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LONG RANGE OUTLOOK: A stream of solar wind is heading for Earth, due to arrive on July 28-30. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras on those dates in case the impact sparks geomagnetic storms. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
MAGNETIC BRIDGE: Sunspots AR1528 and AR1529 appear to be far apart. More than 200,000 km of stellar surface separate the two. Nevertheless, they are connected by a tubular bridge of magnetism. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) photographed the vast structure on July 24th:
This extreme ultraviolet image traces the bridge via the glow of hot plasma it contains. Material can flow back and forth inside the tube, allowing one sunspot to respond to what the other is doing.
Researchers once thought that sunspots were independent operators, but SDO has shown over and over again that widely-spaced sunspots can be linked. An eruption in one can set off an explosion in another, leading to a chain reaction that can spread around the circumference of the sun. The global eruption of August 2010 is a memorable example.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
BUSY INTERSECTION: The International Space Station is not alone. A Russian supply ship (the Progress M-15M) is chasing the ISS in its orbit around Earth. Monika Landy-Gyebnar saw them both when they passed over Veszprem, Hungary, on the morning of July 24th:
"As the ISS emerged from the shadow of Earth I noticed a faint small dot following the space station. It was the Progress M-15M," says Landy-Gyebnar. "The Progress was well visible until it reached the dawn-bright sky in the east. Also present were Jupiter, Venus, the Pleiades and the Hyades--stunning! I could not stop looking at them even after the ISS disappeared into the rosy dawn clouds by the horizon. A short timelapse shows the ISS+Progress pair flying less than a degree away from Jupiter."
Another spaceship will be arriving soon. Japan's "Kounotori 3" cargo carrier, also known as the HTV-3, is due to join the ISS around 7 am CDT on Friday, July 27th, carrying almost 4 tons of supplies and equipment. After the HTV-3 docks on Friday, the Progress rocket will follow suit on Sunday. Until then, there is plenty to see. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker or your smartphone for flyby times.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]
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 July 25, 2012 there were 1323 potentially hazardous asteroids.
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. | The official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory |
| Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| the underlying science of space weather |