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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: 470.3 km/sec
density: 11.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2241 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Aug26
24-hr: A0
2245 UT Aug26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 25 Aug 07
Sunspot 969 poses no threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI.
Sunspot number: 14
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 23 Aug 2007
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Updated: 2007 Aug 26 2101 UT
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 15.7 nT
Bz: 7.5 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole should reach Earth late on Aug. 26th or early Aug. 27th. Credit: SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2007 Aug 26 2203 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: 2007 Aug 26 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
20 %
MINOR
15 %
10 %
SEVERE
05 %
01 %
What's up in Space
August 26, 2007
Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a fun new astronomy helper from Meade.

EERIE RED EYES: At 3:30 am Monday morning, the red planet Mars and the red giant star Aldebaran will rise in the east side-by-side like a pair of eerie red eyes in the sky. Set your alarm! [sky map] [full story]

LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Tuesday, Aug. 28th, the full Moon will slip into Earth's shadow for a two-hour total eclipse. People on the Pacific side of Earth including much of North America (map) will have the best view as the Moon turns a dreamy shade of sunset red. Graphic artist Larry Koehn created this animation of the event:


Click to view the full-sized animation

If you're in viewing range of the eclipse and you wish to photograph it, browse this gallery and check for successful photo settings used by other photographers during the March 3, 2007, total eclipse. The action begins Tuesday morning around 0900 UT or 2 am Pacific Daylight Time; be ready!

Live eclipse webcasts: from Las Vegas, Nevada.

FIRST LIGHT FOR THE USA: Sometimes the prettiest solar activity ... is a sunrise. On Aug. 21st, veteran solar photographer Greg Piepol captured "these first few rays of a new day" from the summit of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, Maine:

"I've enjoyed many high-tech filtered images of the sun, but sometimes just plain sunlight is breathtaking," he says. The desktop wallpaper version is available here.

Note: Piepol caught the first rays of the sun to hit the continental USA on Aug. 21st--or not. It depends on who you ask. "Cadillac Mountain is the highest point on the eastern seaboard at 1530 feet and it is widely thought to be the point of first light," he explains. "But some say that Lubec, Maine, the easternmost place in the USA, is the true point of first light during summer months." Photographers in Maine, ready your cameras and synchronize your watches. You have a beautiful problem to solve.

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 August 26, 2007 there were 878 potentially hazardous asteroids.
July 2007 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2007 FV42
July 2
53 LD
15
1.2 km
2007 MB4
July 4
7.6 LD
16
130 m
2007 DT103
July 29
9.3 LD
15
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 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.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  From the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
  more links...
©2007, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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