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CHANCE OF MINOR STORMS THIS WEEK: NOAA forecasters say there is a chance of minor G1-class geomagnetic storms on Dec. 21st when a side-by-side pair of solar wind streams are expected to graze Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a double hole in the sun's atmosphere. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
UNIQUE PHOTO OF A SOLAR PROMINENCE: This may be the only photo of its kind. On Dec. 13th, Jamie Shepherd of Lochearnhead, Scotland, photographed a solar prominence--without a solar telescope, without a solar eclipse, and without a coronagraph. All it took was the edge of a mountain:
"Around the winter solstice, if I step outside my front door, I can see the sun rising from behind a large rocky outcrop, the lower summit of Stùc a' Chròin," explains Shepherd. "It's just the right shape and distance to cover the sun, like my own solar eclipse, every Christmas."
"Other than a sunrise though, can any eclipse phenomena be seen? It's not easy to catch a clear sky at that time of day in December, but this year I was lucky. I took a burst of pictures with a hand-held telephoto just as the sun appeared. Amazingly, a pink prominence could be made out."
"Just to be sure," continues Shepherd, "I stacked the pictures in a sequence to show the prominence tracking to the right as the sun rose. Confirmation came from an Australian National Solar Observatory image just 10 minutes prior. I have added it below in the stack."
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SUNSPOT ARCHIPELAGO: Sunspots are islands of magnetism floating on the surface of the sun. Today there is an entire archipelago:
Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau photographed the island chain from Santa Fe, Argentina. "This is sunspot complex AR3169-AR3171," he says. "It just appeared over the sun's northeastern limb."
This is an active and photogenic sunspot group. It is crackling with C-class solar flares emanating from blast sites up and down its 200,000 km-long sprawl. These dimensions make AR3169-AR3171 an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Don't have a solar filter? Try the projection method instead.
more images: from Thomas Jorgenson of Oro Valley, AZ
GIFTS FROM THE EDGE OF SPACE: Christmas is coming. Are you looking for a far-out gift? Check out the Earth to Sky Store. It's filled with unique items that have flown to the edge of space onboard cosmic ray research balloons.
These unique gifts have floated above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth after the balloon explodes. Even Amazon doesn't carry items this far out. Don't forget to enter coupon code "SPACESANTA" at checkout for a 10% holiday discount.
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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 Dec 20, 2022, the network reported 23 fireballs.
(18 sporadics, 3 December Leonis Minorids, 1 Geminid, 1 Monocerotid)
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 December 20, 2022 there were 2320 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2015 RN35 | 2022-Dec-15 | 1.8 LD | 5.9 | 85 |
| 2022 XO | 2022-Dec-15 | 8.4 LD | 8.6 | 20 |
| 2022 YO1 | 2022-Dec-17 | 0.1 LD | 15.4 | 4 |
| 2022 YM1 | 2022-Dec-17 | 1.6 LD | 2.7 | 5 |
| 2022 WU11 | 2022-Dec-17 | 11.7 LD | 10.6 | 31 |
| 2016 YE | 2022-Dec-18 | 18.6 LD | 4.8 | 23 |
| 2022 YJ | 2022-Dec-18 | 0.7 LD | 24.8 | 6 |
| 2022 YS1 | 2022-Dec-18 | 8 LD | 26 | 55 |
| 2022 WX5 | 2022-Dec-18 | 20.1 LD | 4.2 | 35 |
| 2022 YC | 2022-Dec-18 | 1 LD | 5 | 5 |
| 2022 XC1 | 2022-Dec-18 | 8.3 LD | 7.1 | 21 |
| 2022 YQ | 2022-Dec-19 | 4.2 LD | 14.7 | 8 |
| 2014 HK129 | 2022-Dec-20 | 6.7 LD | 11.6 | 216 |
| 2017 XQ60 | 2022-Dec-21 | 18.8 LD | 16 | 45 |
| 2022 YK | 2022-Dec-22 | 3.2 LD | 2.8 | 7 |
| 2022 YG | 2022-Dec-22 | 6.3 LD | 5.5 | 17 |
| 2022 UD9 | 2022-Dec-22 | 4.6 LD | 10.3 | 159 |
| 2022 RD2 | 2022-Dec-22 | 13.9 LD | 1.1 | 7 |
| 2022 YN | 2022-Dec-23 | 20 LD | 6.8 | 25 |
| 2022 YB | 2022-Dec-23 | 10.3 LD | 5.8 | 27 |
| 2022 YO | 2022-Dec-24 | 3.5 LD | 9.3 | 13 |
| 2022 XN | 2022-Dec-24 | 8.5 LD | 11 | 47 |
| 2022 XM1 | 2022-Dec-24 | 9.7 LD | 12.7 | 31 |
| 2022 YL1 | 2022-Dec-25 | 7.7 LD | 12.2 | 51 |
| 2013 YA14 | 2022-Dec-25 | 2.7 LD | 10.5 | 68 |
| 2022 TE14 | 2022-Dec-25 | 11.2 LD | 7 | 127 |
| 2018 YK2 | 2022-Dec-26 | 15.8 LD | 15.1 | 98 |
| 2022 YB1 | 2022-Dec-26 | 5.7 LD | 14.8 | 26 |
| 2022 YG1 | 2022-Dec-27 | 11.3 LD | 16 | 26 |
| 2022 WV9 | 2022-Dec-27 | 6.5 LD | 7.2 | 46 |
| 2010 XC15 | 2022-Dec-27 | 2 LD | 10.1 | 182 |
| 2022 XL1 | 2022-Dec-27 | 7.6 LD | 8.4 | 30 |
| 2022 YL | 2022-Dec-27 | 7.9 LD | 5.7 | 19 |
| 2021 AE | 2022-Dec-28 | 16.5 LD | 15 | 23 |
| 2022 YR1 | 2023-Jan-01 | 16.3 LD | 6 | 21 |
| 2021 NF | 2023-Jan-02 | 17.9 LD | 11.3 | 40 |
| 2011 WR41 | 2023-Jan-03 | 15.8 LD | 8.9 | 34 |
| 2019 AY3 | 2023-Jan-04 | 16.8 LD | 19.7 | 62 |
| 2022 YN1 | 2023-Jan-06 | 18.3 LD | 5.5 | 59 |
| 2021 TL | 2023-Jan-09 | 14.2 LD | 8.5 | 75 |
| 2014 LJ | 2023-Jan-14 | 4.8 LD | 3.5 | 7 |
| 2012 BV13 | 2023-Jan-16 | 12.2 LD | 6.7 | 134 |
| 2020 BP | 2023-Jan-20 | 5.2 LD | 16.9 | 26 |
| 2019 BO2 | 2023-Jan-24 | 12.1 LD | 16.2 | 21 |
| 2019 BZ4 | 2023-Jan-24 | 16.5 LD | 5.6 | 20 |
| 2020 BZ14 | 2023-Jan-26 | 8.8 LD | 6.7 | 54 |
| 2022 SO113 | 2023-Jan-29 | 10.5 LD | 3.5 | 73 |
| 2017 DU34 | 2023-Feb-02 | 13.3 LD | 11.2 | 16 |
| 367789 | 2023-Feb-03 | 4.7 LD | 9.9 | 149 |
| 2020 OO1 | 2023-Feb-04 | 4.8 LD | 7.7 | 19 |
| 2022 CX1 | 2023-Feb-09 | 17.4 LD | 13.2 | 14 |
| 2021 EP4 | 2023-Feb-13 | 19 LD | 6.1 | 5 |
| 199145 | 2023-Feb-16 | 12 LD | 24.6 | 756 |
| 2022 RG | 2023-Feb-16 | 8.2 LD | 3 | 24 |
| 2020 DG4 | 2023-Feb-17 | 1.4 LD | 6.9 | 8 |
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. | | 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 (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, 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. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking 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 graph labeled "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 |
| | current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page |
| | Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| | 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 |
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