|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
speed: 721.5 km/s
density: 1.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B2 2110 UT May14
24-hr: B2 2110 UT May14
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 14 May '03 
Sunspot 358 is growing fast and could soon pose a threat for solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
The Far Side of the Sun
This holographic image reveals a few possible sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot Number: 59
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 13 May 2003
Coronal Holes:
Earth remains inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.
More about coronal holes Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.7 nT
Bz: 3.5 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
 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 2003 May 14 2200 UTC
| FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | CLASS M | 10 % | 10 % | | 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 2003 May 14 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | ACTIVE | 35 % | 25 % | | MINOR | 20 % | 15 % | | SEVERE | 10 % | 05 % |
High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | | ACTIVE | 35 % | 35 % | | MINOR | 15 % | 15 % | | SEVERE | 10 % | 05 % |
| | What's Up in Space -- 14 May 2003
Subscribe to Space Weather News! LUNAR ECLIPSE: This week the full moon will glide through Earth's shadow and turn a lovely shade of sunset-red; it's the first lunar eclipse of 2003. When to look: Thursday night, May 15th, if you live in North or South America; Friday morning May 16th, if you live in Europe. Follow the links below for more information: ANTARCTIC AURORAS: Night has fallen and the sun won't come up again until August, but it's not completely dark at McMurdo Station, Antarctica. That's because auroras have been lighting up the skies. McMurdo resident Tom Hamann captured this picture of the Southern Lights on May 11th: 
"We don't see good auroras at McMurdo very often," says Hamann. Auroras circle Earth's magnetic poles like a donut, bright around the rim and dark in the middle. "Because we're fairly close to the south magnetic pole, we're usually inside the donut where auroras are dim. Faint auroras are hard to see here in 'town' because there is so much light pollution." The orange color of the foreground, he says, is due to 'city lights' reflecting from some fog and low-lying clouds.  Earth is inside a high-speed solar wind stream that could trigger more auroras tonight. The best observing sites will be at high latitudes: e.g., the southern regions of New Zealand and Australia, northern Europe, Canada, Alaska and northern US states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. Would you like us to call you when the geomagnetic storm begins? Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE
MERCURY TRANSIT: For 5 hours on May 7th, the planet Mercury passed directly between Earth and the sun; sky watchers on 5 continents photographed the rare transit: gallery.  Above: At the Sonnenborgh Observatory in Utrecht, Netherlands, about 200 visitors watched Mercury slowly cross a 1-meter-wide projected image of the Sun. Onlooker Robert Wielinga took this extraordinary picture of the projected solar disk and his own shadow falling across it. [more] WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | SpaceWeather PHONE | 
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.
On 14 May 2003 there were 511 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids May 2003 Earth-asteroid encounters Notes: LD is a "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.
 - LEONIDS 2002: The Leonids have come and gone, but our meteor gallery keeps growing. Check out the latest additions, which include a stunning image of 44 meteors emerging from the radiant in Leo.
- DAWN PLANETS: Just before dawn on Sunday, Dec. 1st, the planets Venus and Mars converged and formed a lovely triangle with the slender crescent Moon. [gallery]
- SUMMER AURORAS: August was a good month for auroras. Visit our gallery and see what happened in the skies of Europe and North America.
- NEARBY ASTEROID: Asteroid 2002 NY40 came so close to Earth on August 18th that people could see it through binoculars or small telescopes. [gallery]
- PERSEIDS 2002: Sky watchers spotted plenty of bright shooting stars--including some colorful earthgrazers--during the 2002 Perseid meteor shower. [gallery]
- AURORA SURPRISE: An unexpected geomagnetic storm began on August 1st as night fell across North America. Sky watchers spotted vivid auroras over both the United States and Canada.
- CRESCENT SUN: See strange shadows, weird sunsets, eclipse dogs, crescent-eyed turkeys and extraordinary rings of fire photographed during the June 10th solar eclipse. [gallery]
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