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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 290.2 km/sec
density: 1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2209 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
2244 UT Sep12
24-hr: B1
2244 UT Sep12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 12 Sep 16
New sunspots AR2589 and AR2591 are quiet. Solar flare activity remains low. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 63
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 11 Sep 2016

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2016 total: 20 days (8%)
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 11 Sep 2016


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 93 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 11 Sep 2016

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.3 nT
Bz: 4.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2211 UT
Coronal Holes: 12 Sep 16

Earth is under the influence of a stream of solar wind flowing from the indicated southern coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO.
Noctilucent Clouds NASA's AIM spacecraft has suffered an anomaly, and a software patch is required to fix it. As a result, current noctilucent cloud images will not return until late September 2016.
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 08-06-2016 16:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2016 Sep 12 2200 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: 2016 Sep 12 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
10 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
20 %
SEVERE
20 %
15 %
 
Monday, Sep. 12, 2016
What's up in space
       
 

Directly under the Arctic Circle! Marianne's Arctic Xpress in Tromsø offers fjord, whale and wildlife tours by day, aurora tours by night. Book Now and get a 10% discount on combo day and night adventures.

 

AURORAS AND A FIREBALL: On Sept. 11th, Alex Conu went outdoors to photograph auroras over the Lofoten Islands of Norway. He got more than he bargained for. "BAM!" he says. "This -8 magnitude fireball streaked across the sky."

For comparison, the fireball was about as bright as the crescent Moon. "There was a bit of fragmenting towards the end," says Conu. "Very beautiful."

The fireball won't be back tonight, Sept. 12th, but the auroras might. Earth is passing through a stream of solar wind filled with negative polarity (-Bz) magnetic fields. Such a solar wind stream can penetrate our planet's magnetic defenses, sparking geomagnetic storms and auroras. Aurora alerts: text or voice

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

MAGNIFICENT PROMINENCE: 93 million miles is a long way, but you wouldn't want to be any closer to the sun. Today's photo from Maximilian Teodorescu of Magurele, Romania, shows why:

"There is a magnificent prominence on the western limb of the sun," says Teodorescu, who inserted a picture of our planet for scale. "Today it showed its true height--almost 10 times taller than Earth itself."

Prominences are masses of hot plasma held above the surface of the sun by filaments of magnetism. Such structures are usually unstable and often collapse. This one has been intact for nearly two weeks, beating the odds. How long can it last? Amateur astronomers with backyard solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

A SPACE WEATHER BALLOON AT THE EDGE OF SPACE: On Friday, Sept. 2nd, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a research balloon from the slopes of Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. En route to measure radiation at the edge of space, the balloon's payload snapped this spherical image of the Atlantic Coast of Maine:

The Atlantic Coast of Maine photographed from the stratosphere (108,000 feet) - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

The balloon popped at an altitude of 118,000 feet, about 10 minutes after it took this picture. Parachuting back to Earth, the payload landed in a forest of tall trees not far from Tripp Pond, Maine, where a combined team of students from Southern Maine Community College and Earth to Sky Calculus recovered it for analysis.

This wasn't the only space weather balloon launched on Sept. 2nd. Earth to Sky students in California launched a second balloon at the same time. The transcontinental flight was part of an ongoing experiment to explore geographical variations in atmospheric radiation. Results? Here they are:

These profiles show the dose rate of secondary cosmic rays as a function of altitude over central California and southern Maine. Clearly, the atmosphere of Maine is more "radioactive." The reason can be found in the labels. The magnetic latitude in Maine (+54o) is higher than the magnetic latitude in California (+44o). In other words, Maine is closer to Earth's magnetic north pole where cosmic rays are more abundant.

These results are of interest to air travelers, atmospheric scientists, and operators of high-altitude drones, among others. In a few days we'll release an even bigger data set showing results from Chile, California, Oregon and Washington. Stay tuned.

More spherical images: (1) The launch site on the slopes of Mt. Washington, NH. (2) Emerging from the cloud layer over Mt. Washington, New Hampshire, the camera saw a ring of light in the clouds called a "glory."

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery


Realtime Sprite Photo Gallery



  Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere

Updated
: Sept.3, 2016 // Next Flight: Sept. 10, 2016

Sept. 3, 2016: On Sept. 2nd, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus conducted a successful transcontinental launch of two space weather balloons--one from New Hampshire and another from California. The New Hampshire balloon recorded the highest levels of atmospheric radiation since our monitoring program began two years ago. Students are reducing the data now, and we will report the results in the coming week.

While you wait, here is a shot of the Atlantic coast of Maine taken during the Sept. 2nd balloon flight from an altitude of 118,000 feet:

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. Furthermore, there are studies ( #1, #2, #3, #4) linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in the general population. Our latest measurements show that cosmic rays are intensifying, with an increase of almost 13% since 2015:


Why are cosmic rays intensifying? The main reason is the sun. Solar storm clouds such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays when they pass by Earth. During Solar Maximum, CMEs are abundant and cosmic rays are held at bay. Now, however, the solar cycle is swinging toward Solar Minimum, allowing cosmic rays to return. Another reason could be the weakening of Earth's magnetic field, which helps protect us from deep-space radiation.

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.

The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Reneger-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Reneger and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.

THIS RESEARCH IS CROWD-FUNDED: The cosmic ray research presented on Spaceweather.com is done by students, driven by curiosity, and funded entirely by readers.  Our latest flight over California on Aug. 21st was sponsored by World Tech Toys of Valencia CA.  In exchange for their generous donation of $750, we flew a toy Striker Drone to the edge of space:

HD video and poster-quality images of the drone in space are now being used by World Tech Toys for marketing and outreach--an out-of-this-world bargain.

Our next flights on Sept. 2nd and Sept. 10th need sponsors. Would you like to assist?  Contact Dr. Tony Phillips to make arrangements.

  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 Sep. 12, 2016, the network reported 20 fireballs.
(18 sporadics, 2 September epsilon Perseids)

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 September 12, 2016 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2016 RY17
Sep 9
3.6 LD
37 m
2016 QS44
Sep 10
7.9 LD
57 m
2015 KE
Sep 10
14.9 LD
23 m
2016 RH17
Sep 11
6.1 LD
80 m
2016 RO20
Sep 11
2.5 LD
16 m
2016 RP20
Sep 12
12 LD
33 m
2016 QL44
Sep 17
3.6 LD
43 m
2016 QS11
Sep 18
12.2 LD
29 m
2016 RM20
Sep 20
6.2 LD
25 m
2009 UG
Sep 30
7.3 LD
101 m
2100 Ra-Shalom
Oct 9
58.3 LD
1.1 km
2014 UR
Oct 18
12 LD
21 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
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Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
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