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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 396.5 km/sec
density: 2.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1909 UT Jun12
24-hr: C2
0315 UT Jun12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 12 Jun 12
Crackling with C-class solar flares, a phalanx of sunspots (1504 - 1507) is turning toward Earth. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 114
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 11 Jun 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 11 Jun 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 134 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 11 Jun 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 5
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.2 nT
Bz: 3.7 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 12 Jun 12
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Jun 12 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
40 %
40 %
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: 2012 Jun 12 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
05 %
MINOR
05 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
10 %
SEVERE
10 %
05 %
 
Tuesday, Jun. 12, 2012
What's up in space
 

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Own your own meteorite

SUBSIDING GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A minor geomagnetic storm that crested during the opening hours of June 12th is subsiding now. At maximum, it ranked 5 on the 0-to-9 K-index scale of magnetic disturbances and turned the skies purple over Dawsonville, New Brunswick:

"The auroras lasted just a couple of minutes, [but they were beautiful]," says photographer Bart Firth. "They were blue to purple in color."

The storm was sparked by an episode of "negative IMF." That is, south-pointing magnetic fields in the solar wind opened a crack in Earth's magnetosphere; solar wind poured in and fueled the display. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% to 20% chance of similar storms in the next 24 hours as the solar wind continues to blow. Magnetic storm alerts: text, voice.

more images: from Guillaume Poulin of Cookshire, Québec, Canada; from Christopher Gregg of Mount Washington Observatory, New Hampshire; from Gilles Boutin of St-Michel Québec Canada;

SHAPE-SHIFTING SUNSPOT: As it pops and crackles with low level solar flares, sunspot AR1504 is rapidly evolving. During the past 24 hours the active region has shape-shifted from an irregular dumbbell into a dark ring of magnetism wide enough to circumscribe a half-dozen planet Earths:

NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of M-class solar flares today as the sunspot's magnetic field shifts and destabilizes. Eruptions later this week could be geoeffective as the sunspot turns to face Earth. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

TRIPLE FLYBY: As the solstice approaches on June 20th, the International Space Station is spending some extra time in the sun. Ironically, this means you're more likely to see it in the night sky. Mark Humpage photographed three ISS flybys over his home in Lutterworth UK on June 10th:

"There were actually four flybys this evening at 2207, 2343, 0119 and 0256 hrs, however, the first was clouded out," says Humpage. "I added a few bursts of flash just before the first flyby to light up the garden and then left the camera running all night. The following morning I extracted all the images and stacked them to produce the final composite."

Readers, now is a great time to look for the behemoth spacecraft glistening in sunlight among the stars. Flyby times are available on your smartphone or from Space Weather's Simple Satellite Tracker.


  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 June 12, 2012 there were 1311 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 LJ
Jun 10
1.6 LD
--
33 m
2012 LT
Jun 11
5.2 LD
--
29 m
2002 AC
Jun 16
62.2 LD
--
1.2 km
1999 BJ8
Jun 16
68.8 LD
--
1.1 km
2005 GO21
Jun 21
17.1 LD
--
2.2 km
2012 LU
Jun 23
5.7 LD
--
45 m
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.2 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
--
1.0 km
1998 TU3
Aug 25
49.2 LD
--
4.9 km
2009 AV
Aug 26
62.8 LD
--
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 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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