SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 290.2 km/s density:3.7 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: B7 1750 UT May21 24-hr: C7 0320 UT May21 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 21 May '01 Sunspot 9463 doubled in size during the weekend and poses a threat for isolated M-class solar flares. None of the spots on the visible disk have remarkably complex magnetic fields. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals no substantial spots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 99 More about sunspots Updated: 20 May 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 23 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 21 May 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 8.3 nT Bz: 1 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2247 UT Coronal Holes: The northern finger of this narrow coronal hole could send solar wind gusts toward Earth in the days ahead. 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 May 21 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 25 % | 30 % | 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 2001 May 21 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 25 % | MINOR | 10 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 10 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 35 % | MINOR | 15 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 15 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 21 May 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! THE WEEKEND SUN: An M6-class solar flare erupted on Sunday from a site just over the Sun's west limb. The backside explosion hurled a coronal mass ejection into space (stay tuned for images) and away from Earth. Soon after the flare, the flux of 10 MeV solar protons around our planet soared one hundredfold -- just below the threshold for an S1-category radiation storm. CRUMBLING COMET: Comet C/2000 A2 (LINEAR) is falling apart! The ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile revealed on May 18th that the comet's icy core contained at least three "mini-comets" -- continuing a general disintegration that began in late April. This is a naked eye object for southern hemisphere sky watchers, but just barely. At visual magnitude 5.5, the comet is best viewed through binoculars [finder chart]. The comet's appearance is changing as volatile ices in the fragmenting nucleus are newly exposed to solar radiation. No one knows how much brighter C/2000 A2 will become between now and May 24th, when it will experience a 0.78 AU close encounter with the Sun. See: [3D orbit][ephemeris] 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 21 May 2001 there were 309 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids May 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | 2001 GQ2 | 2001-Apr-27 12:00 | 7.7 LD | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon - 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 |