SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 373.1 km/s density:3.3 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2255 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C5 1955 UT Jun13 24-hr: M7 1140 UT Jun13 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 11 Jun '01 Active regions 9489 and 9494 have beta-gamma magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class solar flares. There is a hint of a delta-class magnetic field above 9494 that could unleash even stronger flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals no substantial sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 193 More about sunspots Updated: 12 Jun 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 43 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 11 Jun 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.9 nT Bz: 1.5 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2256 UT Coronal Holes: There are no substantial Earth-facing coronal holes on the Sun today. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope. More about coronal holes SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below. Updated at 2001 Jun 13 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 50 % | 50 % | CLASS X | 10 % | 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 2001 Jun 13 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 13 Jun 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! JUPITER AND A CME: On Sunday, June 10, coronagraphs on board the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured this movie of Jupiter approaching the Sun just as a many-billion ton coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from our star. The giant planet will pass less than a degree from the Sun this week -- an event astronomers call conjunction. SOLAR OUTLOOK: The Sun is peppered with small spots. Two of them, 9489 and 9494, have twisted magnetic fields that could harbor energy for strong M-class solar flares. Despite the rising sunspot number solar activity so far this week has been generally low. Above: This white-light animation of the Sun shows the south-tropical sunspot AR9494 ballooning in size June 7th through 10th. Image credit: SOHO/MDI. RADIO METEORS: The annual Arietid meteor shower peaked on Thursday, June 7th. The Arietids are unusual because they are daytime meteors -- most of them streak through the sky unnoticed while the bright Sun is overhead. Nevertheless, you can listen to the elusive Arietids (the shower remains active until early July) by tuning in to NASA's online meteor radar. Radio meteor listener Stan Nelson captured this radar echo from an Arietid that passed above the Naval Space Surveillance Radar on June 7th. [FULL STORY] WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | 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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time. [more] On 13 Jun 2001 there were 310 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids May-June 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | 2001 JV1 | 2001-Jun-06 07:53 | 18.0 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. - TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
- LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]
Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar at the Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet. Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun. Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001. Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights" Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |