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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 358.6 km/sec
density: 2.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jan08
24-hr: A0
0155 UT Jan08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 08 Jan 09
Yesterday's Cycle 24 sunspot (image) has already faded away and the sunspot count has returned to zero. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 08 Jan. 2009
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.8 nT
Bz: 0.1 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Jan. 8th or 9th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Jan 08 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
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: 2009 Jan 08 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
01 %
01 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
January 8, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the northern lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

BIGGEST FULL MOON OF THE YEAR: The biggest full Moon of 2009 is coming this weekend. It's a perigee Moon as much as 30% brighter than lesser moons we'll see in the months ahead. Get the full story from Science@NASA.

APPROACHING COMET: Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3), discovered in 2007 by a Strait-bridging team of astronomers from Taiwan and China, is swinging around the sun and approaching Earth. Astronomer Karzaman Ahmad sends this picture taken Jan. 7th from the Langkawi National Observatory in Malaysia:

"I used the observatory's 20-inch telescope for an exposure of 24 minutes," he says. "The image shows the comet's bright tail and an anti-tail."

Right now, Comet Lulin is gliding through the constellation Libra in the southeastern sky before dawn: sky map. It glows like an 8th magnitude star, so a mid-sized backyard telescope is required to see it. Visibility will improve in February as the Earth-comet distance shrinks. At closest approach (0.41 AU) on February 24th, the comet should brighten to about 5th magnitude--dimly visible to the unaided eye and an easy target for binoculars: ephemeris.

Surprises are possible. The near-parabolic orbit of Comet Lulin suggests this could be the comet's first visit to the inner solar system. How it will react to increasing sunlight is anyone's guess. Stay tuned for updates in the weeks ahead.

more images: from Babak Tafreshi in the Alborz Mountains of Iran; from Riccardo Di Nasso of Pisa, Italy

RECIPE FOR BEAUTY: Start with one bright Moon. Add seven mythical sisters. Mix in a splash of floating water droplets and voilĂ !--last night's sky over Auburn, Alabama:

"It was pretty cool," says photographer Jonathon Stone. "A bright lunar corona appeared as these clouds drifted in front of the Moon. I didn't know the Moon would be so close to the Pleiades--but there they were."

The nights ahead could be filled with scenes like this. The Moon is waxing full and shining through northern winter clouds, painting the sky with lunar coronas, moon halos, pillars and 'dogs. Look up after dark!


Jan. 2009 Aurora Gallery
[Previous Januaries: 2008, 2007, 2005, 2004, 2001]

       
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 January 8, 2009 there were 1014 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Jan. 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 YC29
Jan. 2
3.4 LD
18
35 m
2008 YY32
Jan. 3
6.2 LD
18
40 m
2008 YG30
Jan. 4
3.6 LD
16
50 m
2008 YV32
Jan. 9
2.7 LD
19
25 m
2008 YF29
Jan. 11
9.7 LD
18
65 m
2002 AO11
Jan. 15
7.7 LD
17
120 m
1998 CS1
Jan. 17
11 LD
12
1.3 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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
  a one-stop hub for all things scientific
  more links...
   
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