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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 353.7 km/sec
density: 3.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2350 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C4
2245 UT Dec30
24-hr: C4
2245 UT Dec30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 30 Dec 15
Sunspot AR2473 is decaying and no longer has the type of unstable magnetic field that harbors energy for very strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 54
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 30 Dec 2015

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2015 total: 0 days (0%)

2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)

Updated 30 Dec 2015


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 105 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 30 Dec 2015

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.5 nT
Bz: 2.4 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2350 UT
Coronal Holes: 30 Dec 15

Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Jan. 2-3. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds began on Dec. 13, 2015. The coverage of NLCs over Antarctica is rapidly multiplying as 2016 approaches.
Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar
Updated at: 12-30-2015 15:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2015 Dec 30 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
40 %
30 %
CLASS X
05 %
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: 2015 Dec 30 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
45 %
MINOR
35 %
25 %
SEVERE
50 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
01 %
05 %
MINOR
10 %
25 %
SEVERE
90 %
65 %
 
Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015
What's up in space
 

Marianne's Heaven On Earth Aurora Chaser Tours Chasethelighttours.co.uk invites you to join them in their quest to find and photograph the Aurora Borealis. Experience the winter wonderland in the Tromsø Area.

 
Chase the Light Tours

WAITING FOR THE CME (UPDATED): A CME hurled toward Earth on Dec. 28th by an explosion in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2473 is still en route. Forecasters expect the storm cloud to arrive during the late hours of Dec. 30th. According to NOAA, there is a 90% chance of geomagnetic activity in the wake of the CME's impact. New Year's Eve auroras are in the offing. Aurora alerts: text or voice

DECAYING SUNSPOT: Big sunspot AR2473, the source of the incoming CME, is no longer as potent as it was earlier this week. Philippe Tosi of Nîmes, France, photographed the sunspot's decaying core on Dec. 30th:

Tosi inserted a picture of Earth for scale. Even in decay, the sunspot is an awesome thing, with dark condensations and filaments of magnetism that dwarf the largest continents of our planet. Terrifying appearances notwithstanding, the sunspot's overall magnetic field has decayed and no longer poses a threat for very strong flares. A stretch of quiet is in the offing. Aurora alerts: text or voice

Realtime Spaceweather Photo Gallery

POLAR STRATOSPHERIC CLOUDS: Earth's stratosphere is *not* a cloudy place. Nevertheless, on rare occasions during the coldest weeks of northern winter, tiny crystals of ice in the stratosphere gather themselves into swarms called "PSCs"--polar stratospheric clouds. On Dec. 29th, Frank Olsen photographed a rare PSC floating over Sortland, Norway:

"The pastel-colored clouds appeared alongside some faint green auroras," says Olsen. "I have never seen PSCs and auroras together before."

Also known as "nacreous" or "mother of pearl" clouds, PSCs form in the lower stratosphere when temperatures drop to around minus 85ºC. That's how cold it has to be for ice to crystalize in the dry stratosphere.

"I took the picture around 6 PM, long after sunset," continues Olsen. "This makes me wonder if the rising moon, just below the horizon, is what illuminated the PSCs."

High-altitude sunlight--or, in this case, moonlight--shining through tiny ice particles ~10µm across produce the characteristic bright iridescent colors of PSCs. "Polar stratospheric clouds far outshine and have much more vivid colours than ordinary iridescent clouds, which are very much poor relations and seen frequently all over the world," writes atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. "Once seen they are never forgotten."

Realtime PSC Photo Gallery

ARMY OF GREEN MEN -- IN SPACE: On Dec. 20th, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched their weekly helium balloon to measure cosmic radiation in Earth's atmosphere. This time, there were 56 hitchikers--a platoon of green army men:

Their mission: to raise awareness of spinal cord injuries. #QuaidsArmy sponsored the flight. On September 20th, 2013, twenty-four year old Quaid Mobus of Warren NJ was in a near fatal ATV accident the night before his sister's wedding. Quaid was left paralyzed, requiring extensive lifelong medical attention. Since then, the Army of Green Men have been traveling far and wide to support Quaid and others like him. Dec. 20th marked their first trip to the stratosphere. Learn more at http://www.armyofgreenmen.com/


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


  All Sky Fireball Network
Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.

On Dec. 30, 2015, the network reported 26 fireballs.
(26 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]

  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 December 30, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2003 SD220
Dec 24
28.4 LD
1.8 km
2008 CM
Dec 29
22.8 LD
1.5 km
2015 XV351
Dec 29
5.3 LD
28 m
2015 XC352
Dec 30
5.2 LD
30 m
2015 YT1
Dec 31
13.5 LD
17 m
2004 MQ1
Jan 2
55.4 LD
1.1 km
1999 JV6
Jan 6
12.6 LD
410 m
2015 YC2
Jan 15
4.9 LD
101 m
1685 Toro
Jan 22
60.9 LD
1.7 km
2001 XR1
Jan 23
74.4 LD
1.5 km
2015 VC2
Jan 28
5.8 LD
15 m
2015 XA379
Feb 7
8.1 LD
33 m
2013 VA10
Feb 7
8.5 LD
165 m
2014 QD364
Feb 7
14 LD
16 m
2014 EK24
Feb 14
13.8 LD
94 m
2010 LJ14
Feb 16
68.5 LD
1.2 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.
  Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere
Situation Report -- Oct. 30, 2015 Stratospheric Radiation (+37o N)
Cosmic ray levels are elevated (+6.1% above the Space Age median). The trend is flat. Cosmic ray levels have increased +0% in the past month.
Sept. 06: 4.14 uSv/hr (414 uRad/hr)
Sept. 12: 4.09 uSv/hr (409 uRad/hr)
Sept. 23: 4.12 uSv/hr (412 uRad/hr)
Sept. 25: 4.16 uSv/hr (416 uRad/hr)
Sept. 27: 4.13 uSv/hr (413 uRad/hr)
Oct. 11: 4.02 uSv/hr (402 uRad/hr)
Oct. 22: 4.11 uSv/hr (411 uRad/hr)
These measurements are based on regular space weather balloon flights: learn more.

Approximately once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly "space weather balloons" to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with radiation sensors that detect cosmic rays, a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. Cosmic rays can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. Our measurements show that someone flying back and forth across the continental USA, just once, can absorb as much ionizing radiation as 2 to 5 dental X-rays. Here is the data from our latest flight, Oct. 22nd:

Radiation levels peak at the entrance to the stratosphere in a broad region called the "Pfotzer Maximum." This peak is named after physicist George Pfotzer who discovered it using balloons and Geiger tubes in the 1930s. Radiation levels there are more than 80x sea level.

Note that the bottom of the Pfotzer Maximim is near 55,000 ft. This means that some high-flying aircraft are not far from the zone of maximum radiation. Indeed, according to the Oct 22th measurements, a plane flying at 45,000 feet is exposed to 2.79 uSv/hr. At that rate, a passenger would absorb about one dental X-ray's worth of radiation in about 5 hours.

The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.

  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
Columbia Northern High School
  Web-based high school science course with free enrollment
Kotton Grammer, Search Engine Marketing
  sponsored link
Synergy Spray Foam Insulation of Houston TX
  Protection from the Sun!
  more links...
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