You are viewing the page for Sep. 9, 2005
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 272.6 km/s
density: 1.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2255 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: X6 2000 UT Sep09
24-hr: X6 2000 UT Sep09
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 09 Sep '05

Sunspot 798 poses a threat for strong X-flares. Credit: SOHO /MDI

Sunspot Number: 36
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 08 Sep 2005

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no large 'spots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 7.0 nT
Bz: 3.8 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2256 UT

Coronal Holes:

There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun.Image credit: NOAA Solar X-ray Imager.

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 2005 Sep 08 2204 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 80 % 80 %
CLASS X 50 % 50 %

Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2005 Sep 08 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 40 % 30 %
MINOR 20 % 15 %
SEVERE 10 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 50 % 40 %
MINOR 30 % 20 %
SEVERE 15 % 10 %

What's Up in Space -- 9 Sep 2005
Subscribe to Space Weather News

Would you like a call when auroras are brewing over your hometown? Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE.

AURORA ALERT: Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hurled into space by the solar explosions of Sept. 7th-9th could strike glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field during the next 48-to-72 hours. Sky watchers in Canada, Alaska and other northern places should be alert for auroras.

ACTIVE SUN: Solar activity is very high. Earth-orbiting satelites have detected five X-class solar flares this week, including one X17 monster. NOAA forecasters say there's a 50% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours, possibly causing radio blackouts and radiation storms.

The source of all this activity is giant sunspot 798, shown above in a composite image of the sun from Stephen Seip of Stuttgart, Germany. So far, except for brief radio blackouts, the flares from sunspot 798 have had little effect on Earth. The explosions have not been squarely Earth-directed because the 'spot is near the sun's eastern limb.

This will change: In the days ahead, the sun's rotation will turn sunspot 798 increasingly toward our planet. The last time sunspot 798 was facing Earth, in late August, it sparked strong auroras seen as far south as Utah and Colorado. We might get more such displays next week if sunspot 798 remains active.

RADIATION STORM: An S2-class radiation storm is underway. In other words, solar protons are streaming past Earth. These particles were accelerated to nearly light speed by the recent explosions at sunspot 798. The storm does not reach down to Earth's surface; it mainly affects satellites and spacecraft.

You can see one effect of the storm in this coronagraph image from the SOHO spacecraft: The white speckles are caused by protons striking the craft's digital camera:

One place you wouldn't want to be during this storm: walking around on the Moon!



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 9 Sep 2005 there were 710 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

August 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE (UT)

 MISS DISTANCE

 MAG.
1992 UY4

August 8

16 LD

 12
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.

Essential Web Links

NOAA Space Environment 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. See also Snow Crystals.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar., 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email

You are visitor number 33441684 since January 2000.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.