SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 425.0 km/s density:11.5 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C9 1925 UT Jun08 24-hr: C9 1925 UT Jun08 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 08 Jun '01 Active region 9488 has a beta-gamma magnetic field that could harbor energy for isolated M-class solar flares. At least two fast-growing (but unnumbered) spots have appeared during the past 24 hours. These dynamic regions also pose a threat for solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals what may be a mid-sized northern sunspot complex on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 163 More about sunspots Updated: 07 Jun 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 65 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 08 Jun 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 9.3 nT Bz: 7.5 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2247 UT Coronal Holes: The southernmost reaches of this polar coronal hole crossed the Sun's central meridian a few days ago. It sent some modest solar wind gusts toward Earth, which our planet is encountering now. 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 Jun 08 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 Jun 08 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 | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 8 Jun 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! SUNSPOT WATCH: Solar activity has been low for days, but that could soon change. At least two fast-growing sunspot groups have popped up on the face of the Sun since Thursday, joining a batch of new sunspots rotating into view over the Sun's eastern limb. So far none of the newly-numbered regions exhibit complex flare-producing magnetic fields. RADIO METEORS: The annual Arietid meteor shower peaked on Thursday, June 7th. The Arietids are unusual because they are daytime meteors -- most of them streak through the sky unnoticed while the bright Sun is overhead. Nevertheless, you can listen to the elusive Arietids (the shower remains active until early July) by tuning in to NASA's online meteor radar. Radio meteor listener Stan Nelson captured this radar echo from an Arietid that passed above the Naval Space Surveillance Radar on June 7th. [FULL STORY] ASTEROID FLYBY: Near-Earth asteroid 2001 JV1 passed by Earth on June 6th only 18 times farther from our planet than the Moon. The 200m-wide space rock was traveling at 10 km/s (22,000 mph) as it streaked through the constellation Cygnus. This week amateur astronomers with 10-inch (or larger) telescopes equipped with CCD cameras can record the asteroid shining at 18th magnitude. [3D orbit][ephemeris] BRIGHTENING COMET: Comet C/2000 A2 (LINEAR) is heading for a 0.24 AU close encounter with Earth on June 30th -- and growing brighter every day. Observers in the southern hemisphere say the comet is now glowing at visual magnitude 4.8 and the blue green color of its coma (the fuzzy region around the nucleus) is evident even through binoculars. Modest telescopes reveal a beautiful tail approximately 1.5 degrees long. Above: Australia's Gordon Garradd captured this view of comet LINEAR's gas tail stretching 1.5 degrees (the width of three full moons) on May 18, 2001. (Copyright 2001, G. Garradd) This comet first attracted attention in late April when it suddenly broke apart en route to a close encounter with the Sun on May 25th. The icy core now harbors at least three "mini-comets." Northern hemisphere sky watchers can't see C/2000 A2 now -- it's located in southern skies. But that will soon change as the comet heads north again beginning June 11th. By the end of this month it will lie 30 degrees above the horizon when the sun rises over mid-Northern latitudes. See: [3D orbit][ephemeris] 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 8 Jun 2001 there were 310 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids May-June 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters ASTEROID | DATE (UT) | MISS DISTANCE | 2001 FE90 | 2001-May-06 23:37 | 49.7 LD | 1999 KW4 | 2001-May-25 23:31 | 12.6 LD | 2001 JV1 | 2001-Jun-06 07:53 | 18.0 LD | Note: LD is a "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. - TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. 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- 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 |