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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: 455.8 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT May08
24-hr: A0
2245 UT May08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 07 May 08
New-cycle sunspot 993 has faded away and is no longer visible in white-light images of the sun. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 07 May 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the farside 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: 3.4 nT
Bz: 0.8 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 May 08 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 May 08 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
May 8, 2008
MOTHER'S DAY: Give your mom a truly heavenly gift on May 11th--a subscription to Space Weather PHONE!  

SUPER SOLAR FLARE: In September 1859, the sun unleashed a solar flare so intense that the flash of light rivaled the surface brightness of the sun itself. A ferocious geomagnetic storm ensued in which Northern Lights descended as far south as the Bahamas and Hawaii. Meanwhile, telegraph engineers disconnected their batteries and powered communications by electricity from the auroras! Could it happen again? Get the answer from Science@NASA

EARLY NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: Just before daybreak on May 5th, experienced sky watchers in Northern Ireland were surprised by a sudden apparition of noctilucent clouds (NLCs). "I was outdoors looking for eta Aquarid meteors when I spotted an eerie glow between my neigbour's houses." reports Martin McKenna of Maghera, Co. Derry. "The strong blue color was unmistakable--it was an NLC." He took this picture at 4 a.m. local time:

Noctilucent clouds are mainly a summertime phenomenon and it is very unusual for them to appear so early in May. "In my long years of observing NLCs, this is the earliest I have ever seen them," says John C McConnell who photographed the same May 5th display from Maghaberry, Northern Ireland: image.

These sightings only add to the mystery of NLCs. High-latitude "night-shining clouds" were first reported in the 19th century after the eruption of super-volcano Krakatoa. At the time, the clouds were widely thought to be associated with the volcano. Long after the ash settled, however, NLCs persisted. In recent years they have intensified and spread with sightings as far south as Utah and Colorado. What causes the phenomenon? A NASA spacecraft named AIM is orbiting Earth on a mission to find out.

The early onset of NLCs could herald a spectacular season to come. Readers, browse our 2007 NLC Photo Gallery for observing tips.

Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
["Noctilucent Cloud"--the song] [NLC Basics]

RANDOM METEOR: Last week in the Black Forest of Germany, Achim Schaller was testing his new Nikon D300 by attaching it to his backyard telescope and taking a few pictures of the Leo Triplet of galaxies. "When I looked over the images," he says, "I found one of them had caught a meteor in flight."

There was no meteor shower in progress on April 29th when Schaller took the picture. So where did the meteor come from? Scroll down for the answer:

It was a "sporadic" or random meteor. Every night, thousands of them flit across the sky mostly unseen because they are so dim. The one in Schaller's photo registered 10th magnitude, too faint by a factor of 40 to see with the human eye. (Note: Not all random meteors are faint. Standing under the stars on a dark, moonless night, you can count a few sporadics every hour plainly visible to the unaided eye. Most, however, require a telescope.)

Random meteors come not from any particular comet or asteroid, but from a diffuse swarm of space dust that fills the inner solar system. "Every day Earth sweeps up about 22 metric tons of this material," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. He estimates that "40% of that mass, or 8.8 metric tons, turns into meteors of 10th magnitude or brighter: graph."

If those metric tons arrived in a single lump, the result would be a fantastic fireball in the sky and possibly a scattering of meteorites on the ground. Instead, the swept-up material arrives mainly as microscopic bits and pieces, producing a faint drizzle of year-round meteor activity. The meteoroid in Schaller's photo probably had a mass "of around 0.00005 grams," notes Cooke. Tiny, but beautiful!


April 2008 Aurora Gallery
[Aurora Alerts] [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. [comment]
On May 8, 2008 there were 951 potentially hazardous asteroids.
May 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 HG
May 5
17 LD
18
90 m
2008 DE
May 9
17 LD
16
550 m
2008 HD2
May 9
6.5 LD
19
40 m
2008 HR3
May 11
3.1 LD
17
50 m
2008 HW1
May 14
72 LD
17
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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