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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: 295.3 km/sec
density: 8.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
2310 UT Feb10
24-hr: B1
2310 UT Feb10
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 09 Feb 09
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 09 Feb. 2009
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: 2.4 nT
Bz: 1.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Feb. 13th or 14th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Feb 10 2201 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: 2009 Feb 10 2201 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
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
February 10, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

IRANIAN ROCKET: The Safir-2 rocket that launched Iran's Omid satellite on Feb. 2nd is tumbling around Earth and catching the attention of sky watchers as sunlight glints off its reflective surfaces. Flashes as bright as 2nd to 3rd magnitude (similar to stars of the Big Dipper) have been reported. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker to find out when the Safir tumbles over your backyard.

STRANGE MOONRISE: Rocky sphere or lump of putty? Onlookers on the shore of Maine's Casco Bay must have wondered which they were seeing last night when the full Moon rose out of the waves:

"Earth's atmosphere acted as a lens, causing some interesting distortions," says photographer John Stetson--and the "lump of putty" was just the beginning. Click here to see what happened next.

It was all a mirage. A layer of warm air blanketing the water's surface bent the light of the rising Moon to produce an upside-down image of the Moon just below the real thing. The two images--upside down and rightside up--merged into the putty-like visage Stetson photographed.

"I watched the event alongside pilot Jim Hetch who often sees strange moonrises and moonsets from 40,000 feet," adds Stetson. "He says this was the best he's ever seen from sea level."

more images: from James Helmericks of Colville River Delta, Alaska

RUMBLING REDOUBT: Alaska's Redoubt Volcano is rumbling and geologists say it could erupt within "the next few days or weeks." Time is running out, so put on your 3D glasses and behold the volcano before it explodes:


Click to view a full-sized anaglyph

To create the anaglyph, professional photogrammetrist William L. Chamberland combined a pair of aerial photos taken by US Geological Survey photographer Kristi Wallace on Jan. 30th. "Fumarolic activity on the north side of the volcano is associated with the most recent unrest at Redoubt," he says.

The last time an Alaskan volcano blew its top (Kasatochi in August 2008), about a million tons of ash and sulfur dioxide flooded the stratosphere, causing fantastic sunsets around the northern hemisphere and possibly reducing Earth's temperature by a fraction of a degree. With each seismic tremor, Redoubt brings us closer to another blast of SO2. Stay tuned for updates.

more images: from M. Scott Moon of Soldotna, Alaska


Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter Telescope] [NASA's story] [ephemeris]


February 2009 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Februaries: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

       
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 February 10, 2009 there were 1025 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Feb. 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 BK58
Feb. 2
1.7 LD
17
30 m
2009 BG81
Feb. 2
4.4 LD
19
12 m
2009 CC2
Feb. 2
0.5 LD
17
12 m
2009 BW2
Feb. 5
8.4 LD
20
40 m
2009 CP
Feb. 8
7.7 LD
19
20 m
2009 BE58
Feb. 10
8.6 LD
16
225 m
2006 AS2
Feb. 10
9.2 LD
15
370 m
2009 BL58
Feb. 11
4.8 LD
17
55 m
1999 AQ10
Feb. 18
4.4 LD
13
390 m
2009 CV
Feb. 23
4.8 LD
18
62 m
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
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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.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
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