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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: 354.3 km/sec
density: 2.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1915 UT Jul06
24-hr: A0
1915 UT Jul06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 06 Jul 08
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 03 July 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= 1 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: 3.2 nT
Bz: 2.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Jul 06 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 Jul 06 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
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
July 6, 2008
AURORA ALERTS: Did you miss the Northern Lights of June 25th? Next time get a wake-up call from Space Weather PHONE.  

EVENING PLANETS: Tonight, after sunset, go outside and look west. Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon are gathering in the form of a scalene triangle: sky map. If you have a backyard telescope, scan the vertices for the rings of Saturn, the little red disk of Mars and a panorama of lunar mountains and craters; it's a nice way to wrap up the weekend.

LAVENDER SUN: When the sun turns purple, watch out. Something is on fire. "Tonight as the sun was setting in the smoke from the Santa Barbara Gap fire, it turned a purplish color," says John Boyd, who sends this picture from southern California:

Purple suns appear when the air is filled with smoky particles measuring about 1 micron (10-6 m) across. Such particles scatter red light strongly, while allowing bluer light to pass through. This filtering action in the smoke over Santa Barbara produced a lavender hue reminiscent of the great Alberta muskeg fires of September 1950.

These colorful suns are beautiful, says Boyd, "but I hope the firefighters, who are doing a great job at protecting the homes here, will be able to put out the fire soon." [update]

more images: from Joan Barnett of Goleta, California

SOUTH POLE AURORAS: Imagine walking a mile to work every day in pitch-black dark with air temperatures routinely dipping below -90 F. It might be worth it if you could look up and see this:


Photo details: Canon Rebel XTi 400D, ISO 1600, 10mm lens, 10s, f4.0

The picture comes from Earth's south pole where "we had a nice display of aurora australis on July 5th," says J. Dana Hrubes, science leader of the Amundsen-Scott Station. Just before he took the picture, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and fueled the auroras. "That's Jupiter shining just above the silhouette of the South Pole Telescope," he points out.

Every day, Hrubes walks a mile from the main station to the telescope. "This gives me plenty of time to gaze at the sky. The temperature was -84 F when I took today's pictures and I have taken photos down to a temperature of -110.7 F, which is my personal all time low in early August, 2005. You have to take photos as quickly as possible; you never know what is going to freeze first, your camera or your fingers." (Note to cold-weather photographers: Hrubes uses a Canon 400D.)

"We are now getting into the coldest months, July and August, where we will see temperatures below -100 F," he continues. "These are actual static temperatures, not wind chills. Furthermore, the elevation of the site is nearly 10,000 feet and we experience physiological altitudes between 10,500 ft and 12,200 ft during winter." Many people would be put off by such conditions, but not Hrubes. "In four years at the Pole, I have racked up more than 3,000 miles of walking. I am lucky to have a great walk like this to my job 7 days a week."


2008 Noctilucent Photo Gallery
[NLC Tutorial] [Night-sky Cameras]

       
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 6, 2008 , there were 960 potentially hazardous asteroids.
July 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 YE45
July 13
16.5 LD
15
1.4 km
2008 BT18
July 14
5.9 LD
13
1.0 km
2003 LC5
July 15
62 LD
16
1.4 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
  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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