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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 299.7 km/sec
density: 13.0 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1959 UT Jun18
24-hr: A1
0630 UT Jun18
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2350 UT
Daily Sun: 18 Jun 20
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 18 Jun 2020

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 2 days
2020 total: 124 days (73%)
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 18 Jun 2020


Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 2.79
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 17 Jun 2020

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 69 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 18 Jun 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: +10.0% Very High
48-hr change: +0.5%
Max: +11.7% Very High
(12/2009)
Min: -32.1% Very Low (06/1991)
explanation | more data
Updated 18 Jun 2020 @ 1700 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: 6.3 nT
Bz: 3.0 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
Coronal Holes: 18 Jun 20

There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun.
Credit: SDO/AIA

Noctilucent Clouds NLC season has begun. 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 Jun 18 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 Jun 18 2200 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
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
10 %
10 %
 
Thursday, Jun. 18, 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.

 

SOLAR MINIMUM ISN'T OVER YET: Solar Cycle 25 is showing signs of life. In the past month it has produced the strongest solar flare in years (M1-class), and a sunspot that lasted for two whole weeks (AR2765). Now the sun is blank and quiet again. This is a sign that, while Solar Minimum may be loosening its grip, it isn't over yet. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.

LUNAR OCCULTATION OF VENUS: Tomorrow morning, June 19th, Venus and the crescent Moon are going to have a close encounter. Very close. In some parts of the world, the Moon will completely eclipse or "occult" the second planet. Amateur astronomer Odd Trondal of Oslo, Norway, filmed an almost identical lunar occultation of Venus 16 years ago, and this is what it looked like:

"Don't forget to look again this Friday morning, if you can," urges Trondal.

In Europe, Friday's occultation takes place in broad daylight. Venus disappears at approximately 0800 UT and reappears an hour later. Exact times vary with location. Framed by blue sky, the occultation can be seen using binoculars or a small telescope. Both objects will be thin crescents, the Moon being 4% sunlit and Venus 8%, adding to the beauty of the event.

In Canada and the USA, some people can see the occultation just before sunrise. New England and the Canadian Maritimes are favored. As the Moon rises in the east-northeast, it will be hiding Venus behind it. Minutes later, Venus will emerge dramatically from behind the Moon's dark limb. A map from Sky&Telescope shows the prime occultation zone.

In western parts of North America, the event will be a near miss--no occultation, but a beautiful view nevertheless. "Way back in 1987, I witnessed a lunar occultation of Venus," recalls Victor C. Rogus, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. "It was, to this day one of the most memorable astronomical events I have ever witnessed!

Set your alarm for dawn and enjoy the show!

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

FAR-OUT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS: What do you get for the dad who has everything? Something from the edge of space! Father's Day is this Sunday and everything in the Earth to Sky Store is 10% off:

Almost every week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a helium balloon to the stratosphere to measure cosmic radiation. Items in the Earth to Sky Store went along for the ride, accompanying radiation sensors to the edge of space. All sales support the students' ballooning program. Dad-satisfaction guarenteed!

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


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 June 18, 2020, the network reported 13 fireballs.
(13 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 June 18, 2020 there were 2037 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2020 JU1
2020-Jun-13
19 LD
6.6
49
2020 LC
2020-Jun-13
12.4 LD
7.7
49
2020 KB3
2020-Jun-13
3.2 LD
7.5
37
2020 LL
2020-Jun-14
5.6 LD
19.8
29
2017 MF7
2020-Jun-14
3.7 LD
10.9
23
2020 KP6
2020-Jun-16
3.6 LD
10.8
41
2020 JU3
2020-Jun-17
6.9 LD
10.9
53
2020 KF3
2020-Jun-17
12.5 LD
3.4
15
2020 LG
2020-Jun-18
8.9 LD
10.6
51
2018 PD22
2020-Jun-19
17.2 LD
14.6
56
2020 KR1
2020-Jun-22
11.6 LD
6.8
42
2020 LV
2020-Jun-22
5.4 LD
4.8
31
441987
2020-Jun-24
9.8 LD
12.9
186
2017 FW128
2020-Jun-25
6.9 LD
5.4
11
2020 MA
2020-Jun-25
5.4 LD
7.8
32
2020 KQ7
2020-Jun-27
10.3 LD
2.6
18
2020 JX1
2020-Jun-29
3.3 LD
5
62
2019 AC3
2020-Jul-01
10.5 LD
3.4
12
2007 UN12
2020-Jul-04
16.7 LD
2.9
6
2020 LS
2020-Jul-04
19.4 LD
11.6
73
2020 KJ7
2020-Jul-13
11.9 LD
3.4
30
2009 OS5
2020-Jul-13
17.6 LD
2.6
45
2016 DY30
2020-Jul-19
9 LD
15.1
3
2002 BF25
2020-Jul-21
9.4 LD
6.8
129
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
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

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