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

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 633.5 km/s
density: 3.6 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2244 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B8 2000 UT Jan23
24-hr: M2 1240 UT Jan23
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 23 Jan '03
Sunspot 269 unleashed an M-class solar flare on Tuesday. It merits watching as a possible source of additional explosions. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

The Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals perhaps one or two small sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 152
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 22 Jan 2003

Coronal Holes:

Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.
More about coronal holes

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 9.2 nT
B_z: 1.2 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 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 Jan 23 2200 UTC

FLARE	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
CLASS M	30 %	30 %
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 Jan 23 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	40 %	25 %
MINOR	20 %	10 %
SEVERE	10 %	01 %

High latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	50 %	40 %
MINOR	30 %	20 %
SEVERE	20 %	10 %

What's Up in Space -- 23 Jan 2003
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AURORA WARNING: Solar wind gusts are buffeting Earth's magnetic field today, so sky watchers should be alert for auroras. No matter where you live, the best time to look will be during the hours around local midnight on Jan. 23rd and Jan. 24th.

Above: Australian Chris Wyatt took this picture of the Sun on Jan. 23rd "through the smoke of brushfires burning some 250km east of Bendigo. The sun was so dimmed," says Wyatt, "I could use 10x50 binoculars and see six groups of sunspots on the face of the sun."

SUNSPOT WATCH: None of the spots on the Sun today look impressive, yet solar activity is rising. X-ray sensors on Earth-orbiting satellites have recorded at least three M-class solar flares since Tuesday. One of the explosions on Jan. 21st hurled a coronal mass ejection into space--but not toward Earth.

HOUR OF THE PLANETS: Dashing out the door to work or school? Pause for a moment and look up. Two dazzling planets are in the morning sky: Venus and Jupiter. Even after all the other stars and planets have begun to fade against the brightening sky, these two are absolutely eye-catching. [full story]

Right: "I braved -3^o F in northeastern Wisconsin to capture this photo of Venus reigning in the clear morning sky," says Peg Staudenmaier.

STARSHINE RETURNS: Prof. Gil Moore, the director of Project Starshine, reports: "The Starshine 3 satellite re-entered Earth's atmosphere shortly after 0500 UT (midnight EST) on January 21, 2003. It was on a ground track that passed over central California, Nevada, Idaho and western Canada, swept across Hudson's Bay in Canada, over the southern tip of Greenland, down along the eastern coast of Scotland and England, continuing in a southeasterly direction along the length of Italy, across the Mediterranean and into North Africa. That covers a lot of populated territory, and I'm really hoping someone saw it." If you saw the fireball or (better yet) took its picture, please let us know!

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 23 Jan 2003 there were 487 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

Jan. 2003 Earth-asteroid encounters

ASTEROID

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

2002 AA29

Jan. 9

15 LD

2003 BH

Jan. 10

25 LD

2002 CQ11

Jan. 11

18 LD

2003 AA3

Jan. 11

29 LD

2003 AC23

Jan. 23

26 LD

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]

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.

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.

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.

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?

Vandenberg AFB missile launch schedule.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU?

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; Jan-Mar., 2002; Apr-Jun., 2002; Jul-Sep., 2002; Oct-Dec., 2002;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

Editor's Note: Space weather forecasts that appear on this site are based in part on data from NASA and NOAA satellites and ground-monitoring stations. Predictions and explanations are formulated by Dr. Tony Phillips; they are not official statements of any government organ or guarantees of space weather activity.