's magnetic field, opening the door for solar storms. Even a weak stream of solar wind or a glancing blow from a CME can spark a good display. Happy autumn! Aurora alerts: SMS Text
A BRGHT COMET IS APPROACHING EARTH: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) has just emerged from behind the sun, and its appearance has astronomers buzzing with anticipation. "The comet is brightening rapidly," says Australian astrophotographer Michael Mattiazzo, who has been monitoring the comet in dawn twilight:
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS on Sept. 17th in dawn twilight over Swan Hill, Australia
"The comet was only 6 degrees above the horizon when I photographed it on Sept. 17th," says Mattiazzo. "Using 15x70mm binoculars, I estimated its visual magnitude to be +4.3."
This is very good news. Some astronomers predicted Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS would fall apart during its transit behind the sun. The fact that it is still intact and healthy means we could witness a bright naked-eye comet next month.
"Prospects remain excellent for a visually impressive evening display in mid-October," says Qicheng Zhang of the Lowell Observatory. "Weather permitting, the entire Northern Hemisphere should be able to see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS."
Nick James of the British Astronomical Association just wrote an article anticipating the bright comet. "It makes its closest approach to Earth on October 12 when it will be 0.47 au away in the constellation of Virgo," he says. "There is a possibility that the comet will be at a negative magnitude as it emerges into the evening sky from Oct. 10th onwards."
This light curve from astronomer Bum-Suk Yeom shows a huge spike in the comet's brightness around Oct. 9-10. [more]
"Negative magnitude" means the comet could be visible in broad daylight, especially on Oct. 9th when light from the nearby sun will be forward scattered by comet dust, amplifying the comet's brightness. "[Daylight photography of the comet] should only be attempted if you know what you are doing," cautions James. "The sun will be very close by and this is potentially a very dangerous observation, similar to observing Venus at inferior conjunction."
It's been done before, though. Witness Comet McNaught in 2007, which was seen in broad daylight by thousands of observers. Could a repeat display be in the offing? Stay tuned for updates as Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS approaches Earth.
more images: from David Marshall of Christ Church, Barbados
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
"HAND OF APOLLO" STAR TREK CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT: You can't buy this on Amazon. The Hand of Apollo Christmas Ornament is only available from the Earth to Sky Store. On Aug. 15, 2024, it flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $127.95. This ornament depicts the iconic opening scene from original Star Trek series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" first aired in 1967. Near the planet Pollux III, the Enterprise was held immobile by an energy field shaped as a human hand. It belonged to a being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo. This will look far out on your Christmas tree this December.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space ornaments to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now!
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
RARE BLUE AURORAS CAUSED BY RESONANT SCATTERING: The severe geomagnetic storm of Sept. 16-17 produced something that even longtime aurora watchers rarely see: Blue Auroras. "I photographed them at dawn on Sept. 17th," says Alan Dyer, who sends this picture from Gleichen, Alberta:
Auroras are usually green and red. Blue is very unusual. It takes a strong geomagnetic storm to produce them -- plus one extra ingredient. "High altitude sunlight was hitting the blue rays," explains Dyer.
The process is called "resonant scattering." At the top of the aurora zone, ionized nitrogen molecules (N2+) naturally produce blue light. The blue glow is usually too faint to see. However, when these ions get hit by morning sunlight, they capture and re-emit photons from the sun, amplifying the blue color
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud 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 Sep 19, 2024, the network reported 12 fireballs.
(11 sporadics, 1 Southern Taurid)
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 September 20, 2024 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
|
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
2024 RT3 | 2024-Sep-15 | 16.3 LD | 9.6 | 22 |
2024 RM10 | 2024-Sep-15 | 5.2 LD | 6.6 | 24 |
2024 RQ5 | 2024-Sep-15 | 1.1 LD | 5.9 | 9 |
2024 RS4 | 2024-Sep-15 | 6.5 LD | 10.5 | 19 |
2019 DJ1 | 2024-Sep-15 | 10.4 LD | 4.9 | 15 |
2024 RQ | 2024-Sep-16 | 1.4 LD | 6.7 | 32 |
2024 ON | 2024-Sep-17 | 2.6 LD | 8.9 | 303 |
2024 RY10 | 2024-Sep-17 | 4.6 LD | 5.3 | 16 |
2024 RR16 | 2024-Sep-17 | 15.2 LD | 8.6 | 17 |
2024 RZ13 | 2024-Sep-18 | 16.6 LD | 8.6 | 16 |
2013 FW13 | 2024-Sep-18 | 8.5 LD | 15.6 | 162 |
2024 RJ13 | 2024-Sep-18 | 10.7 LD | 13.1 | 21 |
2024 RH8 | 2024-Sep-18 | 8.4 LD | 17.5 | 46 |
2022 SW3 | 2024-Sep-19 | 6.8 LD | 9.2 | 37 |
2015 SH | 2024-Sep-19 | 11.6 LD | 5.9 | 9 |
2024 RJ1 | 2024-Sep-20 | 15.4 LD | 8.9 | 42 |
2024 RD15 | 2024-Sep-20 | 18.7 LD | 8.2 | 16 |
2024 RH14 | 2024-Sep-20 | 7.2 LD | 11.7 | 21 |
2024 RB10 | 2024-Sep-20 | 19 LD | 12.8 | 73 |
2024 QV5 | 2024-Sep-20 | 13.9 LD | 10.6 | 35 |
2024 RB22 | 2024-Sep-20 | 8.6 LD | 2.8 | 44 |
2023 RX1 | 2024-Sep-20 | 10.1 LD | 1.1 | 3 |
2018 VG | 2024-Sep-20 | 13.4 LD | 7.3 | 12 |
2024 RY15 | 2024-Sep-21 | 2.3 LD | 13.6 | 27 |
2024 RZ21 | 2024-Sep-21 | 11.7 LD | 18 | 35 |
2020 GE | 2024-Sep-24 | 1.7 LD | 2.2 | 8 |
2024 RO11 | 2024-Sep-24 | 19.2 LD | 19.1 | 39 |
2024 RK7 | 2024-Sep-25 | 17.8 LD | 6.3 | 33 |
2024 RW25 | 2024-Sep-27 | 16.1 LD | 9.8 | 26 |
2024 RP15 | 2024-Sep-27 | 17.5 LD | 9.9 | 30 |
2011 ST12 | 2024-Sep-27 | 17.6 LD | 7.4 | 19 |
2024 RN15 | 2024-Oct-01 | 8.4 LD | 7.2 | 28 |
2024 RO2 | 2024-Oct-02 | 4.2 LD | 9.2 | 36 |
2024 RJ16 | 2024-Oct-02 | 18.2 LD | 6.9 | 24 |
2024 RJ32 | 2024-Oct-05 | 7.6 LD | 6.6 | 44 |
2023 GM1 | 2024-Oct-05 | 15.4 LD | 5.2 | 13 |
2014 VA | 2024-Oct-05 | 18.1 LD | 6.3 | 46 |
2022 SU21 | 2024-Oct-06 | 17.5 LD | 21.1 | 45 |
671076 | 2024-Oct-07 | 12.8 LD | 8.6 | 120 |
2016 JG38 | 2024-Oct-08 | 13.2 LD | 12 | 56 |
2018 QE | 2024-Oct-09 | 1.7 LD | 4.4 | 10 |
363027 | 2024-Oct-12 | 9.3 LD | 16.6 | 419 |
2020 GE1 | 2024-Oct-12 | 20.1 LD | 4.3 | 14 |
2022 UX1 | 2024-Oct-12 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 9 |
2008 UU95 | 2024-Oct-12 | 13.5 LD | 15.6 | 66 |
2021 TK11 | 2024-Oct-14 | 8 LD | 10.6 | 7 |
2022 TB41 | 2024-Oct-15 | 10 LD | 6 | 4 |
2019 UH14 | 2024-Oct-17 | 8.3 LD | 10.4 | 62 |
2015 HM1 | 2024-Oct-24 | 14.4 LD | 10.9 | 32 |
363305 | 2024-Oct-24 | 11.8 LD | 4.9 | 186 |
2021 UE2 | 2024-Oct-24 | 13.6 LD | 7.1 | 40 |
2023 TG14 | 2024-Oct-24 | 6.6 LD | 6.9 | 24 |
2007 UT3 | 2024-Oct-26 | 17.7 LD | 10.4 | 23 |
2020 WG | 2024-Oct-28 | 8.7 LD | 9.4 | 160 |
2021 CV1 | 2024-Oct-30 | 14.4 LD | 23.6 | 38 |
2023 KX3 | 2024-Oct-31 | 18.8 LD | 2.4 | 25 |
2022 UD21 | 2024-Oct-31 | 11.6 LD | 11.8 | 27 |
2016 VA | 2024-Nov-01 | 1.5 LD | 21.2 | 11 |
2023 VS | 2024-Nov-04 | 15.2 LD | 4.3 | 4 |
2022 JM | 2024-Nov-06 | 19.7 LD | 6.2 | 6 |
2019 WB7 | 2024-Nov-11 | 17.3 LD | 5.7 | 47 |
2020 UL3 | 2024-Nov-12 | 4.1 LD | 10.5 | 81 |
2020 AB2 | 2024-Nov-13 | 18.9 LD | 7.2 | 14 |
2019 VU5 | 2024-Nov-14 | 12 LD | 23.3 | 46 |
2019 VL5 | 2024-Nov-14 | 9.6 LD | 8.5 | 24 |
2023 WK3 | 2024-Nov-18 | 16.1 LD | 14.5 | 272 |
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. See also, all satellite statistics. |
| 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 |
| Got a chipped or cracked windshield that prevents you from seeing space weather events while driving? Get windshield replacement from SR Windows & Glass with free mobile auto glass service anywhere in the Phoenix area. |
| BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web |
| These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! |
| | | | | |