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

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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 620.5 km/s
density:
1.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B1 2050 UT Jan26
24-hr: B4 0625 UT Jan26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 26 Jan '06

Sunspot 848 is decaying and no longer poses a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 42
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 25 Jan 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals one medium-sized sunspot on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.3 nT
Bz:
0.5 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

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


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 2006 Jan 26 2204 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 05 % 05 %
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 2006 Jan 26 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 15 %
MINOR 10 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 25 % 15 %
MINOR 15 % 05 %
SEVERE 05 % 01 %

What's Up in Space -- 26 Jan 2006
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Did you miss the aurora storm? Next time get a wake-up call. Sign up for SpaceWeather PHONE.

SUNSPOT UPDATE: Last week, sunspot 848 burst through the surface of the sun and quickly grew into a planet-sized behemoth. Now it is falling apart: movie. With the decline of this 'spot, solar activity is returning to low levels.

RINGED PLANET: A quick intake of breath. Disbelief. A second look. That's what usually happens when someone sees Saturn for the first time through a backyard telescope.

There's no better time to look than this Friday. On Jan. 27th, Saturn will be at its closest to Earth for all of 2006. Even a small telescope will show the planet's exquisite rings.


Saturn on Jan. 21st, photographed by Alan Friedman using a 10-inch backyard telescope.

Ready to see for yourself? Saturn rises in the east after sunset (it looks like a bright yellow star) and soars overhead at midnight. You'll find it in the constellation Cancer just below the Beehive star cluster: sky map.

LAPLAND AURORAS: Last night, for no particular reason, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tipped south. This caused a hole to open in Earth's magnetic field, allowing solar wind energy to slip through. The result: beautiful auroras over Scandinavia.

"The auroras were among the best I've ever seen," says photographer Jan Lameer, vacationing in Porjus, Lapland, Sweden. "Our long travel north of the arctic circle was worth it."

more images: from Geir T. Øye of Ørsta, Norway;



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 26 Jan 2006 there were 762 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

January 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
(meters)
2005 XO4

Jan. 1

18.5 LD

20+

~150 m
2005 YM128

Jan. 1

19.8 LD

19

~75 m
2005 YO128

Jan. 3

6.5 LD

16

~60 m
2006 AB3

Jan. 4

13.5 LD

21

~15 m
2005 YU8

Jan. 13

19.8 LD

19

~70 m
2006 AN

Jan. 13

18.5 LD

20

~50 m
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.

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.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

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. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

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. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar 2005; Apr-Jun 2005; Jul-Sep 2005; Oct-Dec 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email

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