You are viewing the page for Jul. 6, 2020
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 476.8 km/sec
density: 8.2 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A1
0000 UT Jan01
24-hr: A5
1722 UT Jul06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2350 UT
Daily Sun: 06 Jul 20
Decaying sunspot AR2766 is a member of old Solar Cycle 24. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 11
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 06 Jul 2020

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2020 total: 139 days (74%)
2019 total: 281 days (77%)
2018 total: 221 days (61%)
2017 total: 104 days (28%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
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%)
2008 total: 268 days (73%)
2007 total: 152 days (42%)
2006 total: 70 days (19%)

Updated 06 Jul 2020


Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 2.50
x1010 W Cold
Max: 49.4
x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05
x1010 W Cold (02/2009)
explanation | more data: gfx, txt
Updated 06 Jul 2020

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 69 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Jul 2020

Cosmic Rays Solar minimum is underway. The sun's magnetic field is weak, allowing extra cosmic rays into the solar system. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth in 2020 are near a Space Age peak.

Oulu Neutron Counts

Percentages of the Space Age average:
today: +9.6% High
48-hr change: -0.3%
Max: +11.7% Very High
(12/2009)
Min: -32.1% Very Low (06/1991)
explanation | more data
Updated 06 Jul 2020 @ 1600 UT

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.6 nT
Bz: -0.2 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes: 06 Jul 20

Earth is inside a minor stream of solar wind flowing from this northern coronal hole.
Credit: SDO/AIA

Noctilucent Clouds NLC season is underway. NASA's AIM spacecraft detected a blue cloud over the north pole on May 17th--one of the earliest starts in the spacecraft's 14 year history. Check here for daily images from AIM.
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at:
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2020 Jul 06 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: 2020 Jul 06 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
20 %
MINOR
01 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
25 %
SEVERE
10 %
25 %
 
Monday, Jul. 6, 2020
What's up in space
       
 

When the pandemic is over, Marianne Bergli would like to show you something: The Northern Lights. Marianne's team at Heaven on Earth Aurora Tours is eager to see you when flights to Norway resume--perfect for small groups/families.

 

THE SOLAR WIND IS HERE: A minor stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field today, stirring geomagnetic unrest around the poles. The gaseous material is flowing from a northern hole in the sun's atmosphere. Antarctic sky watchers should be alert for auroras in austral winter darkness. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

A MAJOR OUTBREAK OF NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: Last night, July 5-6, a major outbreak of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) blanketed Europe. Electric-blue tendrils of frosted meteor smoke rippled over almost every European capital from Scandinavia to the Adriatic. "It was the most phenomenal display of NLCs I've seen in my life," says Viktor Veres, who photographed the outbreak from Budapest, Hungary:

"I was just getting ready for dinner when one of my friends, Alex, cried 'NLC party time!'," says Veres. "The electric-blue clouds were almost directly overhead. I sprinted to the car (partially dressing in the street) and drove up Gellért Hill for a view of the clouds over the most famous sights of Budapest--the Danube River, Chain Bridge, Buda Castle, and Parliament. And, yes, my dinner got cold."

Paris was also "overcast" by noctilucent clouds. "They were very bright," reports Bertrand Kulik, who shot them floating above the Eiffel Tower:

"The shapes of the noctilucent waves were out of this world!" he says.

NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space 83 km above the ground. The clouds form during summer when wisps of water vapor rise up to the mesosphere, allowing water to crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. This summer, record cold temperatures in the mesosphere are boosting their production.

Last night's mega-display in Europe comes on the heels of a 4th of July sighting in southern California at the same latitude as Los Angeles. It seems that everyone should be alert for noctilucent clouds. Dusk and dawn are the best times to look; here's why.

Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

COMET NEOWISE MEETS NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: When European astronomers woke up this morning to photograph Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3), they saw something they didn't expect. The sunrise comet was surrounded by noctilucent clouds. Petr Horálek caught the once-in-a-lifetime shot from Seč, Czech Republic:

"Noctilucent clouds crossed the skies like spider webs," says Horálek. "They are caused by ice crystals on particles of meteoric dust. This dust often comes from comets' tails. And here we are – both phenomena can be seen in one image as bright Comet NEOWISE is on the left, rising in the glory of morning dawn."

Similar scenes were observed in Benton City, Washington; Great Falls, Montana; Spicheren, France; Monte Grappa, Italy; Turek, Poland; Čadca, Slovak republic; Berlin, Germany; and Lublin, Poland. It was a rare morning, indeed.

As July unfolds, Comet NEOWISE will move away from the sun into progressively darker skies. It will remain a morning comet for the next ~week, then, by mid-month, shift to evening skies where casual star gazers can see it without waking at the crack of dawn. They might see some noctilucent clouds, too. Sky maps: July 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

Realtime Comet NEOWISE Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

THE INFINITY BLACK PEARL: It came from Tahiti--and now it's been to the edge of space. On April 15, 2020, this genuine Black Tahitian South Sea Cultured Pearl flew to the stratosphere onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloon, soaring 107,611 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:

You can have it for $249.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling these exotic space pearls to fund their cosmic ray monitoring program.

Measuring 9 mm in diameter, the pearl is mounted on a 925 sterling silver infinity twist and suspended on a matching 17 inch long sterling silver chain. Each pearl comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education


Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

  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 July 6, 2020, the network reported 3 fireballs.
(3 sporadics)

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 July 6, 2020 there were 2037 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2019 AC3
2020-Jul-01
10.5 LD
3.4
12
2020 MK3
2020-Jul-01
1.9 LD
8.4
24
2020 MT2
2020-Jul-03
16.1 LD
8.4
59
2020 MO
2020-Jul-03
9.3 LD
9.6
41
2007 UN12
2020-Jul-04
16.7 LD
2.9
6
2020 LS
2020-Jul-04
19.4 LD
11.5
75
2020 MU1
2020-Jul-11
18.8 LD
2.7
37
2020 ML
2020-Jul-12
11.4 LD
4.4
23
2020 KJ7
2020-Jul-13
11.8 LD
3.4
31
2009 OS5
2020-Jul-13
17.6 LD
2.6
45
2020 MQ2
2020-Jul-14
17.1 LD
8.3
44
2020 MX
2020-Jul-17
15 LD
5.3
51
2016 DY30
2020-Jul-19
9 LD
15.1
3
2020 ME3
2020-Jul-19
14.8 LD
4.6
24
2002 BF25
2020-Jul-21
9.4 LD
6.8
129
2020 MX3
2020-Jul-29
9.5 LD
8.6
70
2018 PY7
2020-Jul-31
8.9 LD
9.5
16
2007 RF1
2020-Jul-31
10.7 LD
5
21
2018 BD
2020-Aug-03
7.6 LD
9.4
3
2009 PQ1
2020-Aug-05
10.8 LD
13.5
112
2020 FA1
2020-Aug-23
18.4 LD
1.9
20
2016 AH164
2020-Aug-26
15.7 LD
5.6
4
2011 ES4
2020-Sep-01
0.3 LD
8.2
30
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.
  Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere

SOMETHING NEW! We have developed a new predictive model of aviation radiation. It's called E-RAD--short for Empirical RADiation model. We are constantly flying radiation sensors onboard airplanes over the US and and around the world, so far collecting more than 22,000 gps-tagged radiation measurements. Using this unique dataset, we can predict the dosage on any flight over the USA with an error no worse than 15%.

E-RAD lets us do something new: Every day we monitor approximately 1400 flights criss-crossing the 10 busiest routes in the continental USA. Typically, this includes more than 80,000 passengers per day. E-RAD calculates the radiation exposure for every single flight.

The Hot Flights Table is a daily summary of these calculations. It shows the 5 charter flights with the highest dose rates; the 5 commercial flights with the highest dose rates; 5 commercial flights with near-average dose rates; and the 5 commercial flights with the lowest dose rates. Passengers typically experience dose rates that are 20 to 70 times higher than natural radiation at sea level.

To measure radiation on airplanes, we use the same sensors we fly to the stratosphere onboard Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray balloons: neutron bubble chambers and X-ray/gamma-ray Geiger tubes sensitive to energies between 10 keV and 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.

Column definitions: (1) The flight number; (2) The maximum dose rate during the flight, expressed in units of natural radiation at sea level; (3) The maximum altitude of the plane in feet above sea level; (4) Departure city; (5) Arrival city; (6) Duration of the flight.

SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: 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 more than 18% since 2015:

The data points in the graph above correspond to the peak of the Regener-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.

En route to the stratosphere, our sensors also pass through aviation altitudes:

In this plot, dose rates are expessed as multiples of sea level. For instance, we see that boarding a plane that flies at 25,000 feet exposes passengers to dose rates ~10x higher than sea level. At 40,000 feet, the multiplier is closer to 50x.

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.

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.

  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
NOAA 27-Day Space Weather Forecasts
  fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong.
Aurora 30 min forecast
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather

For stratospheric potential wins you can play Megaways slots. Check out the list of sites from Lioncasinos for reliable casino brands that offer these.

   

To get the best views of the cosmos, check out the Phoenix Window Glass Replacement experts for all your window and glass needs

Spaceweather.com welcomes these supporters of science communication: RV Sales and CRAS, the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences and Windshield Replacement Phoenix and Plastic Surgeon Phoenix

   
Look no further to find the best real estate agency – Brett Cairns: RE/MAX Ocean Pacific Realty in Comox – for residential home sales
   
NASA Near Earth Asteroid Home Page
   
Chicago SEO Expert
   
Search Kelowna Real Estate Listings & Homes for Sale easily.
Find help on all Calgary Homes For Sale and Real Estate Listings. Great source for Edmonton Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale
The best place for soundcloud followers buy is definitely BRSM.IO

To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings.

Get a bonus when playing at a new casino in the UK. The Genie got you covered! 

Looking for a new online casino? Try Casimpo the new site dedicated to making online casino simple and easy for all.

  These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters!
  more links...
       
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.