SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 347.1 km/s density:4.1 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C1 1940 UT May20 24-hr: M2 0600 UT May20 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 20 May '01 None of theactive regions shown here have magnetic fields more complex than beta-class. The changes for powerful flares remain low. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals no substantial spots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 92 More about sunspots Updated: 19 May 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 17 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 20 May 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 5.4 nT Bz: 1.2 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT Coronal Holes: The northern finger of this narrow coronal hole could send solar wind gusts toward Earth in the days ahead. 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 2001 May 20 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 30 % | 30 % | 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 2001 May 20 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 20 May 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! CRUMBLING COMET: New images from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope show that one of the two nuclei of Comet LINEAR (C/2001 A2) has just split into at least two pieces. The three fragments are now moving through space in nearly parallel orbits while they slowly drift apart. Above: the three nuclei of Comet LINEAR on May 16th. The brighter fragment (right) has split into two pieces separated by 1 arcsec, or 500 km; a third fragment (upper left) is considerably fainter. [more information] FADING SUNSPOT: Sunspot 9393 is back for a rare third transit across the face of our star, but the once-giant spot is a shadow of its former self. The spot's total area measures less than two times that of our planet. At its peak, 9393 covered an awesome patch of solar real estate equivalent to fourteen Earths! Right: Sunspot 9393 has crossed the face of the Sun three times. This graphic shows the size of the spot near the beginning of its three apparitions. Earlier this year, 9393 unleashed the most powerful solar flare ever recorded. At the time it was the largest sunspot of the current solar cycle. 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. [more] On 20 May 2001 there were 309 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids May 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | 2001 GQ2 | 2001-Apr-27 12:00 | 7.7 LD | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon - 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]
Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar at the Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet. Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun. Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001. Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights" Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |