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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: 352.3 km/sec
density: 0.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A2
1830 UT May16
24-hr: A2
1830 UT May16
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 16 May 10
There are no sunspots on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 15 May 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 7 days
2010 total: 28 days (19%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 797 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days
explanation | more info
Updated 15 May 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 70 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 15 May 2010

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: 6.3 nT
Bz: 2.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on or about May 16th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 May 16 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
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 May 16 2201 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
10 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
May 16, 2010

NEW AND IMPROVED: Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a field-tested global satellite tracker. The Satellite Flybys app now works in all countries.

 

ATLANTIS-ISS, DOCKED: Space shuttle Atlantis has docked to the International Space Station (ISS), forming a bright and busy ensemble of two spacecraft. Sky watchers everywhere should be alert for ISS-Atlantis flybys of on Sunday evening.

WEEKEND SKY SHOW: This weekend, Venus amd the Moon are inconjunction, beaming together through the sunset on both Saturday and Sunday evenings. Last night, Dennis Mammana photographed the display from Borrego Springs, California:

"The Moon appeared about 4o below the bright planet Venus at dusk," says Mammana. "Although the Moon is officially in a crescent phase, sky watchers could easily see the outline of the full moon, which was illuminated by Earthshine--sunlight reflected back to the moon from the Earth itself. It was Leonardo da Vinci who first explained this beautiful phenomenon."

It will be on display again tonight. Look west at sunset!

more images: from Michel Renaud of Laval Observatory, Quebec, Canada; from Ken Jennings of Seoguipo, Jeju Island, South Korea; from Dale Nosko of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; from Mark Staples at Little Lake Santa Fe, Florida; from Wienie van der Oord of Eastern Negev esert, Israel; from Joseph Shaw of Bozeman, Montana; from Bryan White of Denver, Colorado; from Richard Sass of Cloudcroft, New Mexico; from Adrian New of San Antonio, Texas;


May 2010 Aurora Gallery
[previous Mays: 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002] [aurora alerts]

 
       
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 May 16, 2010 there were 1127 potentially hazardous asteroids.
May 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2010 JR34
May 14
5.8 LD
21
12 m
2003 HR32
May 17
55.2 LD
17
1.0 km
2010 JN71
May 26
8.2 LD
18
245 m
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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