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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: 370.0 km/s
density:
5.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2244 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B1 2035 UT Sep22
24-hr: B3 0135 UT Sep22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 22 Sep '05

Sunspot 810 poses no threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 19
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 21 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: 2.7 nT
Bz:
0.5 nT south
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 21 2204 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 2005 Sep 21 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 10 % 10 %
MINOR 05 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 22 Sep 2005
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AUTUMNAL EQUINOX: Today is the autumnal equinox, the first day of autumn in the northern hemisphere. The sun is crossing the celestial equator, and day and night are of almost equal length. That's why we call it an equinox, which in Latin means "equal night." Today is an equinox in the southern hemisphere, too, but there it marks the beginning of spring. Wherever you are, enjoy the change of seasons.

ANALEMMA: If you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the figure-8 traced out by the Sun over the course of a year is called an analemma:

The analemma above was created by Iranian astronomer Mohammad Reaza Noroozi. Using a single piece of film, he painstakingly photographed the sun on 45 mornings spanning two years, 2003-2005. The picture was completed with a single exposure of the foreground, a beautiful building in Tehran.

The upper and lower tips of the "8" represent the solstices--the longest and shortest days of the year. Equinoxes (such as today) lie on the analemma exactly midway between the tips.

SOLAR ACTIVITY: There are no big spots on the sun today, but there is one very large prominence:

"Leapin' Lizzards, Batman! I've never seen a prominence quite like this one," says photographer Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York. Indeed it does appear to be leaping off the sun. This can happen when solar magnetic force fields, which hold the prominence aloft, erupt. If you have a safely-filtered solar telescope, check it out.

more images: fom Gary Palmer of Los Angeles, California; from John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine;



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 22 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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