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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 670.0 km/sec
density: 2.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2155 UT Feb02
24-hr: A0
2155 UT Feb02
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 02 Feb 08
Sunspot 982 is breaking up, but it still presents a fantastic view to backyard solar telescopes because of its long and dramatic magnetic filaments. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 19
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 01 Feb 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 5
mild
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Updated:
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.8 nT
Bz: 1.0 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
Coronal Holes:
Earth is entering a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: Hinode X-Ray Telescope.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Feb 02 2203 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: 2008 Feb 02 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
30 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
35 %
35 %
MINOR
25 %
25 %
SEVERE
10 %
10 %

What's up in Space
February 2, 2008
Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a fun new astronomy helper from Meade.

VENUS & JUPITER: Wake up at dawn on a Sunday morning? Tomorrow you'll be glad you did. Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon are gathering in the southeast for a sight so eye-opening you might not even go back to bed. Set your alarm and take a look: sky map.

AURORA WATCH: " I've never seen anything like it," says Patrick Collins who witnessed a swirling storm of auroras over Central Labrador, Canada, last night:

"There were rapid changes in colour, flowing like blowing snow through a forest or eddies swirling in a river," he says. "The auroras covered more than 75% of the sky. It was unreal!"

More displays of this sort are in the offing tonight. The solar wind stream which sparked Collins' auroras is still blowing and causing high latitude geomagnetic storms: aurora alerts.

more images: from Panu Lahtinen of Ivalo, Finland; from Niels Giroud of Seltjarnarnes, Iceland; from Fredrik Holm of Reykjavik, Iceland;

NACREOUS FEBRUARY: The first sunset of February revealed iridescent nacreous clouds over Reykjavík, Iceland. Fredrik Holm took this picture on Feb. 1st using his Canon 30D:

February is beginning much as January ended when sky watchers noticed a puzzling abundance of nacreous clouds around the arctic circle. Also known as "Mother of Pearl" clouds, nacreous clouds are peppered with tiny ice crystals that blaze with iridescent color when struck by light from the setting sun. It is these crystals that make nacreous clouds rare: they require exceptionally low temperatures of minus 85 Celsius (-120 F) to form. Nacrous clouds float 9 to 16 miles high, curling and uncurling hypnotically as they are stretched in and out by atmospheric gravity waves.

Is this to be a "Nacreous February"? Stay tuned.

2008 Nacreous Cloud Gallery
[Night-sky cameras] [Nacreous Basics]

Near-Earth Asteroids
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. [comment]
On February 2, 2008 there were 922 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Feb. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2007 DA
Feb. 12
9.8 LD
18
140 m
4450 Pan
Feb. 19
15.9 LD
13
1.6 km
2002 TD66
Feb. 26
16.7 LD
15
440 m
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.
Essential Links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  From the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
  more links...
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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