You are viewing the page for Apr. 7, 2019
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 383.1 km/sec
density: 9.6 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2350 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1 2130 UT Apr07
24-hr: B7 1100 UT Apr07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 07 Apr 19
A big new sunspot is emerging at the circled location. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 07 Apr 2019

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2019 total: 62 days (63%)
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 07 Apr 2019

Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 4.20x1010 W Cold
Max: 49.4x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05x1010 W Cold (02/2009)
explanation | more data
Updated 07 Apr 2019

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 74 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 07 Apr 2019

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: 3.9 nT
Bz: -2.4 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2348 UT
Coronal Holes: 07 Apr 19


Solar wind flowing froom this southern coronal hole could brush Earth's magnetic field on April 10th. Credit: SDO/AIA

Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) is ending. NASA's AIM spacecraft is detecting a sharp decline in electric blue clouds at the edge of space over Antarctica.
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 03-02-2019 16:55:03
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2019 Apr 07 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: 2019 Apr 07 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
15 %
MINOR
20 %
15 %
SEVERE
10 %
15 %
 
Sunday, Apr. 7, 2019
What's up in space
       
 

Solar minimum is here - but even now strangely beautiful auroras are dancing around the poles. Deep inside the Arctic Circle, the expert guides of Aurora Holidays in Utsjoki, Finland, can help you chase them. Book now!

 

A BIG NEW SUNSPOT: A new sunspot is rotating over the sun's eastern limb, and it's a big one. Provisionally numbered AR2738, the dark core is nearly three times wider than Earth. The sunspot is inset in this ultraviolet image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which also shows the region's towering magnetic canopy:

The magnetic polarity of AR2738 identifies it as a member of old Solar Cycle 24. Apparently, the decaying solar cycle still has some potency even as it nears its end. Can this sunspot produce strong flares? We won't know until it turns more directly toward Earth in the days ahead. Then we can see more clearly the structure of its magnetic field and evaluate the potential for explosiveness.

Meanwhile, amateur astronomers with safe solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments. Aurora alerts: SMS text, email.

ROCKETS DUMP CHEMICALS INTO NORTHERN LIGHTS: On Friday night (April 5th) in northern Norway, scientists at the Andøya Space Center launched two sounding rockets into an ongoing display of Northern Lights. When they dumped their payloads of chemical powders, the sky went wild with strangely-colored shapes. Frank Olsen photographed squid-like figures dancing over a beach near Andenes, Norway:


"Often canceled and rescheduled, this rocket launch has been planned for a year," says Olsen. "How lucky we were to be there at the right time."

The name of the rocket mission is AZURE--short for Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment. Its goal is to measure winds and currents in the ionosphere, a electrically-charged layer of the Earth's atmosphere where auroras appear. Specifically, mission scientist are interested in discovering how auroral energy might percolate down toward Earth to influence the lower atmosphere.

At the Alomar Observatory in northern Norway, space scientist Jason Ahrns used video cameras to track the motions of the clouds:

"I'm one of the scientists working with this launch, so we knew exactly when to expect it," says Ahrns. "Even so, we were all stunned by how spectacular the display was, as it unfolded."

The twin rockets deployed two chemical tracers: trimethyl aluminum (TMA) and a barium/strontium mixture. These mixtures create colorful clouds that allow researchers to visually track the flow of neutral and charged particles, respectively. According to NASA, which funded the mission, the chemicals pose no hazard to residents in the region.

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

A MOTHER'S DAY GIFT FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: It's sterling silver and it comes from space. On March 22nd, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew a cosmic ray balloon to the stratosphere, more than 119,400 feet above Earth's surface. This "Eternal Love" Mother's Day pendant went along for the ride:

You can have one for $129.95. The students are selling these pendants as a fund-raiser for their cosmic ray monitoring program. The pendant is made of sterling silver and the mother holding her baby inside the heart is plated in gold.

Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.

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

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery

  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 Apr. 7, 2019, the network reported 37 fireballs.
(37 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 April 7, 2019 there were 1967 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2019 FN1
2019-Apr-02
8.5 LD
9
14
2019 FT2
2019-Apr-02
2.4 LD
27.1
19
2019 GK1
2019-Apr-04
19.8 LD
5.6
18
2019 GW1
2019-Apr-04
3.4 LD
7.2
20
2019 GM1
2019-Apr-04
7.9 LD
4.4
12
2019 FW1
2019-Apr-04
16.8 LD
8.3
18
2016 GE1
2019-Apr-05
2.9 LD
10.1
17
2019 GU1
2019-Apr-06
1.6 LD
17.4
12
2019 FV
2019-Apr-06
15 LD
7.7
59
2019 FY2
2019-Apr-07
19.5 LD
3.9
12
2019 GT
2019-Apr-07
3.5 LD
15.6
18
2019 GS
2019-Apr-07
1.1 LD
12.7
16
2019 FS2
2019-Apr-08
3.2 LD
6.2
12
2019 GR
2019-Apr-08
11.4 LD
5.7
29
2019 GC
2019-Apr-08
6.2 LD
6.6
17
2019 FU
2019-Apr-09
5.3 LD
14.2
86
2014 UR
2019-Apr-09
13 LD
4.6
17
2014 HD177
2019-Apr-10
6.1 LD
14
102
2016 GW221
2019-Apr-10
10.4 LD
5.3
39
2019 GQ
2019-Apr-10
5.2 LD
8.4
17
2019 GE1
2019-Apr-11
3.9 LD
6.5
13
2019 FB3
2019-Apr-12
11.9 LD
14.2
42
2019 GQ1
2019-Apr-12
13.4 LD
12.7
38
2019 GN
2019-Apr-13
1.7 LD
11.9
12
2019 FO1
2019-Apr-13
14.4 LD
9.7
28
2019 FH1
2019-Apr-13
18 LD
3.8
32
2012 XO134
2019-Apr-18
14.8 LD
11
56
2019 FN2
2019-Apr-18
4.1 LD
7.8
69
522684
2019-Apr-19
19 LD
11.5
214
2019 GM
2019-Apr-21
19.4 LD
10.4
37
2019 FV2
2019-Apr-22
15.7 LD
2.3
32
2019 GF1
2019-Apr-27
4.7 LD
1.9
11
2018 KK1
2019-May-05
13.9 LD
13.9
71
2017 RC
2019-May-09
14.5 LD
10.6
9
2008 HS3
2019-May-09
14.6 LD
5.3
162
2018 VX8
2019-May-12
6.2 LD
15.5
118
2019 GT1
2019-May-17
6.1 LD
4
35
2012 KT12
2019-May-18
3.3 LD
3.9
20
2015 KQ18
2019-May-25
10.7 LD
13.1
30
66391
2019-May-25
13.5 LD
21.5
1780
2003 LH
2019-May-28
15.6 LD
7.4
32
2011 HP
2019-May-30
12.3 LD
8.4
135
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 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.

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
Spaceweather.com welcomes these supporters of science communication: RV Sales and CRAS, the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences and Windshield Replacement Phoenix and Breast Augmentation Phoenix and Dentist Chandler, AZ.
   
Look no further to find the best Comox Valley Real Estate listings and homes for sale
   
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
   

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.

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...
       
©2018 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.