You are viewing the page for Dec. 7, 2015
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 694.6 km/sec
density: 2.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2349 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
2251 UT Dec07
24-hr: C1
0421 UT Dec07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 07 Dec 15
None of these sunspots has the type of unstable magnetic field that poses a threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 38
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 07 Dec 2015

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2015 total: 0 days (0%)

2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)

Updated 07 Dec 2015


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 102 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 07 Dec 2015

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.1 nT
Bz: 4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2349 UT
Coronal Holes: 07 Dec 15

Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds is about to begin. Monitor the daily daisies, below, from NASA's AIM spacecraft for the first wisps of electric blue above Antarctica.
Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar
Updated at: 12-07-2015 16:55:03
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2015 Dec 07 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
05 %
10 %
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: 2015 Dec 07 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
35 %
30 %
MINOR
15 %
10 %
SEVERE
05 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
15 %
MINOR
30 %
30 %
SEVERE
50 %
40 %
 
Monday, Dec. 7, 2015
What's up in space
 

Marianne's Heaven On Earth Aurora Chaser Tours Chasethelighttours.co.uk invites you to join them in their quest to find and photograph the Aurora Borealis. Experience the winter wonderland in the Tromsø Area.

 
Chase the Light Tours

POLAR GEOMAGNETIC STORMS: NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on Dec. 7th as Earth moves through a stream of fast solar wind. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for colorful auroras after nightfall. Aurora alerts: text or voice

DAYTIME OCCULTATION OF VENUS: Today, people in North America saw something remarkable in the daytime sky: the crescent Moon passed directly in front of Venus and covered it. Moments before the second planet disappeared, David Pinsky of West Hollywood CA took this picture:

"This was the view through my Canon Rebel T3i digital camera placed at the prime focus of a Celestron 5 inch Maksutov telescope," says Pinsky.

Venus remained behind the Moon for more than an hour, then popped into view again on the opposite lunar limb. The convergence of the Moon and Venus were plainly visible to the unaided eye from Canada, Mexico, and 49 of 50 US States. Only Hawaii was left out. Browse the gallery for more beautiful views from the occultation zone:

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

ROCKET SIGHTINGS: On Sunday afternoon, 4:45 pm EST, Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral on a re-supply mission to the International Space Station. The ascending spacecraft and the booster stages of its Atlas V rocket were visible up and down the eastern seaboard of North America. In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Michael Boschat reports seeing "two fireball-like pieces moving parallel to each other, breaking up in the SSW at 5:57pm. The brighter one passing behind the trees was at least magnitude -12!"

"Both of the fireballs had fragments falling off the front," he continues. "The brighter one was reddish in color; the dimmer one was blue. They took me by surprise."

According to veteran satellite observer and orbits expert Ted Molczan, Boschat likely witnessed the re-entry of the 1st stage of the Atlas V rocket. "This map shows the NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) region where Stage 1 was intended to re-enter," says Molczan. "Facing SSW, as reported, Boschat would have been looking toward the south end of the region."

NASA says the Cygnus spacecraft itself is in orbit and heading toward the station. It is carrying more than 7,000 pounds of science experiments and supplies, including Christmas presents for the crew, equipment for spacewalks and air tanks for the station's atmosphere. Browse the gallery for more sightings:

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery


Realtime Meteor 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 Dec. 7, 2015, the network reported 20 fireballs.
(11 sporadics, 4 sigma Hydrids, 3 Geminids, 1 Quadrantid, 1 November omega Orionid)

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 December 7, 2015 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2015 XP
Dec 5
1.4 LD
31 m
2015 WA13
Dec 6
7.5 LD
24 m
2015 WF13
Dec 7
10.8 LD
80 m
2015 VZ145
Dec 8
9.2 LD
80 m
2015 XC
Dec 8
3.3 LD
39 m
2015 XV1
Dec 9
6.4 LD
19 m
1998 WT24
Dec 11
10.9 LD
1.1 km
2015 XN55
Dec 15
2.5 LD
15 m
2015 XE1
Dec 19
13.2 LD
27 m
2011 YD29
Dec 24
9.7 LD
24 m
2003 SD220
Dec 24
28.4 LD
1.8 km
2008 CM
Dec 29
22.8 LD
1.5 km
2004 MQ1
Jan 2
55.4 LD
1.1 km
1999 JV6
Jan 6
12.6 LD
410 m
1685 Toro
Jan 22
60.9 LD
1.7 km
2001 XR1
Jan 23
74.4 LD
1.5 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.
  Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere
Situation Report -- Oct. 30, 2015 Stratospheric Radiation (+37o N)
Cosmic ray levels are elevated (+6.1% above the Space Age median). The trend is flat. Cosmic ray levels have increased +0% in the past month.
Sept. 06: 4.14 uSv/hr (414 uRad/hr)
Sept. 12: 4.09 uSv/hr (409 uRad/hr)
Sept. 23: 4.12 uSv/hr (412 uRad/hr)
Sept. 25: 4.16 uSv/hr (416 uRad/hr)
Sept. 27: 4.13 uSv/hr (413 uRad/hr)
Oct. 11: 4.02 uSv/hr (402 uRad/hr)
Oct. 22: 4.11 uSv/hr (411 uRad/hr)
These measurements are based on regular space weather balloon flights: learn more.

Approximately once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly "space weather balloons" to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with radiation sensors that detect cosmic rays, a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. Cosmic rays can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. Our measurements show that someone flying back and forth across the continental USA, just once, can absorb as much ionizing radiation as 2 to 5 dental X-rays. Here is the data from our latest flight, Oct. 22nd:

Radiation levels peak at the entrance to the stratosphere in a broad region called the "Pfotzer Maximum." This peak is named after physicist George Pfotzer who discovered it using balloons and Geiger tubes in the 1930s. Radiation levels there are more than 80x sea level.

Note that the bottom of the Pfotzer Maximim is near 55,000 ft. This means that some high-flying aircraft are not far from the zone of maximum radiation. Indeed, according to the Oct 22th measurements, a plane flying at 45,000 feet is exposed to 2.79 uSv/hr. At that rate, a passenger would absorb about one dental X-ray's worth of radiation in about 5 hours.

The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.

  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
Synergy Spray Foam Insulation of Houston TX
  Protection from the Sun!
Kotton Grammer, Search Engine Marketing
  a sponsor of SpaceWeather.com
Columbia Northern High School
  Web-based high school science course with free enrollment
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
  more links...
©2015 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.