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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 370.9 km/sec
density: 3.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C6
1926 UT Jun13
24-hr: M1
1319 UT Jun13
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 13 Jun 12
Sunspot 1504 poses a growing threat for Earth-directed M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 132
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 12 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 12 Jun 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 141 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 12 Jun 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= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.6 nT
Bz: 2.0 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 13 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 13 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
60 %
60 %
CLASS X
05 %
05 %
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 13 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
10 %
10 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
 
Wednesday, Jun. 13, 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

CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forcasters estimate a 40% chance of M-class solar flares today as a phalanx of sunspots turns toward Earth. The most likely source of geoeffective eruptions is sunspot AR1504, which has grown into an active region almost 10 times wider than Earth. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

As predicted, the sunspot has flared. Magnetic fields above AR1504 erupted on June 13th at 1319 UT, producing a long-duration M1-class solar flare. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme UV glow of the blast:

The ongoing explosion is taking hours to unfold, which means it is very powerful despite its middling M1-peak. Long duration flares often hurl coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space, and this one is probably no exception. Stay tuned for updates about a possible Earth-directed CME.

SUMMER LIGHTS: The signs of northern summer are beginning to appear in the skies over Canada. "For one thing, I can see the ISS several times each night as it flys through the solstice sunlight high above Earth," reports Guillaume Poulin of Cookshire, Québec, "Second, fireflies are very active. And finally I can see the Milky Way at 11 pm in shirt-sleeve weather." He documented the scene on June 12th:

Aware that a minor geomagnetic storm was underway, "I quickly framed my camera and started a 2 minute exposure in which I recorded the ISS, the Milky way, a swarm of fireflies, and the faint glow of the subsiding aurora. What a beautiful night!"

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
[Submit your photos] [NASA videos: 2012 Transit of Venus, ISS Transit of Venus]

  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 13, 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
5.8 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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