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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: 478.5 km/sec
density: 3.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2332 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
1815 UT Jan11
24-hr: B8
1355 UT Jan11
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2330 UT
Daily Sun: 11 Jan. 10
Sunspot 1040 (a.k.a. old sunspot 1035) is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 25
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 09 Jan 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 1 day (11%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 772 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 09 Jan 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 82 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 09 Jan 2010

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
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.5 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2333 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Jan. 12th or 13th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Jan 11 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
15 %
15 %
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: 2010 Jan 11 2201 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 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
January 11, 2010

SATELLITE FLYBYS APP: Turn your iPhone or iPod into a field-tested satellite tracker! Spaceweather.com presents the Satellite Flybys app.

 

MONDAY MORNING SKY SHOW: This morning, the crescent Moon and red giant star Antares converged in the dawn sky for a beautiful conjunction. Click to view images of the display from John Stetson of Portland, Maine; from Robert T. Smith of Stoneville, NC; and from David of Hudson, Florida.

BIG SUNSPOT: Sunspot 1040 is busy growing again. In only 24 hours, it has expanded from a barely visible "sun-speck" to a planet-sized active region with 15 dark cores and a tangled magnetic field. Steve Riegel sends this picture from his backyard observatory in Santa Maria, California:

"On Sunday, the clouds opened up for some fantastic viewing," says Riegel. "I photographed the active region using a Lunt 60 solar telescope."

Sunspot 1040 is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Its appearance continues a recent trend of intensifying solar activity. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours. Stay tuned.

more images: from Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana; from James Kevin Ty of Manila, Philippines; from Matt Wastell of Brisbane, Australia; from Alcaria Rego of Almada, Portugal; from Monty Leventhal OAM of Sydney, Australia; from Karzaman Ahmad of Langkawi National Observatory, Malaysia; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Paul Schneider of Wilton, Connecticut; from J. Maciaszek, C. Cusack, J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from Gianfranco Meregalli of Milano, Italy; from Javad Tasooji of Tehran, Iran; from Brian Colville of Cambray, ON, Canada.

SUN PILLARS: Lately, luminous columns of light have been popping up all around the northern hemisphere. They are called "sun pillars," and they look like this:

"I noticed this effect occuring as the sun neared the horizon on Sunday evening," says photographer Julian Mole of Bury Down, Berkshire, UK. "Despite having cold, numb fingers, I had to capture the scene!" He did that using a Canon 20D set at ISO 400 for 1/125 sec.

Sun pillars appear when sunlight shines through plate-shaped ice crystals that flutter down from cold clouds like leaves falling from trees. Although they can be seen at any time of year, sun pillars are especially common during times of extreme cold--like now. Look for them around sunrise or sunset when the geometry is just right.

more images: from Martin Popek of Nýdek, Czech republic; from John Napper of East Hagbourne, Oxfordshire, UK; from Andrea Douglass of Fleetwood, North Carolina; from Mark Urwiller of Omaha, Nebraska; from P-M Hedén of Tänndalen, Sweden; from John C McConnell of Maghaberry, Northern Ireland;


January Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Januarys: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2001]

       
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 January 11, 2010 there were 1091 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Jan. 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 AL2
Jan. 11
11.5 LD
20
23 m
24761 Ahau
Jan. 11
70.8 LD
16
1.4 km
2000 YH66
Jan. 12
69.5 LD
17
1.1 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 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 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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