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Solar wind
speed: 402.0 km/sec
density: 1.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B3
1739 UT Jun26
24-hr: C1
0017 UT Jun26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 26 Jun 13
None of these sunspots poses a threat for strong flares. Solar activity is low. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 91
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 26 Jun 2013

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Update
26 Jun 2013

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 109 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 26 Jun 2013

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 2.6 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes: 26 Jun 13
Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on June 29-30. Credit: SDO/AIA.

Spaceweather.com is now posting daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Noctilucent Clouds
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 06-25-2013 14:55:02
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2013 Jun 26 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
15 %
10 %
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: 2013 Jun 26 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
35 %
MINOR
10 %
20 %
SEVERE
01 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
10 %
MINOR
25 %
30 %
SEVERE
40 %
50 %
 
Wednesday, Jun. 26, 2013
What's up in space
 

They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.

 
Own your own meteorite

QUIET SUN: Solar activity is low. None of the sunspots on the Earthside of the sun has the kind of complex magnetic field that harbors energy for strong flares. NOAA forecasters put the odds of an M-class solar flare at 20% on June 26th, waning to 10% on June 27th. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS--AIR VS AIM: Every day, NASA's AIM spacecraft maps the distribution of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) around Earth's north pole. The results are displayed on spaceweather.com in the form of the "daily daisy." On June 20th, pilot Brian Whittaker flew past a vivid display of NLCs over the North Atlantic Ocean and he decided to compare his own view to that of AIM. Here are the results:

"Once again, AIM's daily daisy-wheel allowed me to see where the northern horizon noctilucent clouds truly were!" says Whittaker. "This display reached a maximum height of about 10 degrees as seen from 37,000 feet at 50N latitude. It was my 4th and best sighting of 2013 so far."

2013 is shaping up to be a good year for NLCs. The clouds surprised researchers by appearing early this year, and many bright displays have already been recorded. Once confined to the Arctic, NLCs have been sighted in recent years as far south as Utah, Colorado, and Nebraska. They might spread even farther south in 2013.

Observing tips: Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you've probably spotted a noctilucent cloud.

Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
[previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011]

CORONAL HOLE: The biggest thing on the sun today is not a sunspot, it's a coronal hole. The yawning dark gap in the sun's atmosphere is almost directly facing Earth, as shown in this June 25th image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this particular coronal hole will reach Earth on June 29-30. Because the coronal hole is straddling the sun's equator, the solar wind it is sending our way should make a direct hit on our planet's magnetic field. The impact could spark geomagnetic storms around the poles. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras at the end of the month. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

PHOTOS OF THE SUPERMOON: The mainstream media called this past weekend's full Moon a "supermoon." On the beach in Halkidiki, Greece, however, it didn't seem so big. Photographer Theodoridis Constantinos found that it fit in the palm of an onlooker's hand:

Appearances notwithstanding, the supermoon was as much as 14% bigger than other full Moons of 2013. It only looks small in this picture because foreground objects affect our perception of size and distance. The human brain can be tricky in that way.

The scientific term for the supermoon phenomenon is "perigee moon." Full Moons vary in size because of the oval shape of the Moon's orbit. The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ("perigee") about 50,000 km closer than the other ("apogee"). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright. On June 23rd, the Moon became full at 11:34 UT, only 23 minutes after perigee--a near-perfect coincidence that gave us an extra-bright, extra-big lunar orb.

More pictures of the super-perigee Moon may be found in the realtime photo gallery. Browse and enjoy.

Realtime Moon Photo Gallery


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery

  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 26, 2013 there were potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2001 PJ9
Jul 17
29.2 LD
1.1 km
2006 BL8
Jul 26
9.3 LD
48 m
2003 DZ15
Jul 29
7.6 LD
153 m
2005 WK4
Aug 9
8.1 LD
420 m
1999 CF9
Aug 23
24.7 LD
1.1 km
2002 JR9
Aug 31
63.5 LD
1.4 km
1992 SL
Sep 23
70 LD
1.1 km
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 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
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Space Weather Alerts
   
  more links...
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