You are viewing the page for Nov. 11, 2009
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 277.9 km/sec
density: 1.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Nov11
24-hr: A0
0000 UT Nov11
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 11 Nov. 09
Sunspot 1030 is about to rotate over the sun's western limb. Credit: SOHO/MDI

more images: from Dave Gradwell of Birr, Ireland; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland
Sunspot number: 13
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 10 Nov 2009

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2009 total: 239 days (77%)
Since 2004: 750 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 10 Nov 2009

Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals sunspot 1029 transiting the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 0
quiet
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.0 nT
Bz: 0.3 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Nov 11 2201 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: 2009 Nov 11 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
November 11, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you miss the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

LEONID METEOR ALERT: The 2009 Leonid meteor shower peaks on Nov. 17th with a sprinkling of meteors over North America and a possible outburst over Asia. Science@NASA has the full story.

UPSIDE-DOWN RAINBOWS: Lately, sky watchers have been reporting a growing number of "upside-down rainbows." Here's one that appeared yesterday over Lansford, Pennsylvania:

"This was just amazing and beyond exciting," says photographer Brenda Pun. "I grabbed my camera (a Nikon D40x) and quickly took some shots before it could disappear."

Despite its rainbow-like appearance, this is not a rainbow. It's a circumzenithal arc. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley calls it "the most beautiful of all ice haloes." The circumzenithal arc, or "CZA" for short, is formed by sunlight shining through plate-shaped ice crystals in high clouds. "The CZA is often described as an 'upside down rainbow' by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to 'a grin in the sky.'"

The same ice crystals that make circumzenithal arcs also make sundogs. Indeed, Brenda Pun saw a pair of bright sundogs flanking the sun while she was photographing her CZA. 'Dogs and grins naturally go together.

Circumzenithal arcs typically appear in late autumn and early winter when the air is icy and the sun is low. "The CZA forms only when sun is less than 32.3° high," notes Cowley, "and it is at its best when the sun is about 22° high." As winter solstice approaches, "upside down rainbows" will become increasingly common. Look for them!

more images: from Sawyer Rosenstein of Ramsey, New Jersey; from Bob G. Hughes of Somerville, Alabama; from Jeremy of Mt. Arlington, New Jersey; from Paul Tahan of Wayne, New Jersey; from Peg Zenko of Green Bay, Wisconsin; from the frontyard of Glenn Machesney;

PHOTOGRAPHIC AURORAS: On Sunday, Nov. 8th, a minor solar wind stream buffeted Earth's magnetic field, spawning a subtle display of Northern Lights. "To the naked eye, the auroras were barely visible," says Helge Mortensen of Kvaløya, Norway. "But a 30-second exposure with my digital camera revealed a lovely green band cutting across the sky."

This kind of aurora borealis--visible to the camera but not to the eye--is called a "photographic aurora." The phenomenon is more common and widespread than you might think. In July, for instance, amateur astronomer Howard Edin recorded photographic auroras at a star party in Valentine, Nebraska: photo. That's pretty far south for "Northern Lights." The key, says Edin, was exposing the scene for a full 30 seconds--the same exposure time Mortensen used in Norway two nights ago.

Astrophotographers should be alert for geomagnetic activity. The next time the solar wind gusts, a great photo could be just half-a-minute away.

October Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Octobers: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

       
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 November 11, 2009 there were 1078 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Nov. 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 UW87
Oct. 31
1.6 LD
18
11 m
2009 UK14
Nov. 1
9.1 LD
20
29 m
2006 JY26
Nov. 2
6.7 LD
22
10 m
2000 XK44
Nov. 4
28.8 LD
13
1.1 km
2000 UJ1
Nov. 7
43.3 LD
15
1.2 km
2000 TO64
Nov. 10
44.2 LD
14
1.9 km
2009 UK20
Nov. 12
6.5 LD
20
20 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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.