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Solar wind
speed: 688.4 km/sec
density: 0.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B6
2142 UT May27
24-hr: B8
0211 UT May27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 27 May 13
None of these magnetically-simple sunspots poses a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 92
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 27 May 2013

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
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

Update
27 May 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 120 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 27 May 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.0 nT
Bz: 0.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 27 May 13
Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should hit Earth's magnetic field on June 1-2. Credit: SDO/AIA.

NEW: Spaceweather.com is now posting daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 05-26-2013 13:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 May 27 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
15 %
15 %
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: 2013 May 27 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
20 %
SEVERE
20 %
10 %
 
Monday, May. 27, 2013
What's up in space
 

When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.

 
Northern Lights - a Guide

ELECTRON STORM: In the past 24 hours, the flux of high-energy electrons swarming around Earth has increased more than tenfold. The source of this "electron storm" is a 700 km/s stream of solar wind buffeting Earth's magnetic field. NOAA cautions satellite operators that "satellite systems may experience significant charging" in response to accumulated electrons. SWx alerts: text, voice.

NOCTILUCENT CLOUD SEASON BEGINS: Over the weekend, sky watchers in northern Europe and Canada spotted electric-blue tendrils of light reaching out of the western sky at sunset. This signals the beginning of the 2013 season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs). Photographer Silvar Mehik sends this picture from the island of Saaremaa in Estonia:

NLCs are Earth's highest clouds. In the upper atmosphere, 80+ km high, tiny ice crystals nucleate around meteoroids and other aerosols. When the crystals catch the rays of the setting sun, they glow electric blue. For reasons that are not fully understood, these highest and coldest of clouds form during the warmest months on the ground--late spring and summer.

Noctilucent clouds first appeared in the 19th century after the eruption of super-volcano Krakatoa. At the time, people thoght the clouds were caused by the eruption, but long after Krakatoa's ash settled, the clouds remained. In those days, NLCs were a polar phenomenon confined mainly ro far-northern places such as Scandinavia or Alaska. In recent years they have intensified and spread with sightings as far south as Utah and Colorado. Could this be a sign of climate change? A NASA spacecraft named "AIM" is in orbit to investigate.

NEW! Daily images from AIM are now published here on Spaceweather.com. To find them, look in the left column of the home page and scroll down below the coronal holes.

High latitude sky watchers should be alert for NLCs in the evenings ahead. Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.

Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]

SUNSET PLANET SHOW: Last night, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury converged to form a bright triangle in the sunset sky. "It was an absolutely amazing sunset planet show," says Marek Nikodem, who photographed the apparition from Szubin, Poland:

At closest approach, the three planets fit inside a circle less than 3o wide. It was a rare event. There won't be another triple conjunction this tight until 2026.

However, the show's not over. The triangle will stretch and eventually break apart in the nights ahead--and the contortions are worth watching. Keep an eye on the sunset sky all week long. NASA: video, full story.

Realtime Planet Photo Gallery


Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery

  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 27, 2013 there were 1397 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2013 KB
May 22
3.2 LD
16 m
2013 KS1
May 22
4.8 LD
19 m
2004 BV102
May 25
69.9 LD
1.4 km
1998 QE2
May 31
15.2 LD
1.6 km
2009 FE
Jun 4
9.6 LD
230 m
2000 FM10
Jun 5
50.3 LD
1.3 km
2002 KL3
Jun 6
66.4 LD
1.1 km
1999 WC2
Jun 12
39.2 LD
1.9 km
2006 RO36
Jun 18
70.9 LD
1.2 km
2001 PJ9
Jul 17
29.2 LD
1.1 km
2006 BL8
Jul 26
9.3 LD
48 m
2003 DZ15
Jul 29
7.6 LD
153 m
2005 WK4
Aug 9
8.1 LD
420 m
1999 CF9
Aug 23
24.7 LD
1.1 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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