SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 310.9 km/s density:2.7 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2244 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C8 1750 UT Jan04 24-hr: C8 1750 UT Jan04 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 04 Jan '02 Active region 9767 has a beta-gamma magnetic fields that poses a threat for M-class solar flares. 9767 unleashed an impressive X3-class flare on Dec. 28th. Image credit: SOHO/MDI The Far Side of the Sun This holographic image reveals a smattering of spots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI Sunspot Number: 229 More about sunspots Updated: 03 Jan 2002 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 71 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 04 Jan 2002 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 6.5 nT Bz: 0.7 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2246 UT Coronal Holes: A substantial coronal hole is emerging over the Sun's east limb. 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 2002 Jan 04 2200 UT FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 60 % | 60 % | CLASS X | 15 % | 10 % | Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at 2002 Jan 04 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 30 % | MINOR | 05 % | 10 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 05 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 35 % | MINOR | 10 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 05 % | Web server provided by VPS Hosting | What's Up in Space -- 4 Jan 2002 Subscribe to Space Weather News! SOLAR BLAST: An unusually beautiful coronal mass ejection (CME) billowed away from the Sun today following the collapse of a solar filament. Although the CME was not squarely Earth-directed, the outskirts of the cloud might nevertheless deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetosphere this weekend. Stay tuned for details... Above: Click on the image for SOHO movies of the January 4th eruption near the Sun's north-east limb. NEAR-EARTH ASTEROID: A newly-discovered near-Earth asteroid named 2001 YB5 will race past our planet this week only two times farther away than the Moon. During the days leading up to its closest approach on Jan. 7th, the 300 meter-wide space rock will brighten to 12th magnitude -- an easy target for backyard telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. [3D orbit] [ephemeris] Above: On Jan. 3rd, German astronomer Thomas Payer captured this 8 minute movie of 2001 YB5 streaking among the stars. [more] QUADRANTID METEORS: The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaked on Thursday, January 3rd. As expected, most visual observers saw, at best, a modest display (10 or so per hour); the Quadrantids were overwhelmed this year by a glaring nearly-full Moon. Radio meteor listeners, however, recorded plenty of "pings" -- signals from radio stations reflected by ionized meteor trails -- during the shower's brief maximum around 1800 UT. It was a good year to listen to the Quadrantids! Above: Engineer Stan Nelson of Roswell, NM, recorded more than 70 radio echoes per hour during the Quadrantid maximum. NEW YEAR, GIANT PLANET: Earth and Jupiter drew as close as possible to one another (4.19 AU) on January 1st, 2002 -- an event astronomers call "opposition." The giant planet is now the brightest "star" in the night sky. It rises in the east just after sunset and, for northern-hemisphere observers, appears almost directly overhead at midnight. [Jupiter finder chart] NEW YEAR'S FIREWORKS: Says Canadian photographer Phil Hoffman: "The new year started off with natural fireworks here in the Yukon -- a modest aurora, pictured below, on Jan 1st." Photo details: Olympus 3040 digital camera, 13 sec. exposure at f/1.8 ISO 100. 1 a.m. PST, Jan. 1, 2002. Credit: Phil. Hoffman. SUBTLE ECLIPSE: "Unless you knew it was happening you wouldn't even notice," says sky watcher Stan Richard. Photographer Phil Harrington agreed: "The Moon's teaming with Jupiter was far more visually interesting than the eclipse." Such was the recent lunar eclipse, which happened on Dec. 30th when the Moon glided through the outskirts of Earth's shadow. Visit our photo gallery and see for yourself! 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. On 4 Jan 2002 there were 360 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Jan. 2002 Earth-asteroid encountersNotes: LD is a "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. - MOON & SATURN: The Moon keeps getting in the way of Saturn! See the series of close encounters here.
- CHRISTMAS LIGHTS: On Christmas Eve, 2001, a solar wind stream triggered Northern Lights. [gallery]
- SOLAR ECLIPSE: Sky watchers in Hawaii and most parts of North America experienced a partial solar eclipse on Dec. 14th. [gallery]
- BRIGHT ASTEROID: Videos and images of 1998 WT24 -- a big and bright near-Earth asteroid that came close to our planet on Dec. 16, 2001. [gallery]
- NORTHERN LIGHTS: On Nov. 24th a pair of coronal mass ejections swept past Earth and triggered worldwide auroras.
- LEONIDS 2001: Some people saw it. Others heard it. In either case, they'll never forget it: The 2001 Leonid meteor storm.
- PERSEIDS 2001: Perseid watchers on August 12th spotted meteors, auroras, and a disintegrating Russian rocket! [gallery]
- MORNING PLANETS: In July and Aug. 2001, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury put on a dazzling early-morning sky show. [gallery]
- ECLIPSE SAFARI: Onlookers cried out in delight on June 21, 2001, when the Moon covered the African Sun, revealing the dazzling corona. [gallery]
- TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- 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]
Nov. 7 , 2001: What Lies beneath a Sunspot -- Awesome plasma hurricanes were one of the surprises revealed when scientists peered beneath the stormy surface of our star. Oct. 26 , 2001: 'tis the Season for Auroras -- Autumn is a good time to spot Northern Lights. Oct. 17, 2001: Halley's Comet Returns ... in bits and pieces -- The annual Orionid meteor shower peaks on October 21st. Aug. 9, 2001: Horse Flies and Meteors -- Like bugs streaking down the side window of a moving car, long and colorful Perseid Earthgrazers could put on a remarkable show on August 11th. July 27, 2001: Meteorites Don't Pop Corn -- A fireball that dazzled Americans on July 23rd probably didn't scorch any cornfields, contrary to widespread reports. June 12, 2001: The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System -- NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares. |