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Solar wind
speed: 435.8 km/sec
density: 0.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B2
2032 UT Aug06
24-hr: B6
0644 UT Aug06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 06 Aug 13
None of these sunspots is actively flaring. Solar activity remains low. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 59
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 06 Aug 2013

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Update
06 Aug 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 104 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Aug 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.3 nT
Bz: 1.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 06 Aug 13
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com is now posting 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: 08-06-2013 11:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 Aug 06 2200 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: 2013 Aug 06 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
25 %
MINOR
10 %
10 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
25 %
30 %
SEVERE
35 %
40 %
 
Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013
What's up in space
 

They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.

 
Own your own meteorite

MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSAL ON THE SUN: It hasn't happened yet, but it's about to. Data from NASA-supported observatories show that the sun's global magnetic field will flip before the end of 2013. The reversal, which signals the arrival of Solar Maximum, will have ripple effects felt throughout the solar system. Get the full story and a video from Science@NASA. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

SOLAR ECLIPSE IN SPACE: This morning the new Moon passed in front of the sun, off-center, producing a partial solar eclipse. The only place to see it was from space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) photographed the eclipse from geosynchronous orbit approximately 36,000 km above Earth's surface:

Using a bank of 16 megapixel cameras, SDO observed the event at multiple extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. Scan the edge of the Moon in this 171 Å image: The little bumps and irregularities you see are lunar mountains backlit by solar plasma.

Beyond the novelty of observing an eclipse from space, these images have practical value to the SDO science team. The sharp edge of the lunar limb helps researchers measure the in-orbit characteristics of the telescope--e.g., how light diffracts around the telescope's optics and filter support grids. Once these are calibrated, it is possible to correct SDO data for instrumental effects and sharpen the images even more than before.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field on August 5th, sparking a G1-class geomagnetic storm and auroras over several northern-tier US states. (Subscribers to our space weather alert system were notified that a storm was in progress.) Photographer Mike Taylor watched the display from Port Clyde, Maine:

"The awe-inspiring green and purple colors of the Northern Lights spiked up early on the morning of August 5th while I was shooting the Milky Way down at Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde," says Taylor. "This photo was taken about 5 feet from the base of the tower."

The storm has subsided, but it could flare up again as the solar wind stream continues to blow around Earth. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar magnetic storms on August 6th. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

PERSEID FIREBALLS: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, source of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on August 12-14 when Earth transits the densest part of the debris stream. The first Perseid fireballs are, however, arriving now. NASA's All-Sky Fireball Network photographed this one on August 4th:

A fireball is a meteor brighter than Jupiter or Venus. New research from NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office shows that the Perseids produce more fireballs than any other annual meteor shower. That means the nights ahead could be sprinkled with bright flashes.

Meteor rates should remain low for the next few days as Earth penetrates the sparse outskirts of the debris stream, then skyrocket to ~100 Perseids per hour on August 12-13. Got clouds? Listen to the echoes of Perseids and other meteors on SpaceWeather's live meteor radar.

Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery


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


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery

  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 6, 2013 there were 1397 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2013 PJ10
Aug 4
1 LD
51 m
2005 WK4
Aug 9
8.1 LD
420 m
1999 CF9
Aug 23
24.7 LD
1.1 km
2002 JR9
Aug 31
63.5 LD
1.4 km
2013 PX6
Sep 22
70.8 LD
1.1 km
1992 SL
Sep 23
70 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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