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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 609.9 km/sec
density: 1.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1942 UT Jun07
24-hr: C9
1543 UT Jun07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 07 Jun 12
Sunspot 1494 poses a threat for M-class eruptions. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 131
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 06 Jun 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 06 Jun 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 140 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Jun 2012

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: 2.4 nT
Bz: 0.2 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 07 Jun 12
Earth is inside a high-speed stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Jun 07 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
30 %
25 %
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: 2012 Jun 07 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
10 %
MINOR
10 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
25 %
15 %
SEVERE
30 %
15 %
 
Thursday, Jun. 7, 2012
What's up in space
 

They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.

 
Own your own meteorite

SOLAR WIND: For the third day in a row, a stream of fast solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of geomagnetic storms around the poles on June 7th. Magnetic storm alerts: text, voice.

HUBBLE TRANSIT OF VENUS: One of the big ironies of the 2012 Transit of Venus was that NASA's greatest telescope didn't dare photograph the event. Hubble's instruments are so sensitive, one look at the glaring sun would have crippled its instruments. Nevertheless, Hubble managed to join the show. Astrophotographer Theirry Legault caught the observatory flitting in front of the sun alongside Venus:

"I was in north-east Australia for the full transit of Venus and a transit of Hubble in the middle," says Legault. "My Nikon D4 digital camera was working at 10 fps on a Takahashi FSQ-106ED telescope to record 9 images of HST during its 0.9s transit."

This is certainly an historic photo. Imagine what James Cook would think of a telescope in space crossing his field of view as he watched the transit of 1769 from a beach in Tahiti. Moreover, imagine what kind of telescopes will be crossing the sun when the next Transit of Venus occurs in 2117. Congratulations to Legault for capturing a truly rare 0.9s slice of history.

More slices of history may be found in the Transit of Venus Photo Gallery:

Realtime Transit of Venus Photo Gallery
[Submit your photos] [NASA videos: 2012 Transit of Venus, ISS Transit of Venus]

Transit of Venus Web Links:

CHANCE OF FLARES: The odds of a significant solar flare are improving as three sunspots develop complex magnetic fields with energy for M-class eruptions. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded this extreme ultraviolet flash (category M3) from sunspot AR1494 on June 6th:

The impulsive flare hurled a coronal mass ejection into spacce, but not directly toward Earth. The cloud should sail mostly south of our planet on June 8-9.

The other two sunspots that pose a threat for M-flares are AR1493 and AR1499. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

 

  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 June 7, 2012 there were 1293 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 KZ41
May 31
8.2 LD
--
42 m
2002 AC
Jun 16
62.2 LD
--
1.2 km
1999 BJ8
Jun 16
68.8 LD
--
1.1 km
2005 GO21
Jun 21
17.1 LD
--
2.2 km
2003 KU2
Jul 15
40.2 LD
--
1.2 km
2004 EW9
Jul 16
46.8 LD
--
2.1 km
2002 AM31
Jul 22
13.7 LD
--
1.0 km
37655 Illapa
Aug 12
37 LD
--
1.2 km
2000 ET70
Aug 21
58.5 LD
--
1.0 km
1998 TU3
Aug 25
49.2 LD
--
4.9 km
2009 AV
Aug 26
62.8 LD
--
1.1 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.
  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
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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