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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 466.5 km/sec
density: 2.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2
1958 UT May25
24-hr: C2
1958 UT May25
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 25 May 12
Crackling with C-class solar flares, a new sunspot is emerging at the circled location. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 96
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 24 May 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 24 May 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 116 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 24 May 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.8 nT
Bz: 1 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 25 May 12
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 May 25 2200 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: 2012 May 25 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
05 %
MINOR
05 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
25 %
15 %
SEVERE
25 %
10 %
 
Friday, May. 25, 2012
What's up in space
 

It's a once in a lifetime event: the June 5th Transit of Venus across the sun. Watch the world wide webcast sponsored by the Coca-Cola Science Center and NASA.

 
Venus Transit Live

PARTIAL ECLIPSE OF THE STRAWBERRY MOON: On Monday, June 4th, the Moon will pass through the shadow of Earth, producing a partial lunar eclipse visible across the Pacific from China to the United States. Get the full story from Science@NASA.

DRAGON DOCKED: On Friday morning, May 25th, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS), making it the first commercial spacecraft to dock with the ISS. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden called it "a critical step" in the future of American spaceflight. "Now that a U.S. company has proven its ability to resupply the space station, it opens a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space," he says. "By handing off space station transportation to the private sector, NASA is freed up to carry out the really hard work of sending astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before." [full story]

Geoff Horner saw the two spacecraft converging last night over St. George, Utah. Click to view a close-up image of the pair:

"This was my best opportunity to capture this historic event from my location," says Horner. "The ISS and Dragon were shining at magnitudes -2.4 and 1.9, respectively. The two spacecraft were leaving Earth's shadow, separated by a matter of seconds, as they cruised by the end of the Big Dipper's handle!"

The Dragon will remain connected to the ISS for about three weeks, giving astronauts plenty of time to unload its 1200 lb of supplies and re-load it with used scientific equipment for return to Earth. Reversing the process of connecting the spacecraft to the station, astronauts will use the robotic arm to remove the capsule. The Dragon will then de-orbit and return to Earth under parachutes, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

more images: from David Blanchard of Flagstaff, Arizona; from Alan Thomas of Central Otago, New Zealand; from Stephen & Matthew Lindner of Ann Arbor, Michigan;

ECLIPSE SUNBEAMS: For many observers, the best part of the May 20th solar eclipse is not what the Moon did to the sun, but rather what it did to the sunbeams. Gaps in clouds, leafy trees, and window shades cast pinhole images of the smiling crescent sun onto all kinds of happy surfaces:

"My daughter Antonia was sitting in just the right place," says Tino Hammid of Los Angeles, California. "The crescent images are created by small holes in the closed window blinds that act as a series of pinhole cameras."

Many more pictures of the eclipse--from the sun to sunbeams--may be found in our new realtime photo gallery. It's an experimental service, so feel free to report problems. Click on the link below and start exploring:

Space Weather Real Time Image Gallery
[Submit your photos] [NASA video: Solar Eclipse over the USA]

  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 May 25, 2012 there were 1293 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 KW
May 21
3.4 LD
--
19 m
2012 JV11
May 22
6.7 LD
--
68 m
2012 KT12
May 23
1.4 LD
--
24 m
2002 VX94
May 26
72.8 LD
--
1.1 km
2012 KP24
May 28
0.1 LD
--
26 m
2002 AC
Jun 16
62.2 LD
--
1.2 km
1999 BJ8
Jun 16
68.8 LD
--
1.1 km
2005 GO21
Jun 21
17.1 LD
--
2.2 km
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 EW9
Jul 16
46.8 LD
--
2.1 km
2002 AM31
Jul 22
13.7 LD
--
1.0 km
37655 Illapa
Aug 12
37 LD
--
1.2 km
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 web 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 Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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