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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 291.8 km/sec
density: 1.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A7
1925 UT Sep24
24-hr: A9
0020 UT Sep24
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 24 Sept. 09
Sunspots 1026 and1027 are members of new Solar Cycle 24. Photo credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 31
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 23 Sept 2009

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2009 total: 212 days (80%)
Since 2004: 723 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 23 Sept 2009

Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.9 nT
Bz: 3.5 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Sep 24 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
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: 2009 Sep 24 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
30 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
35 %
MINOR
01 %
10 %
SEVERE
01 %
05 %
What's up in Space
September 24, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you miss the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

SPACE STATION FLYBYS: If you see a spaceship tonight, it's not your imagination. The International Space Station is flying over many US towns and cities this week. It's brighter than any star, easy to see, the only trick is knowing when to look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys.

SUNSPOTS IN A DUST STORM: Yesterday, Sydney, Australia, experienced its worst dust storm in 70 years. The storm grounded planes, stopped traffic, and reduced visibility of familiar landmarks nearly to zero. Only one thing was easy to see in through the haze--sunspots:

"The haze allowed me to take a photo of the sun without the use of any filters whatsoever," says photographer Andrew Catsaitis. "My Canon 20D captured a unique image of sunspots 1026 and 1027 in a dull dusty sky with an accompanying local tree line."

The dust clouds formed in Australia's parched interior when gale force winds snatched up tons of topsoil and threw it high into the sky, before carrying it hundreds of miles to the east. The Sydney Morning Herald christened it "the day the country blew into town."

Warning: Naked-eye observations of the sun can be dangerous even when the sun is dimmed by tons of blowing dust. For best results and maximum eye safety, use a properly-filtered solar telescope.

more sunspot images: from John Nassr of Baguio, Philippines; from Paul Haese of Blackwood, South Australia; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota; from S.Berube and J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from John C McConnell of Maghaberry Northern Ireland; from Parimal Dave of Pune, India; from Stefano Sello of Pisa, Italy; from Gianluca Valentini of Rimini, Italy; from Ingmar Glas of Weißenfeld, Bavaria, Germany; from Dr. Wayne Wooten of Pensacola Junior College, Pensacola, Florida; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Athanasios Georgiou of Filyro, Greece; from Gianluca Valentini of Rimini, Italy; from Fulvio Mete of Rome, Italy;

DRACULA'S RAINBOW: Earlier this month, Dóra Nehéz was sitting in the window seat of an airplane that had just taken off from Tirgu Mures, Transylvania. "We were about 1 km high when I looked out the window and saw a rainbow underneath the airplane," says Nehéz. "It lasted about a minute--long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few pictures."

Rainbows are usually seen by looking up, but not this time. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley offers a grave explanation for the unusual phenomenon:

"Unlike a certain Transylvanian resident, rainbows prefer sunlight and their reflections really are visible in mirrors!" he says. "Because rainbows are caused by sunlight reflecting from raindrops, rainbows and the sun are always located on the opposite sides of the sky. In this case, a high sun combined with fortuitous raindrops below the airplane to produce a very low 'bow."

"Look for such rainbows when coming into land on a showery day," he suggests. "It's something to sink your teeth into."


Sept. 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Septembers: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2002, 2001]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

       
Near-Earth Asteroids
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 is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.
On September 24, 2009 there were 1076 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Sept. 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 QC35
Sept. 2
2.9 LD
17
35 m
2009 RY3
Sept. 11
1.9 LD
15
50 m
2009 RR
Sept. 16
2.8 LD
18
33 m
2009 RG2
Sept. 21
9.1 LD
19
31 m
2009 HD21
Sept. 29
22.9 LD
15
1.0 km
1998 FW4
Sept. 29
8.6 LD
14
550 m
Notes: LD means "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 Links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
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