SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 348.1 km/s density:16.9 protons/cm3 explanation | history Updated: Today at 2255 UT Sunspot Number: 119 More about sunspots Updated: 01 Jan 2001 Daily Sun: 02 Jan '01 Sunspot group 9289 exhibits a beta-gamma magnetic field that likely harbors energy for M-class eruptions. Radio Meteor Rates 24 hr max: 34 per hr More about these data Updated: 02 Jan 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 9.8 nT Bz: 1.6 nT north explanation | history Updated: Today at 2256 UT Coronal Holes: A coronal hole north of active region 9289 will cross the Sun's central meridian this week and probably send solar wind gusts toward Earth. Image credit: SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet 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 Jan 02 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 40 % | 40 % | 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 2001 Jan 02 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 10 % | 15 % | MINOR | 05 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 30 % | MINOR | 10 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | | What's Up in Space -- 2 Jan 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! METEOR SHOWER: One of the most intense annual meteor showers, the Quadrantids, will peak over North America Wednesday morning January 3rd. Observers in western parts of Canada, the USA and Mexico are favored to see an impressive flurry of shooting stars. [full story] LISTEN TO THE QUADRANTIDS: The NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center radio meteor detection system is online and listening for Quadrantid meteors. You can listen, too. Click here for realtime audio. SUNSPOTS: An impressive sunspot complex is crossing the center of the Sun's disk today and tomorrow. Active region 9289 covers 890 millionths of the solar disk, an area five times larger than the surface area of Earth. The sunspot's tangled beta-gamma magnetic field harbors energy for potential M-class solar flares. WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | MORE NEWS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | Nov. 22, 2000: A Solar Flare Stuns Stardust -- Earlier this month an intense solar radiation storm temporarily blinded NASA's Stardust spacecraft en route to comet Wild-2. Nov. 21, 2000: Leonids Galore -- Find out what happened during the 2000 Leonids meteor shower. Nov. 7, 2000: Much Ado about 2000 SG344 -- In 2071 a relic of NASA's earliest space exploration efforts might return to Earth, if current estimates are confirmed. Oct. 26, 2000: Lunar Leonids -- On Nov. 17, 2000, the moon will plow through a stream of debris from comet Tempel-Tuttle. Oct. 10, 2000: The Moonlit Leonids 2000 -- Our planet is heading for a minefield of cosmic dust streams laid down by periodic comet Tempel-Tuttle. The result could be a series of meteor outbursts on Nov. 17 and 18, 2000. Sept. 28, 2000: Bright Planets and Random Meteors -- This week's new Moon sets a dark stage for a sporadic meteor show featuring a cast of eye-catching stars and planets. Sept. 20, 2000: A Good Month for Asteroids -- Five Near-Earth Asteroids flew past our planet during the month of September. Sept. 13, 2000: A Surprising Coronal Mass Ejection -- A solar filament collapsed and fell to the surface of the Sun, spawning a coronal mass ejection that forecasters didn't expect. Sept. 5, 2000: Sunbathing at Solar Max -- NASA scientists say that solar maximum is now in full swing. Does that mean you're more likely to suffer a sunburn at the beach? This story reveals the answer. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |