|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
speed: 481.0 km/s
density: 0.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2 1910 UT Jul07
24-hr: C2 1910 UT Jul07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 07 Jul '03 
Growing sunspot 375 now poses a threat for X-class solar flares. Image credit: BBSO
The Far Side of the Sun
This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot Number: 114
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 06 Jul 2003
Coronal Holes:
Solar wind gusts from the indicated coronal hole could reach earth as early as July 11th. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
More about coronal holes Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.5 nT
Bz: 0.3 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
 SPACE WEATHER
NOAA
Forecasts
Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below.
Updated at 2003 Jul 07 2200 UTC
| FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | CLASS M | 60 % | 60 % | | CLASS X | 10 % | 10 % |
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2003 Jul 07 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | | SEVERE | 05 % | 05 % |
High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | ACTIVE | 30 % | 30 % | | MINOR | 15 % | 15 % | | SEVERE | 05 % | 05 % |
| | What's Up in Space -- 7 Jul 2003
Subscribe to Space Weather News!  BIG SUNSPOT: Sunspot group 375 is still growing. The large leading spot alone is about the size of the planet Neptune, and the entire group, which consists of 40 individual spots, stretches 10 Earth-diameters from end to end. It's is easy to see--but never stare directly at the sun. Always use safe solar observing techniques. French photographer Jérôme Grenier captured this image of sunspot 375 on July 7th.
MARS UPDATE: On July 6th, observers of Mars report that the dust cloud described below is still present, but its rate of growth may have slowed. MARTIAN DUST: Things are happening on the planet Mars. A dust cloud near Hellas Basin--a huge impact crater in Mars's southern hemisphere--has grown rapidly since amateur astronomers first spotted it on July 1st. Through backyard telescopes it looks like a hazy bright spot. Two years ago, a similar cloud on Mars grew into a globe-straddling dust storm. This one could do the same ... or it could dissipate. No one knows. Astronomers will be watching carefully during the days ahead to see what happens. 
Above: These pictures spanning July 2nd through 4th were captured by Donald Parker of Coral Gables, FL, using a 16-inch telescope. The stubby black arrow indicates the growing cloud. More images: July 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th. AURORA OUTLOOK: Sky watchers should be alert for auroras on or about July 11th when Earth will encounter a high-speed solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole on the sun.  Would you like a phone call when things are happening in the sky? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE.
APHELION: Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, it's an ellipse. This means our planet is not always the same distance from the sun. The greatest distance, which astronomers call aphelion, occurred this year on the Fourth of July. Read the full story from Science@NASA. 
Above: Fireworks, Jupiter and the moon over Gardner Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina, on the Fourth of July. Photo credit: Brett Clapper.
Spaceweather PHONE | Upcoming Events | Archives | 
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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.
On 7 Jul 2003 there were 519 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids June-July 2003 Earth-asteroid encounters Notes: LD is a "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.
 - LUNAR ECLIPSE: On May 15th, sky watchers from North America to Europe saw the normally-bright full moon disappear inside Earth's shadow--the first lunar eclipse of 2003. Visit our lunar eclipse gallery and see hundreds of photos from around the world.
- LEONIDS 2002: The Leonids have come and gone, but our meteor gallery keeps growing. Check out the latest additions, which include a stunning image of 44 meteors emerging from the radiant in Leo.
- DAWN PLANETS: Just before dawn on Sunday, Dec. 1st, the planets Venus and Mars converged and formed a lovely triangle with the slender crescent Moon. [gallery]
- NEARBY ASTEROID: Asteroid 2002 NY40 came so close to Earth on August 18th that people could see it through binoculars or small telescopes. [gallery]
- PERSEIDS 2002: Sky watchers spotted plenty of bright shooting stars--including some colorful earthgrazers--during the 2002 Perseid meteor shower. [gallery]
- CRESCENT SUN: See strange shadows, weird sunsets, eclipse dogs, crescent-eyed turkeys and extraordinary rings of fire photographed during the June 10th solar eclipse. [gallery]
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