Spotless Days Current Stretch: 6 days 2018 total: 137 days (55%) 2017 total: 104 days (28%) 2016 total: 32 days (9%) 2015 total: 0 days (0%) 2014 total: 1 day (<1%) 2013 total: 0 days (0%) 2012 total: 0 days (0%) 2011 total: 2 days (<1%) 2010 total: 51 days (14%) 2009 total: 260 days (71%) 2008 total: 268 days (73%) 2007 total: 152 days (42%) 2006 total: 70 days (19%) Updated 04 Sep 2018
Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 2 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.0 nT Bz: -3.1 nT south more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 04 Sep 18
Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth on Sept. 7th. Credit: SDO/AIA
Noctilucent CloudsThe season for noctilucent clouds in the northern hemisphere is coming to an end. Check here daily for the latest images from NASA's AIM spacecraft.
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2018 Sep 04 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
25 %
SEVERE
15 %
20 %
Tuesday, Sep. 4, 2018
What's up in space
Lights Over Lapland has a brand-new website full of exciting adventures in Abisko National Park, Sweden! Take a look at our aurora activities and book your once-in-a-lifetime trip with us today!
SOLAR WIND, INCOMING: A fast-moving stream of solar wind is approaching Earth. Estimated time of arrival: Sept. 7th. The gaseous material is flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. Arctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras later this week. Free:Aurora Alerts.
SPRITES FROM TROPICAL STORM GORDON: Later today, Tropical Storm Gordon is expected to reach the southeastern USA, possibly intensifying to hurricane strength just before it makes landfall. Unlike many hurricanes, which cross the Atlantic before reaching the states, Gordan formed nearby in the Caribbean. On Sept. 1st, Frankie Lucena of Puerto Rico trained his cameras on the tropical wave and caught sprites leaping up from the cloudtops:
"These sprites were captured over the tropical wave that later became Tropical Storm Gordon," says Lucena. "At the time, the wave was generating numerous lightning strikes per minute just west of Puerto Rico." In the video, red arrows show the location of his camera with respect to the growing storm, while the sprites are inset.
For years, Lucena has been observing sprites and their big cousins Gigantic Jets leap up from passing storms. Interestingly, he says, the weaker systems often produce the strongest sprites. "Based on my observations so far, I would say that intensifying tropical waves have the most sprites. Often these systems go on to become hurricanes."
However, once a storm becomes a hurricane, sprite activity seems to subside. "I tried to capture sprites over Hurricanes like Maria, Irma and just recently in July over Hurricane Beryl with no luck," says Lucena. Indeed, according to NASA, hurricanes produce less regular lightning, too. Swirling hurricanes typically lack the vertical winds required to charge up a storm and unleash powerful bolts. Perhaps sprites subside for the same reason. Lucena plans to get more data as hurricane season gains steam in the months ahead.
SHADOWS OF VENUS IN THE ATACAMA DESERT: The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is one of the best places in the world to look at the sky. The desert's unique combination of high altitude, clear skies and zero light pollution make it a global destination for astronomers. On Sept. 1st, astronomer Daniele Gasparri was standing under the Milky Way in the Atacama Desert when something caught his eye--not up in the sky, but rather on the side of his car. "It was my Venus shadow!" he says.
"The sky in Atacama is so dark that even the light of Venus can generate clear shadows," marvels Gasparri. "Photographing it was easy. I used a Sony A7s camera with a 12 mm f2.8 fisheye lens. A single 30 second exposure at 6400 ISO revealed both the shadow on my car as well as the Milky Way just behind."
Unlike most people, Gasparri does not have to travel far to experience this astronomer's paradise. "I actually live in the Atacama desert, in the city of Copiapó, working toward my PhD in astronomy and planetary science at our local university, " he explains. "I often drive into the desert to take pictures of the sky. I first noticed the shadow cast by Venus a couple of months ago, but only few days ago I captured it with my camera. Actually the shadow is quite obvious, especially on a white background like my car."
How many people have seen themselves silhouetted by the light of another planet? In the Atacama Desert, it happens all the time. More of Gasparri's desert sky photos may be found at AstroAtacama.com.
FLY ME TO THE MOONSTONE: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from the edge of space. On June 12th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this moonstone wrapped in a sterling silver Celtic love knot 34.1 km (111,877 feet) above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $139.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
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. 4, 2018, the network reported 61 fireballs. (61 sporadics)
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]
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 September 4, 2018 there were 1923 potentially hazardous asteroids.
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.
Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Approximately 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 radiation sensors that detect cosmic rays, a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. Cosmic rays can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. Furthermore, there are studies ( #1, #2, #3, #4) linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in the general population. Our latest measurements show that cosmic rays are intensifying, with an increase of more than 18% since 2015:
The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Reneger-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 Reneger and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
En route to the stratosphere, our sensors also pass through aviation altitudes:
In this plot, dose rates are expessed as multiples of sea level. For instance, we see that boarding a plane that flies at 25,000 feet exposes passengers to dose rates ~10x higher than sea level. At 40,000 feet, the multiplier is closer to 50x.
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.
Why are cosmic rays intensifying? The main reason is the sun. Solar storm clouds such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays when they pass by Earth. During Solar Maximum, CMEs are abundant and cosmic rays are held at bay. Now, however, the solar cycle is swinging toward Solar Minimum, allowing cosmic rays to return. Another reason could be the weakening of Earth's magnetic field, which helps protect us from deep-space radiation.
If you are a Youtuber and want to buy real Youtube views than try out Buyrealsocial.com for the best results possible!
To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings.
These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters!
