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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 565.1 km/sec
density: 1.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1726 UT Sep10
24-hr: M1
0741 UT Sep10
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 10 Sep 11
Sunspot 1283 has a "beta-gamma" magnetic field that harbors energy for strong M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 65
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 09 Sep 2011

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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 Sep 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 112 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 09 Sep 2011

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 5
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.1 nT
Bz: 0.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 10 Sep 11
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Sept. 12-13. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 Sep 10 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
65 %
60 %
CLASS X
15 %
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: 2011 Sep 10 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
20 %
MINOR
10 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
25 %
MINOR
15 %
10 %
SEVERE
10 %
01 %
 
Saturday, Sep. 10, 2011
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

FIRST STRIKE: The first of several CMEs en route to Earth struck our planet's magnetic field on Sept. 9th around 1130UT. The impact sparked a strong (Kp=7) geomagnetic storm, which is now subsiding. Last night Northern Lights were spotted in the United States as far south as Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, Montana, Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota. More geomagnetic activity could be in the offing as one or two more CMEs approach. Stay tuned. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

"After the outbursts of sunspot 1283 hurled several CMEs toward Earth, we expected quite some auroras in the arctic part of Norway," Frank Olsen of Tromsø. "We were not disappointed." He snapped this picture just after local midnight on Sept. 10th:

"This was the first strike," says Olsen, "and we expect more for the rest of the weekend."

more images: from Yuichi Takasaka of Prelude Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada; from Jónína Óskarsdóttir of Faskrudsfjordur, Iceland; from Bob Johnson of Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada; from Mike Conlan of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; from Laffen Jensen of Stjordal, Trondheim, Norway; from Peter Rosén of Central Stockholm, Sweden; from Thorbjorn Haagensen of Tisnes, Troms, Norway; from Chad Blakley of Abisko National Park, Sweden; from Fredrik Holm of Reykjavik, Iceland; from Hanneke Luijting of Tromsø, Norway; from Frank Martin Ingilæ of Tana, Finnmark, Norway;

TODAY's BONUS SHOTS: Launch of GRAIL from Ben Cooper of Cape Canaveral, Florida; Wave Clouds from Steve Jamruszka of Glacier National Park, Montana; Sundogs from Piet Berger of Simpelveld, the Netherlands;

SUNSPOT CONJUNCTION: A new sunspot (AR1289) is growing rapidly in the sun's eastern hemisphere. The International Space Station drew attention to it this morning when the solar-paneled spacecraft flew almost directly in front of the sunspot's dark core:

 

Maximilian Teodorescu took the picture from Magurele, Romania. "The space station made a very nice couplet with sunspot AR1289," he says. "This was the second ISS transit of the sun in three days for my location."

Readers, would like to try photographing your own ISS-sunspot conjunctions? Transit predictions are available from Calsky.com. And, of course, you'll need a solar telescope.

more images: from Theo Ramakers of Ruthlege, GA


September 2011 Aurora Gallery
[previous Septembers: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004]

  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 September 10, 2011 there were 1244 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2003 QC10
Sep 18
50 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 SV55
Sep 19
67.5 LD
--
1.2 km
2007 TD
Sep 23
3.8 LD
--
58 m
2002 AG29
Oct 9
77.1 LD
--
1.0 km
2000 OJ8
Oct 13
49.8 LD
--
2.5 km
2009 TM8
Oct 17
1.1 LD
--
8 m
2011 FZ2
Nov 7
75.9 LD
--
1.6 km
2005 YU55
Nov 8
0.8 LD
--
175 m
1994 CK1
Nov 16
68.8 LD
--
1.5 km
1996 FG3
Nov 23
39.5 LD
--
1.1 km
2003 WM7
Dec 9
47.6 LD
--
1.5 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
Science Central
 
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