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

SpaceWeather.com
Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind

speed: 480.2 km/s
density:
0.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
M1 2150 UT Oct27
24-hr: M6 1240 UT Oct27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 27 Oct '03
Sunspots 484 and 486 pose a threat for strong X-class solar flares. Image credit: SOHO MDI

The Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals perhaps one substantial sunspot on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot Number: 191
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 26 Oct 2003

Coronal Holes:

Earth could encounter a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole as soon as Oct. 28th. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
More about coronal holes

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 9.9 nT
Bz:
4.2 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT


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 2003 Oct 27 2200 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 90 % 90 %
CLASS X 50 % 50 %

Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2003 Oct 27 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 35 % 35 %
MINOR 25 % 25 %
SEVERE 15 % 15 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 30 % 30 %
MINOR 35 % 35 %
SEVERE 25 % 25 %

What's Up in Space -- 27 Oct 2003
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SOLAR ACTIVITY: On Oct. 26th, X-class solar flares erupted from giant sunspots 486 (at 0650 UT) and 484 (at 1815 UT). Both explosions hurled coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space and somewhat toward Earth. Right: a SOHO coronagraph image of the 1815 UT coronal mass ejection.

Because of these events, sky watchers should be alert for auroras during the nights ahead. High-latitude sites such as Alaska, Canada and US northern border states from Maine to Washington are favored, as usual, but auroras could descend to lower latitudes when the CMEs sweep past Earth. Oct. 28th is the most likely date of impact.

In Tromsø, Norway, on Oct. 27th, Lionel Bernardi took this picture (below) of orange-glowing skies. "The sky was overcast but the clouds were backlit by the Northern Lights. The landscape was lit as if by a full moon!" says Lionel. [gallery]

Would you like a phone call when auroras appear over your home town? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE.

FIRESTORM: Sometimes the sky turns red for a different reason. "With 190+ days of no rainfall coupled with raging Santa Ana winds, the entire Southern California area has become a massive tinder box," says Dennis Mammana of San Diego. "Brushfires have broken out throughout southern California. Smoke is filtering sunlight and blanketing the entire region with an eerie yellow glow, and ash continues to snow down around the county."

Dennis captured this picture at 10:30 in the morning on Oct. 26th:

more firestorm images: from Jim Young of JPL's Table Mountain Observatory; from Mike O'Leary of El Cajon, California; from Jonathan Dietch of Long Beach, California;



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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.

On 27 Oct 2003 there were 540 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

October 2003 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 MISS DISTANCE

 MAG.
2003 SS84

Oct. 11

8 LD

 17
1998 FG2

Oct. 21

15 LD

 17
2003 TL4

Oct. 26

12 LD

 15
2001 KZ66

Oct. 30

31 LD

 16
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.

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 Soft 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

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

Vandenberg AFB missile launch schedule.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; Jan-Mar., 2003; Apr-Jun., 2003;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL

 

 

 




 

 
Editor's Note: Space weather and other forecasts that appear on this site are formulated by Dr. Tony Phillips. They are not official statements of any government agency (including NASA) nor should they be construed as guarantees of space weather or other celestial activity.

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Dr. Tony Phillips
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