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Solar wind
speed: 332.1 km/sec
density: 6.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
2025 UT May03
24-hr: C5
0608 UT May03
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 03 May 14
Fast-growing sunspot AR2051 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 114
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 03 May 2014

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2014 total: 0 days (0%)
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%)

Update
03 May 2014

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 135 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 03 May 2014

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: 6.0 nT
Bz: 3.8 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 03 May 14
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com posts daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 02-28-2014 16:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2014 May 03 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
40 %
40 %
CLASS X
10 %
10 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2014 May 03 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
15 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
35 %
25 %
SEVERE
35 %
20 %
 
Saturday, May. 3, 2014
What's up in space
 

When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.

 
Northern Lights - a Guide

METEORS FROM HALLEY'S COMET: Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley's Comet, source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on the night of May 5-6 with as many as 60 meteors per hour in the southern hemisphere and half that number in the north. No matter where you live, the best time to look is during the dark hours before local sunrise on May 6th. [photo gallery] [meteor radar]

CHANCE OF X-FLARES: Two days ago, sunspot AR2051 didn't exist. Now it is three times wider than Earth and still growing.This 24-hour movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captures the rapid development:

The sunspot has a 'delta-class' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Its rapid growth could de-stabilize the field, making an eruption more likely. Currently, NOAA forecasters are puting the odds of an X-flare at 5%. Solar flare alerts: text, voice

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

BACTERIA SURVIVE TRIP TO THE EDGE OF SPACE: Researchers pondering the possibilities of life on Mars have long focused their attention on halobacteria--a type of terrestrial extremophile that uses salt to shield itself from harsh radiation. On April 20th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a colony of halobacteria onboard a suborbital helium balloon to the Edge of Space. The microbes didn't merely survive, they are now thriving in the students' biology classroom back on Earth:

During the ascent to 102,400 feet, these bacteria experienced temperatures as low as -60 C, air pressures only 1% that at sea-level, and radiation levels more than 25-times Earth-normal. All of these conditions are akin to those on Mars. ( See a 74 MB movie of the bacteria floating in the stratosphere.)

Instead of chlorophyll, halobacteria use the photosynthetic molecule bacteriorhodopsin, which produces chemical energy from sunlight without producing oxygen. This photosynthetic pigment colors the halobacteria colony pinkish-red--the same hue visible in the incubated petri dish.

The students are planning to repeat the experiment with another flight this weekend. If you would like to support their efforts, please consider purchasing an Edge of Space Mother's Day card (described below). Profits buy helium and other supplies for this research.

MOTHER'S DAY AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: Mother's Day is right around the corner. Looking for a unique gift? How about an Edge of Space Mother's Day Card? The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are about launch another helium balloon to the stratosphere. For only $49.95, your Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthday or anniversary card could be on the payload. Profits from the flight are used to support the students' space weather balloon research program. Contact Dr. Tony Phillips for details.

PUNY COMET, MAJOR METEOR SHOWER? On May 24th, Earth will pass through a cloud of debris from periodic comet 209P/LINEAR. The result could be a new meteor shower. Forecasters expect meteor rates as high as 200 per hour when Earth crosses the debris zone. There has even been talk of a possible meteor storm. These are lofty predictions for a comet that looks so puny:

"This image was taken on April 30th (4:35 UTC) using our 20-inch telescope located in New Mexico," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "A 3 minute exposure, it shows 14th magnitude Comet 209P/LINEAR shining faintly among the stars of Ursa Major. At the time of this image, 209P was just over 40 million km from Earth, heading for a relatively close approach (8.3 million km) with us on May 29th."

The comet is faint because it is a poor producer of dust. How, then, could it create a debris cloud capable of triggering a fine meteor shower? The answer is in the timing. The debris we are about to hit was shed by the comet not in 2014 but rather in the 1800s, when forecasters think the comet was probably more active.

The best place to see the display is North America where it will be nighttime during the shower's peak. Meteors will emerge from a radiant point high in the sky, in the constellation Camelopardalis not far from the North Star. Peak rates are expected between 6:00 and 08:00 UT or 2 and 4 o'clock in the morning EDT on May 24th. No one can say for sure how strong this new shower will be; possibilities range from "storm" to "dud." Stay tuned for updates as the debris zone approaches. Meteor alerts: text, voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Mars 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 May. 3, 2014, the network reported 6 fireballs.
(5 sporadics, 1 eta Aquariid)

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 May 3, 2014 there were 1470 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2007 HB15
Apr 27
6 LD
12 m
2014 HL2
Apr 28
8.8 LD
25 m
2014 HE5
Apr 29
9.7 LD
36 m
2014 HV2
Apr 29
1.4 LD
27 m
2014 HL129
May 3
0.8 LD
10 m
2014 HT46
May 4
7 LD
21 m
2014 HO132
May 5
2.1 LD
32 m
2014 HX164
May 6
1.1 LD
16 m
2014 HB177
May 6
1.3 LD
10 m
2014 HT178
May 8
5.9 LD
21 m
2014 JD
May 9
7.7 LD
25 m
2010 JO33
May 17
4 LD
43 m
2005 UK1
May 20
36.7 LD
1.1 km
1997 WS22
May 21
47.1 LD
1.5 km
2002 JC
May 24
48.7 LD
1.4 km
2014 HQ124
Jun 8
3.2 LD
705 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
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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