SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 519.3 km/s density:3.8 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 0026 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: M1 2245 UT Jan14 24-hr: M4 0625 UT Jan14 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 14 Jan '02 Active regions 9773 and 9778 have delta-class magnetic fields that harbor energy for X-class solar flares. Sunspot 9775 has a beta-gamma magnetic field that could unleash M-class flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals a substantial active region on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 174 More about sunspots Updated: 12 Jan 2002 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 19 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 14 Jan 2002 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.7 nT Bz: 1.1 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 0026 UT Coronal Holes: Earth is now exiting a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope. More about coronal holes 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 2002 Jan 13 2200 UT FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 75 % | 75 % | CLASS X | 20 % | 20 % | Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at 2002 Jan 13 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 20 % | MINOR | 15 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 20 % | MINOR | 15 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 14 Jan 2002 Subscribe to Space Weather News! FIGURE-EIGHT: An M4-class eruption on the Sun today hurled a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. Hot gas and twisted magnetic fields within the expanding cloud formed an eye-catching "figure-8" shape in SOHO coronagraph images (right). This CME could buffet Earth's magnetosphere on Wednesday, Jan. 16th. Stay tuned for details. SUNSPOTS: An impressive array of sunspots is rotating across the face of our star. Active regions 9773 and 9778 have twisted "delta-class" magnetic fields that harbor energy for X-class explosions. NORTHERN LIGHTS: Solar wind gusts flowing from a coronal hole buffeted Earth's magnetosphere on Jan. 11th, igniting auroras over Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of US states. Sky watcher Joe Slagle captured this beautiful scene over the Chugach Mountains near Anchorage. Click for more images. COMET ENCOUNTER: Last week periodic comet 96P/Machholz put on a dazzling show as it swung by the Sun. On Jan. 8th, the comet was only 0.12 AU from our star -- even closer to the Sun than Mercury. During the fiery encounter sunlight warmed and melted part of the comet's icy nucleus; dusty vapors formed a long tail. Although human eyes couldn't see the encounter, coronagraphs on board the orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory could. A coronagraph is a device that blocks the Sun's glare behind an opaque disk. These coronagraph movies show the Sun, Venus (a bright point to the lower right of the Sun), and the comet from Jan. 7th to 10th: small (0.32 MB), medium (0.85 MB), large (1.6 MB). A remarkable scene, pictured above, unfolded on January 8th when a coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from the Sun just as comet 96P/Machholz reached perihelion. Although the CME appears to envelop the comet, it did not. Unlike many Sun-approaching comets, notably the "Kreutz sungrazers," 96P/Machholz survived its fiery experience and will return again in 2007. WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | 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 14 Jan 2002 there were 370 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Jan. 2002 Earth-asteroid encountersNotes: 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. - ASTEROID FLYBY: Asteroid 2001 YB5 raced past Earth on Jan. 7, 2002, only two times farther away than the Moon. [gallery]
- SUBTLE ECLIPSE: The Moon dipped into the outskirts of Earth's shadow on Dec. 30, 2001. [gallery]
- MOON & SATURN: The Moon keeps getting in the way of Saturn! See the series of close encounters here.
- CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: On Christmas Eve, 2001, a solar wind stream triggered Northern Lights. [gallery]
- SOLAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers in Hawaii and most parts of North America experienced a partial solar eclipse on Dec. 14th. [gallery]
- BRIGHT ASTEROID: Videos and images of 1998 WT24 -- a big and bright near-Earth asteroid that came close to our planet on Dec. 16, 2001. [gallery]
- NORTHERN LIGHTS: On Nov. 24th a pair of coronal mass ejections swept past Earth and triggered worldwide auroras.
- LEONIDS 2001: Some people saw it. Others heard it. In either case, they'll never forget it: The 2001 Leonid meteor storm.
- PERSEIDS 2001: Perseid watchers on August 12th spotted meteors, auroras, and a disintegrating Russian rocket! [gallery]
- MORNING PLANETS: In July and Aug. 2001, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury put on a dazzling early-morning sky show. [gallery]
- ECLIPSE SAFARI: Onlookers cried out in delight on June 21, 2001, when the Moon covered the African Sun, revealing the dazzling corona. [gallery]
- TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
- LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]
Nov. 7 , 2001: What Lies beneath a Sunspot -- Awesome plasma hurricanes were one of the surprises revealed when scientists peered beneath the stormy surface of our star. Oct. 26 , 2001: 'tis the Season for Auroras -- Autumn is a good time to spot Northern Lights. Oct. 17, 2001: Halley's Comet Returns ... in bits and pieces -- The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks on October 21st. Aug. 9, 2001: Horse Flies and Meteors -- Like bugs streaking down the side window of a moving car, long and colorful Perseid Earthgrazers could put on a remarkable show on August 11th. July 27, 2001: Meteorites Don't Pop Corn -- A fireball that dazzled Americans on July 23rd probably didn't scorch any cornfields, contrary to widespread reports. June 12, 2001: The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System -- NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares. |