SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 602.1 km/s density:1.3 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C2 2240 UT Jun24 24-hr: C5 0455 UT Jun24 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 24 Jun '01 Active region 9511 has a twisted delta-class magnetic field that could harbor energy for X-class solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals a substantial sunspot group on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 228 More about sunspots Updated: 23 Jun 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 31 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 21 Jun 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.2 nT Bz: 4.1 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT Coronal Holes: A small coronal hole is crossing the middle of the Sun and sending a solar wind stream toward Earth. Modest solar wind gusts will probably buffet our planet's magnetosphere 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 Jun 24 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 40 % | 40 % | 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 Jun 24 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | MINOR | 15 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 24 Jun 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! SUNSPOT WATCH: Sunspot 9511 has developed a twisted delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for powerful X-class solar flares. Any eruptions from the active region will likely be Earth-directed as the sunspot crosses the Sun's central meridian in the days ahead. Above: This movie shows weekend activity in active regions 9511 (left) and 9503 (right) as seen through SOHO's extreme ultraviolet telescope. NEW! ECLIPSE SOUNDS AND PICTURES: Onlookers cried out in delight in Lusaka, Zambia, Thursday when the Moon covered the Sun and revealed the dazzling corona. Click here to enjoy the sights and sounds of last week's eclipse including wild applause by sky watchers and temperature readings from the path of totality, where the Moon's shadow caused thermometers to plunge 5 degrees! Visit the SpaceWeather.com Eclipse Gallery THE BIGGEST EXPLOSIONS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM: NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares. [full story] 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 24 Jun 2001 there were 312 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids May-June 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | 2001 JV1 | 2001-Jun-06 07:53 | 18.0 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. - 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 |