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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 332.2 km/sec
density: 1.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A1
2055 UT May31
24-hr: A1
2055 UT May31
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 31 May 09
A new sunspot is emerging at the circled location. Its high latitude suggests it is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Credit: SOHO/MDI

more images: from Peter Paice of Belfast, Northern Ireland; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from Howard Eskildsen of Ocala, Florida
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 30 May 2009

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 7 days
2009 total: 123 days (82%)
Since 2004: 634 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 30 May 2009

Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.7 nT
Bz: 1.8 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 May 31 2201 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: 2009 May 31 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
May 31, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

SUPER PROMINENCE: "Wow - what a sight greeted me this morning as I set up my H-alpha telescope," reports Pete Lawrence of Selsey, UK. "There was a huge plume of plasma on the northwestern limb of the sun: photo. If you've got a solar telescope, take a look, it's changing but still visible."

more images: from SOHO; from Dalouzy Jean-Christophe of Caen, Normandy, France; from Stephen Ames of Hodgenville, Kentucky; from Lecoq Etienne of Mesnil-Panneville, Normandy, France;

FIRST NLCs of 2009: New data from NASA's AIM spacecraft show that noctilucent clouds (NLCs) are like a great "geophysical light bulb." They turn on every year in late spring, reaching almost full intensity over a period of no more than 5 to 10 days.

News flash: The bulb is beginning to glow. The first NLCs of 2009 were sighted over Russia on May 27th, and an even brighter display appeared on May 29th over Denmark and the British Isles. Martin Mc Kenna sends these snapshots from Maghera, Northern Ireland:

"The glowing clouds were more than 100 degrees wide with white, blue and even subtle yellow and green colours," says Mc Kenna. "It was an excellent display to start the season and a good omen of major events to come in the near future!"

The May 29th display was also witnessed by John C Mcconnell of Maghaberry Northern Ireland (photos); Paul Evans of Larne, Northern Ireland (photos); and Ian Brantingham near Banff, Scotland (photos).

There is a well-known correlation between noctilucent clouds and the solar cycle. NLC activity tends to peak during years of solar minimum, possibly because low solar activity allows the upper atmosphere to cool, promoting the growth of ice crystals that make up the clouds. With a century-class solar minimum underway, the stage is set for a good season of NLC watching.

Typically, the first NLCs of spring are wan and pale, followed by better displays as summer unfolds. Browse the galleries from previous years to see what may be in the offing: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003.

LIGHTNING SPLASH: On May 26th, photographers Francis Schaefers and Daniel Burger were chasing a thunderstorm along a beach in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, when "the storm turned around and came a little too close for comfort," says Schaefers. "We were able to photograph lightning hitting the water just 40 meters away." Here is the view through their Canon 400D:

Look closely where the lightning meets the water. Tiny bolts appear to be dancing around the impact site.

"Those are called 'upward streamers,'" says lightning expert Richard Blakeslee of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "In a typical cloud-to-ground lightning strike, as the leader approaches the ground, the large electric field at the leader tip induces these upward propagating streamers. The first one that connects to the downward propagating leader initiates the bright return stroke that we see with our eye. Upward streamers are often observed on photographs of lightning hitting the ground."

Now we know they can be seen when lightning hits the water, too.

Schaefers and Burger took many pictures that night, mostly from underneath a balcony where they figured the lightning wouldn't reach. This favorite is called The Cruise You Don't Want to Take.


April 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Aprils: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

       
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 31, 2009 there were 1061 potentially hazardous asteroids.
May 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 JA
May 4
7.5 LD
18
37 m
2006 FG3
May 6
60.7 LD
17
1.1 km
2001 SG286
May 17
11.5 LD
16
280 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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
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