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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 451.6 km/sec
density: 3.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
2226 UT Nov29
24-hr: C2
0900 UT Nov29
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 29 Nov 11
A new sunspot is emerging at the circled location. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 90
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 28 Nov 2011

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 28 Nov 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 138 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 28 Nov 2011

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 8.1 nT
Bz: 4.5 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes: 29 Nov 11
Solar wind flowing from this southern coronal hole could reach Earth as early as Nov. 29. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 Nov 29 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
10 %
10 %
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: 2011 Nov 29 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
08 %
08 %
MINOR
02 %
02 %
SEVERE
00 %
00 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
20 %
MINOR
16 %
16 %
SEVERE
11 %
11 %
 
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011
What's up in space
 

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

CME IMPACT: As predicted by analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetic field at approximately 2145 UT on Nov. 28th. The impact was weaker than expected, but it still produced bright auroras around the Arctic Circle:

"I am really glad I decided to go out last night for the forecasted CME," says photographer Ole C. Salomonsen of Tromsø, Norway. "Mind-blowing auroras were all over the sky, and I was running like a madman between my two cameras to change composition throughout the night."

Aurora tour guide Chad Blakely watched the show from the Finnsh Lapland. "The auroras exploded all over the sky," he says. "Here is a time-lapse video of the event with a few hours compressed into less than a minute. If this is a sign of things to come the rest of the season should be fantastic!"

Some of the auroras reached all the way down to the contiguous United States, shown here in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not bad for a "weak impact." Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya, Norway; from Antti Pietikäinen of Muonio, Lapland, Finland; from Zoltan Kenwell of Alberta, Canada; from Dirk S.Miller of Rice Lake, Wisconsin; from Warren Gammel of Big Lake, Minnesota; from Ulf Jonsson of Gussö, Luleå, Sweden; from Helge Mortensen of Kvaløya, Norway; from Hanneke Luijting of Tromsø, Norway; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla - Finnish Lapland; from Andy Keen of Ivalo Region, Finland, Scandinavia;

SINUOUS SUNSPOTS: A line of sunspots stretching across the sun's northern hemisphere appears to be an independent sequence of dark cores. A telescope tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen, however, reveals something different. The sunspots are connected by sinuous filaments of magnetism:

"These sunspots writhe and squirm energetically as they rotate away from us!" says John Nassr, who took the picture on Nov. 28th from his backyard observatory in Baguio, the Philippines.

The connections suggest an interesting possibility. While each sunspot individually poses little threat for strong solar flares, an instability in one could start a chain reaction involving all, leading to a widespread eruption. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

more images: from Leonard E. Mercer of Attard, Malta; from Ron Cottrell of Oro Valley, Arizona; from Jo Dahlmans of Ulestraten, The Netherlands; from Peter Desypris of Athens,Greece

  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 November 29, 2011 there were 1272 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2011 WJ15
Nov 20
2.6 LD
--
39 m
2011 WQ4
Nov 21
2 LD
--
15 m
1996 FG3
Nov 23
39.5 LD
--
1.1 km
2011 WP4
Nov 24
1.5 LD
--
17 m
2011 WN2
Nov 25
8.2 LD
--
39 m
2003 WM7
Dec 9
47.6 LD
--
1.6 km
1999 XP35
Dec 20
77.5 LD
--
1.0 km
2000 YA
Dec 26
2.9 LD
--
80 m
2011 SL102
Dec 28
75.9 LD
--
1.0 km
1991 VK
Jan 25
25.3 LD
--
1.9 km
433 Eros
Jan 31
69.5 LD
--
8.5 km
2009 AV
Feb 16
44.9 LD
--
1.2 km
2000 ET70
Feb 19
17.7 LD
--
1.0 km
2011 CP4
Feb 23
9.1 LD
--
255 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 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
Science Central
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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