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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: 478.1 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2025 UT Oct05
24-hr: A0
2025 UT Oct05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 05 Oct 08
New-cycle sunspot 1003 is fading in and out, struggling to maintain its dark sunspot core. Credit: SOHO/MDI

more images: from Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland; from Stephen Ames of Hodgenville, Kentucky
Sunspot number: 12
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 04 Oct. 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals a sunspot on the far side of the sun. Note, however, that this spot was not present in a similar image only 24 hours earlier; it could be noise. Check back tomorrow for confirmation. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.4 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: Hinode X-ray Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Oct 05 2201 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 Oct 05 2201 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
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
October 5, 2008
BEHOLD THE SUN: Would you like to see fiery prominences and new-cycle sunspots with your own eyes? On sale now: Personal Solar Telescopes.  

FIREBALL VIDEO: Researchers flying onboard a NASA DC-8 research airplane recorded spectacular video of the Jules Verne spacecraft disintegrating over the South Pacific Ocean last week. Click here to watch.

GREEN RAIN: Last night in Russia's Kolyskia peninsula, storm clouds gathered over Mt. Khibiny and the rain began to fall. Lo and behold, it was green:

Northern Lights posing as rain are a common occurance in this arctic part of Russia, where photographer Aleksander Chernucho keeps his Nikon D200 close at hand for midnight photo-ops. Shortly after the snapshot, shown above, the clouds pulled back revealing a bank of auroras so bright they turned the harbor waters as green as the sky.

Earth is exiting the solar wind stream that caused the display, but another stream is on the way. Sky watchers around the Arctic Circle should be alert for auroras when it arrives on Oct. 8th or 9th.

Oct. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Octobers: 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000]

FALSE DAWN: In the northern hemisphere, during the dark hours before sunrise, a ghostly triangle of light can now be seen rising into the sky. It looks like the dawn, but it is not. It is the Zodiacal Light. Dennis Mammana photographed the phenomenon on Oct. 3rd from Borrego Springs, California:

"During autumn months, sky watchers far from city lights can see this softly-glowing cone of light ascending from the eastern horizon about an hour and a half before sunrise," says Mammana. The glow is caused by sunlight illuminating the dusty plane of our solar system. Zodiacal Light springs into view at this time of year because, in autumn, the plane of the solar system juts straight up from the eastern horizon at dawn--high and tall for easy viewing. "This week, with the moon gone from the early morning sky, is a great time to check it out."

more images: from Chris Schur of Winton, QLD, Australia; from Mauro Zorzenon of Altopiano del Montasio, Udine, Italy; from Alex Roca of Hortoneda, Lerida, Spain

Oct. 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Octobers: 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000]

       
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 October 5, 2008 , there were 988 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Oct. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 QS11
Oct. 2
11 LD
14
470 m
2008 SH148
Oct. 4
5.8 LD
19
26 m
2005 GN59
Oct. 6
20 LD
15
1.4 km
2008 TZ
Oct. 10
5.3 LD
18
37 m
1999 VP11
Oct. 16
72 LD
17
860 m
2001 UY4
Oct. 18
74 LD
17
1.1 km
2000 EX106
Oct. 23
69 LD
18
1.1 km
2005 VN
Oct. 29
4.1 LD
15
116 m
4179 Toutatis
Nov. 9
20 LD
14
3.8 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 Links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
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Atmospheric Optics
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Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
  a one-stop hub for all things scientific
  more links...
   
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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