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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 406.5 km/s
density:
1.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2233 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B3 2130 UT Sep20
24-hr: C1 0840 UT Sep20
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 18 Sep '05

Neither of these sunspots poses a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 43
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 19 Sep 2005

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no large 'spots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.8 nT
Bz:
-0.0 nT
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 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 2005 Sep 19 2204 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 20 % 10 %
CLASS X 10 % 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 2005 Sep 19 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 30 % 30 %
MINOR 15 % 15 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 20 Sep 2005
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AMAZING MARS: Ready to be amazed? Step outside tonight at 10 p.m. and look east. Just below the moon, you'll see Mars. It's very bright. Now consider this: Between now and Oct. 30th, the bright red planet, approaching Earth, is going to double in brightness again. See Mars tonight; imagine it in October. Amazing!

GOODBYE, and thanks for the auroras. Sunspot 798, the source of so much solar activity this month, is disappearing over the sun's western limb. The chance of Earth-directed flares from the active region is now zero.


Sunspot 798 crosses the sun: Sept 7-18, 2005.

In recent days, the 'spot has been decaying, so we probably won't see it again. By the time the sun's 27-day rotation swings it back around to face Earth, sunspot 798 should have dispersed.

When will the next great sunspot appear? Stay tuned: the sun is full of surprises.

HARVEST MOONDOGS: When the moon is bright and the sky is filled with wispy clouds, be alert for moondogs. Miroslav Grnja and Backy Petrovac of Serbia & Montenegro photographed these two moondogs flanking the Harvest Moon on Sept. 16th:

A moondog looks like a comet with a rainbow-colored head. In fact, it's a phenomenon of Earth's atmosphere, closely-related to sundogs. Ice crystals floating in cirrus clouds 5 to 10 km above the ground intercept moonbeams and bend them into a variety of shapes, not only 'dogs, but also luminous rings and pillars. Watch for them all.



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 20 Sep 2005 there were 710 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

August 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE (UT)

 MISS DISTANCE

 MAG.
1992 UY4

August 8

16 LD

 12
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.

Essential Web Links

NOAA Space Environment Center -- The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar., 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email

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