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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 533.4 km/sec
density: 1.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C9
2045 UT Jul03
24-hr: M1
0000 UT Jul03
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 03 Jul 12
Sunspots 1513 and 1515 have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 165
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 03 Jul 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 03 Jul 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 166 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 03 Jul 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.6 nT
Bz: 3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 03 Jul 12
Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on July 4-5. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Jul 03 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
70 %
70 %
CLASS X
10 %
10 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2012 Jul 03 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
20 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
20 %
MINOR
30 %
30 %
SEVERE
30 %
30 %
 
Tuesday, Jul. 3, 2012
What's up in space
 

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

A GOOD REASON TO WAKE UP AT DAWN: The brightest planets in the solar system are converging for a beautiful sunrise sky show that begins on the 4th of July. Get the full story and a video from Science@NASA.

CHANCE OF FLARES: Sunspot AR1515 continues to grow and crackle with magnetic eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of M-class solar flares and a 10% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. X-flare alerts: text, voice.

THUNDER MOON: Picture this: The sound of distant thunder draws you to the window. Lightning zig-zags across the night sky, storm clouds part, and a brilliant beam of moonlight lances through the curtain, spotlighting the observer.

Tonight, this could happen to you. There's a full Moon, the "Thunder Moon," named after the electrical storms of summer. David Hoffmann photographed the waxing Thunder Moon last night in Ashland, Oregon:

The Moon reaches maximum illuminattion on Tuesday, July 3rd, at 18:52 UT. Look for it rising in the east at sunset, and enjoy the thunder moonlight.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

ALMOST X-FLARE: Big sunspot AR1515 erupted on July 2nd at 10:52 UT, producing an M5.6-class solar flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash:

A pulse of x-rays and UV radiation from the flare illuminated Earth's upper atmosphere, producing waves of ionization over Europe. Such waves alter the propagation of low-frequency radio transmissions. In Lofoten, Norway, Rob Stammes recorded the ionospheric disturbance using a 60 kHz receiver: data.

The eruption also hurled a CME into space, but not directly toward Earth. The south-traveling cloud could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetosphere on July 4th or 5th. Stay tuned for updates. [SDO movie]

BIG SUNSPOTS: The solar disk is peppered with sunspots so large onlookers are seeing them with the naked eye. Earlier today, the clouds over Paris, France, acted as a natural solar filter to reveal active regions AR1513 and AR1515:

VegaStar Carpentier took the picture using an off-the-shelf Canon EOS 1000D digital camera set at ISO 100 for 1/80 of a second. Photographers, take note of those settings because the sunspots should remain large and obvious for at least a few more days. (Caution: Do not look at the unfiltered sun through camera optics because focused sunlight can damage your eyes. Use the LCD viewscreen for pointing.)

The sunspots are also showing up in sunrises and sunsets around the world. Browse the Realtime SpaceWeather Photo Gallery for more examples.


Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]

  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.
On July 3, 2012 there were 1320 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 MY2
Jun 29
1.3 LD
--
24 m
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.3 km
2004 EW9
Jul 16
46.8 LD
--
2.1 km
2002 AM31
Jul 22
13.7 LD
--
1.0 km
37655 Illapa
Aug 12
37 LD
--
1.2 km
2000 ET70
Aug 21
58.5 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 TU3
Aug 25
49.2 LD
--
4.9 km
2009 AV
Aug 26
62.8 LD
--
1.1 km
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 web links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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