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Solar wind
speed: 459.5 km/sec
density: 0.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2
2027 UT Aug05
24-hr: C2
2027 UT Aug05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 05 Aug 14
Sunspots AR2130 and AR2132 have 'beta-gamma' magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 111
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 Aug 2014

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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%)

Update
04 Aug 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 156 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 04 Aug 2014

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.7 nT
Bz: 1 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 04 Aug 14
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com posts daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 08-05-2014 12:55:08
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 Aug 05 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
30 %
30 %
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: 2014 Aug 05 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
15 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
20 %
SEVERE
10 %
15 %
 
Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014
What's up in space
 

When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.

 
Northern Lights - a Guide

PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: Meteor activity is increasing as Earth plunges deeper into the debris stream of Comet Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. On the nights of Aug 4-5, NASA cameras recorded 26 Perseid fireballs over the USA. Counts are high even though the shower's peak is still more than a week away. To see for yourself, get away from city lights and look up during the dark hours before sunrise. You can also hear the Perseids on Space Weather Radio.

ROCKET LAUNCH PRODUCES NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: This morning, August 5th, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying the AsiaSat 8 telecommunications satellite. About an hour and a half after the 4 AM launch, electric-blue clouds appeared over Orlando FL:

"These clouds appeared just before sunrise," says photographer Mike Bartils.

These are, essentially, man-made noctilucent clouds (NLCs). Water vapor in the exhaust of the rocket crystallized in the high atmosphere, creating an icy cloud that turned blue when it was hit by the rays of the morning sun. Years ago, space shuttle launches produced similar displays.

Natural NLCs form around Earth's poles when water vapor in the mesosphere crystalizes around meteor smoke. Sometimes they spread as far south as Colorado and Utah, but rarely or never Florida. Electric-blue over the Sunshine State requires a rocket launch, and that's what happened today. Browse the realtime photo gallery for more images of the Falcon 9 launch:

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

FIREBALL EXPLODES, SPRAYS COUNTRYSIDE: On Saturday night, August 2nd, NASA meteor cameras detected a fireball that exploded in a flash of light many times brighter than the Moon. It came not from the Perseid debris stream, but rather from the vicinity of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Watch the movie, then read on for more information:

"The meteoroid was about 15 inches in diameter and weighed close to 100 lbs," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Travelling 47,000 miles per hour, it broke apart in a brilliant flash of light above the Alabama town of Henagar. Our cameras continued to track a large fragment until it disappeared 18 miles above Gaylesville, located near Lake Weiss close to the Georgia state line. At last sight, the fragment was still traveling at 11,000 miles per hour. Based on the meteor's speed, final altitude, and weak doppler radar signatures, we believe that this fireball produced small meteorites on the ground somewhere between Borden Springs, AL and Lake Weiss."

The NASA Meteoroid Environment Office would like to hear from those in the area around Alabama's Lake Weiss who may have heard sonic booms or similar sounds around 10:20 PM Saturday night. Please contact Dr. Bill Cooke at william.j.cooke@nasa.gov with reports.

Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery

SPONSOR A SPACE WEATHER BALLOON: This Friday, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus will continue their ongoing campaign of high-altitude research with the launch of another Space Weather Radiation Buoy. The purpose of their research is to discover how solar activity affects the ozone layer and alters levels of radiation at altitudes of interest to space tourism. They are also launching microbes to find out which species can survive in space-like conditions. Readers who wish to support this exciting student-led work can sponsor the flight with an ad or message to be launched with the payload and displayed as shown:

For $500 the students will fly your message to the edge of space and return it to you along with complete video of the flight. Also, selected still shots will be displayed on spaceweather.com as part of our coverage of the event. Interested? Please email Dr. Tony Phillips for more information.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

AURORA SEASON BEGINS IN ALASKA: As northern summer comes to an end and the midnight sun sets, auroras are returning to the darkening skies of Alaska. From outside Fairbanks, James McClean sends this report: "Whoooo Hoooo!!!! I spotted the first auroras of the season over Chena Hot Springs." He took this picture on August 4th:

"The aurora was only a thin whisper of green lasting only a few seconds in a sky full of twilight blue and some noctilucent clouds," says McClean. "Let's hope this is the kickoff to another great season of aurora hunting at Chena Hot Springs Resort."

The display was caused by a minor stream of solar wind that buffeted Earth's magnetic on August 4th. Ironically, the Northern Lights were even easier to see farther south where skies were darker. Aurora reports have also been received from Michigan, Minnesota, and Alberta. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of more geomagnetic activity tonight as the solar wind continues to blow. Aurora alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


Realtime NLC Photo Gallery


  All Sky Fireball Network

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 Aug. 5, 2014, the network reported 39 fireballs.
(22 sporadics, 13 Perseids, 2 alpha Capricornids, 1 Northern delta Aquariid, 1 Southern delta Aquariid)

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 August 5, 2014 there were 1498 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2002 JN97
Aug 2
61.4 LD
2.0 km
2014 OV299
Aug 6
9.5 LD
23 m
2014 OF300
Aug 7
3.8 LD
23 m
2001 RZ11
Aug 17
34.2 LD
2.2 km
2013 WT67
Aug 17
16.1 LD
1.1 km
2013 RZ53
Sep 9
1.9 LD
3 m
2002 CE26
Sep 9
47.9 LD
1.8 km
2009 RR
Sep 16
2 LD
34 m
2006 GQ2
Sep 19
65.9 LD
1.1 km
2009 FG19
Sep 26
34.6 LD
1.1 km
2014 NE52
Sep 30
61.2 LD
1.0 km
2001 EA16
Oct 7
35.5 LD
1.9 km
2011 TB4
Oct 9
5.8 LD
34 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 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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