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GEOMAGNETIC
STORM: High-latitude sky watchers
should be
alert for auroras. A polar geomagnetic storm
(magnitude Kp=5) is underway
in response to solar wind buffeting Earth's magnetic
field.
WHAT
LIES INSIDE JUPITER?The clouds of
Jupiter hide many mysteries--from the roots of monster
storms to possible stores of exotic matter. NASA's
Juno spacecraft, scheduled to launch on August 5th,
is going to find out what lies inside the giant
planet. [full
story] [video]
STRONG
FLARE: Sunspot AR1261 unleashed
a brief but strong M9-class
solar flare on July 30th at 0209 UT. NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory recorded the flare's extreme
ultraviolet flash:
Because of its brevity, the eruption did not hurl
a substantial cloud of material toward Earth. No
CME is visible in SOHO coronagraphs. The
eruption was not geoeffective, although future eruptions
could be as the active region continues to turn
toward Earth. Solar
flare alerts: text,
voice.
SHAPE-SHIFTING
SUNSPOT: Three big sunspot groups
are rotating across the Earth-facing side of the
sun. One of them, AR1261, is morphing into a circular
ring. Click on the image to view a 24-hour movie:
The magnetic field of this shape-shifting sunspot
is crackling with C-
and M-class
solar flares, including a powerful M9-blast to begin
the day on July 30th. NOAA forecasters estimate
a 40% chance of more such flares during the next
24 hours. Readers with solar
telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.
more images: from
Efrain Morales Rivera of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico;
from
Rogerio Marcon of Campinas SP Brasil; from
John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine; from
John Minnerath of Crowheart, Wyoming; from
Pepe Manteca of Begues, Barcelona, Spain; from
Michael Boschat of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada;
from
Monty Leventhal OAM of Sydney. Australia
2011
Noctilucent Cloud Gallery
[previous years: 2003,
2004, 2005,
2006, 2007,
2008, 2009]
June
2011 Aurora Gallery
[Aurora alerts: text,
voice]
[previous Junes: 2010,
2008, 2001]
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
July 30, 2011 there were 1237
potentially hazardous asteroids.
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.
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The
official U.S. government space weather bureau |
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The
first place to look for information about sundogs,
pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
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Researchers
call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO
is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
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3D
views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial
Relations Observatory |
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Realtime
and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
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from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
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the
underlying science of space weather |
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for
out-of-this-world printing and graphics |
