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


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
A4 2005 UT May29
24-hr: A7 0355 UT May29
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 29 May '06

Today's new sunspot is 890, which was invisible yesterday and bigger than Earth today. Credit: SOHO/MDI.


Sunspot Number: 78
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 28 May 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.6 nT
Bz:
1.9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about June 1st. Credit: GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager


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 May 29 2204 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 2006 May 29 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 10 % 20 %
MINOR 05 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 25 % 25 %
MINOR 10 % 15 %
SEVERE 01 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 29 May 2006
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SUNSPOT WATCH: The Sun has a rash--and it's getting worse. Small sunspots are popping up everywhere. The latest is active region 890, the second new sunspot in as many days. What's next? Stay tuned.

DA VINCI GLOW: Look west at the sunset tonight, behold the crescent Moon, and think of Leonardo Da Vinci. Almost 500 years ago, the Renaissance master solved an ancient mystery: What is that strange glow between the horns of the crescent? (continued below)

Above: Da Vinci's sketch of Earthshine in 1510 vs. amateur astronomer Riccardo Di Nasso's photo of Earthshine in 2006.

The mysterious glow, Da Vinci realized, is sunlight reflected from Earth onto the Moon: diagram. Now we call it "Earthshine" or better yet the "Da Vinci glow." Bask in it tonight: sky map.

more images: from Richard Bell of Kalamazoo, Michigan; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden; from Dennis Mammana of Borrego Springs, California;

GREEN RIM: "I was trying to capture the crescent moon, but the sky was murky with blowing dust," says Pete Strasser of Tucson, Arizona. "What I saw instead was a green rim along the top of the setting sun."

No, the sun isn't turning green. The emerald rim is caused by refraction: Earth's atmosphere acts like a giant lens, bending green light more strongly than red, so that the sun appears to have a thin green fringe at sunrise and sunset. Sometimes, steep gradients in air temperature magnify these fringes, resulting in a magnificent green flash.

more images: from Günther Strauch of Borken, Germany



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 29 May 2006 there were 787 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

May 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
2006 HU50

May 4

3.8 LD

17

~50 m
2006 HX57

May 6

3.0 LD

16

~45 m
2006 JY26

May 10

1.1 LD

18

~8 m
Comet 73P-C

May 12

31 LD

7

~1 km
2006 GY2

May 16

6.7 LD

13+

~0.8 km
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

Daily images from the sun -- 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.

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; 2005; Jan-Mar 2006;

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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