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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 494.3 km/sec
density: 1.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C3
2014 UT Jul10
24-hr: M2
0627 UT Jul10
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 10 Jul 12
Sunspot 1520 has a beta-gamma magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 137
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 09 Jul 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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

Updated 09 Jul 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 178 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 09 Jul 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.7 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 09 Jul 12
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole cold reach Earth on July 10-11. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Jul 10 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
80 %
80 %
CLASS X
15 %
15 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2012 Jul 10 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
15 %
SEVERE
10 %
05 %
 
Tuesday, Jul. 10, 2012
What's up in space
 

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

AURORAS OVER THE SOUTH POLE: On July 10th, observers are reporting butterfly-shaped auroras directly over the South Pole. The shape of the southern auroral oval often leaves the South Pole in a "doughnut hole" of poor visibility, but today is an exception. [aurora gallery]

NORTHERN LIGHTS: For the second day in a row, Earth's polar magnetic field is unsettled and glowing with auroras. Paul Zizka sends this picture from Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada:

"Yet another sleepless night at Lake Minnewanka--and it was worth it," says Zizka. "The aurora danced on and off for hours. Most of the time it was barely visible to the naked eye, but now and then Mother Nature would put on a show that was hard to miss. The displays ranged from a very interesting, long-lasting pink streak directly overhead to wild green curls and purple pillars to the north and east."

The source of the display was not an explosion on the sun, but rather a fluctuation in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). On July 9th, the IMF near Earth tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in and ignited the lights.

Solar wind conditions remain favorable for high-latitude auroras on July 10th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of polar geomagnetic storms. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

BIG SUNSPOT: One of the biggest sunspots in years, AR1520, is turning toward Earth. Christian Viladrich of Nattages, France, photographed the behemoth on July 7th:

"It looks like an expanse of land on the sun," says Viladrich.

Despite the resemblance to land, however, the vast dark cores of sunspot AR1520 are not solid. They are made of magnetism. Each one is a magnetic island nearly as wide as Earth floating in a sea of solar plasma.

The magnetic field of this enormous sunspot is tangled, and harbors energy for strong solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-flares and a 25% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Sunspot Photo Gallery


Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


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

  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 July 10, 2012 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.3 km
2004 EW9
Jul 16
46.8 LD
--
2.1 km
2002 AM31
Jul 22
13.7 LD
--
1.0 km
37655 Illapa
Aug 12
37 LD
--
1.2 km
2000 ET70
Aug 21
58.5 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 TU3
Aug 25
49.2 LD
--
4.9 km
2009 AV
Aug 26
62.8 LD
--
1.1 km
1998 UO1
Oct 4
60.1 LD
--
2.1 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
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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