| | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 3 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled explanation | more data Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 9.62 nT Bz: 5.57 nT north more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 29 Apr 22 Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on April 30th. Credit: SDO/AIA Noctilucent Clouds The southern season for noctilucent clouds is over. It ended on Feb. 20, 2022, concluding the weakest NLC season in 14 years. The northern season will begin in late May.. Switch view: Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated at: SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2022 Apr 29 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 25 % | 15 % | 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: 2022 Apr 29 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 25 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 25 % | 25 % | | | | | | | | | | | | Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when magnetic storms erupt. Aurora your guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | | M-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: A spotless region of the sun exploded on April 29th (0730 UT), producing a beautiful M1-class solar flare. Debris from the explosion does not appear to be heading for Earth. Confirmation of a miss awaits fresh data from SOHO coronagraphs. Aurora alerts: SMS Text THE SODIUM TAIL OF MERCURY: Planets aren't supposed to have tails, but Mercury does. Dr. Sebastian Voltmer just photographed it from La Palma in the Canary Islands: "This is NOT a comet, not even a meteor, but the planet Mercury, which is currently very close to the Pleiades," says Voltmer. "How is the tail formed? The solar wind and micro-meteorites eject sodium atoms from Mercury's surface. This creates a yellow-orange tail of sodium gas that is around 2.5 million kilometers long." People around the world have been watching Mercury climb up the evening sky this month. Some of them are probably wondering "why didn't I see the tail?" Answer: A special filter is required. "I used a 589 nm filter tuned to the yellow glow of sodium," says Voltmer. Without this kind of sodium filter, Mercury's tail would be invisible. Above: Dr. Sebastian Voltmer observing Mercury from La Palma on April 27, 2022. Inset is the 589 nm sodium filter. [video] Voltmer says the tail is so bright, he could see it in individual 30 second exposures. "I can see some very small changes in shape of the tail," he says, "and the brightness is slightly increasing." The nights ahead are excellent times to catch this phenomenon. On April 29th and 30th, Mercury will glide past the Pleiades star cluster for a fantastic photo-op. Then, on May 1st and 2nd, the crescent Moon joins the show. "Currently I'm imaging Mercury day by day just after sunset from the Canary Islands," says Voltmer. Stay tuned for more sodium. Sky maps: April 29, April 30, May 1, May 2 Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 8TH: Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love: Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed! Mother's Day Special: Use coupon code "SPACEMOM" at checkout for a 10% discount. Offer valid from now until Mother's Day (May 8, 2022) . Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store All sales support hands-on STEM education Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter 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 28, 2022, the network reported 8 fireballs. (8 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] 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 29, 2022 there were 2276 potentially hazardous asteroids. | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | 2022 HD | 2022-Apr-24 | 3.7 LD | 7.4 | 13 | 2022 HH1 | 2022-Apr-24 | 7.2 LD | 5.2 | 11 | 2022 HA1 | 2022-Apr-24 | 17 LD | 8.8 | 41 | 2020 VN1 | 2022-Apr-25 | 19.3 LD | 2.3 | 9 | 2022 HB2 | 2022-Apr-25 | 2.2 LD | 8.2 | 13 | 2022 HK1 | 2022-Apr-25 | 4.4 LD | 5.7 | 7 | 2022 HS1 | 2022-Apr-25 | 4.4 LD | 5.8 | 12 | 2022 HJ2 | 2022-Apr-26 | 15.7 LD | 6.5 | 25 | 2022 HB1 | 2022-Apr-26 | 0.5 LD | 14.1 | 12 | 418135 | 2022-Apr-28 | 8.5 LD | 10.4 | 466 | 2022 HH2 | 2022-Apr-29 | 3.9 LD | 15.7 | 14 | 2022 HO2 | 2022-Apr-30 | 4.4 LD | 15.7 | 28 | 2022 HX1 | 2022-Apr-30 | 6.5 LD | 11.8 | 16 | 2022 HA3 | 2022-Apr-30 | 4.2 LD | 8.4 | 13 | 2022 HS | 2022-May-01 | 6.7 LD | 5.7 | 20 | 2017 XO2 | 2022-May-01 | 18.8 LD | 12.4 | 125 | 2022 HD3 | 2022-May-01 | 3 LD | 12.7 | 17 | 2022 HO3 | 2022-May-01 | 18.8 LD | 7.9 | 25 | 2022 HA2 | 2022-May-02 | 12.1 LD | 12.9 | 37 | 2022 HW | 2022-May-02 | 16.1 LD | 16.1 | 46 | 2022 HN3 | 2022-May-03 | 8.1 LD | 20.7 | 32 | 2022 HW1 | 2022-May-03 | 9.9 LD | 7.7 | 19 | 2022 HR1 | 2022-May-03 | 5.1 LD | 13.3 | 23 | 2017 HG1 | 2022-May-04 | 18.2 LD | 6 | 11 | 2022 HL2 | 2022-May-05 | 7.7 LD | 7 | 21 | 2022 HF1 | 2022-May-08 | 8.8 LD | 17.2 | 61 | 2022 HL3 | 2022-May-08 | 11.8 LD | 11.8 | 54 | 467460 | 2022-May-09 | 14.9 LD | 11.3 | 513 | 2019 JE | 2022-May-11 | 4.9 LD | 7.2 | 20 | 2012 UX68 | 2022-May-15 | 2.8 LD | 8.2 | 54 | 388945 | 2022-May-15 | 15 LD | 8.2 | 290 | 2013 UX | 2022-May-17 | 16.8 LD | 16.3 | 141 | 2021 WY | 2022-May-18 | 16.9 LD | 9 | 65 | 2022 HD1 | 2022-May-20 | 15.3 LD | 6.8 | 61 | 7335 | 2022-May-27 | 10.5 LD | 13.1 | 1058 | 2021 KO2 | 2022-May-30 | 3.1 LD | 14.8 | 9 | 2022 HT2 | 2022-May-30 | 11.9 LD | 15.7 | 231 | 2020 DA4 | 2022-Jun-01 | 5.5 LD | 8.9 | 26 | 2021 GT2 | 2022-Jun-06 | 9.5 LD | 7.5 | 50 | 2018 LU2 | 2022-Jun-09 | 14.8 LD | 10.7 | 16 | 2006 XW4 | 2022-Jun-12 | 5.9 LD | 7.3 | 49 | 2022 GU6 | 2022-Jun-12 | 3.2 LD | 8.4 | 88 | 2015 WP2 | 2022-Jun-26 | 18.5 LD | 11.4 | 3 | 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 | SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost 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 sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements. Latest results (Nov. 2021): Our balloons have just measured a sudden drop in atmospheric radiation. It happened during the strong geomagnetic storms of Nov. 3-4, 2021. Here are the data: This is called a "Forbush decrease," named after American physicist Scott Forbush who studied cosmic rays in the early 20th century. It happens when a CME from the sun sweeps past Earth and literally pushes cosmic rays away from our planet. Radiation from deep space that would normally pepper Earth's upper atmosphere is briefly wiped out. We have measured Forbush decreases before. For example, here's one from Sept. 2014. The Forbush Decrease of Nov. 3-4, 2021, was the deepest in the history of our 7-year atmospheric monitoring program. Radiation levels in the stratosphere over California dropped nearly 20%, more than doubling the previous record from our dataset. En route to the stratosphere, our sensors also pass through aviation altitudes, so we can sample radiation where planes fly. This plot shows how the Forbush decrease was restricted to the stratosphere; it did not affect lower levels of the atmosphere: The dose rates shown above are expressed 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 higher you fly, the more radiation you will absorb. .Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can seed clouds, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. Somewhat more controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) link cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. .Technical notes: 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. Data points in the first graph ("Stratospheric Radiation") 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 Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today. | The official U.S. government space weather bureau | | The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. | | Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. | | 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory | | Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. | | information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. | | from the NOAA Space Environment Center | | the underlying science of space weather | | Going above and beyond to provide the best homes listings in the Comox real estate market to keep you up to date and informed | | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | 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. 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