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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids

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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind

velocity: 634.0 km/s
density:
29.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
C1 2055 UT Oct21
24-hr: M2 1135 UT Oct21
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT

Daily Sun: 21 Oct '01
Active region 9661 has decayed after unleashing two X-flares last Friday. It now exhibits a beta-gamma magnetic field that poses a threat for M-class flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

The Far Side of the Sun
This holographic image reveals no substantial sunspots on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 230
More about sunspots
Updated: 20 Oct 2001

Radio Meteor Rate
24 hr max:
73 per hr
Listen to the Meteor Radar!
Updated: 21 Oct 2001

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 25.9 nT
Bz:
9 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT

Coronal Holes:

There are no substantial coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the Sun. Image credit: Yohkoh Soft X-ray Telescope.
More about coronal holes


SPACE WEATHER
NOAA
Forecasts

Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below.
Updated at 2001 Oct 21 2200 UT
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 75 % 75 %
CLASS X 15 % 15 %

Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at 2001 Oct 21 2200 UT

Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 40 % 40 %
MINOR 40 % 15 %
SEVERE 15 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 30 % 50 %
MINOR 50 % 30 %
SEVERE 20 % 05 %



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What's Up in Space -- 21 Oct 2001
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IMPACT: The first of two coronal mass ejections en route to Earth (see "Double Blast" below) swept past our planet on Oct 21st at 1645 UT. The interplanetary magnetic field turned sharply south when the disturbance arrived, setting the stage for a possible display of Northern Lights. Sky watchers located above geomagnetic latitude ~45 degrees should remain alert for auroras especially during the hours around local midnight.


Above: NASA's ACE spacecraft registered a sudden increase in the solar wind speed just before a CME swept past Earth.

METEOR WATCH: The annual Orionid meteor shower is active this weekend. Scientists at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center recorded 18 visual meteors per hour between 0600 and 0830 UT on Oct. 21st -- a typical Orionid maximum. If you missed the show last night, try again tonight! The Orionid meteor shower has a broad maximum spread over several days. Sky watchers will likely spot 5-to-15 shooting stars per hour between 3 a.m. and dawn on Monday Oct 22nd.

DOUBLE BLAST: Last Friday, twisted magnetic fields above sunspot 9661 erupted powerfully -- not once, but twice -- at 0105 UT and again at 1635 UT. Both explosions unleashed category X1.6 solar flares and hurled lopsided coronal mass ejections (CMEs) toward Earth. The first of the expanding clouds hit Earth's magnetosphere on Oct. 21st at 1650 UT; the second is still en route. Above: This SOHO cornagraph animation shows Friday's first halo CME. A second one billowed away from the Sun approximately 16 hours later.

FLARE SOUNDS: Radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft recorded a 29.5 MHz Type II radio burst from the second of the two Oct. 19th X-flares. Such bursts are the result of radio-emitting shock waves that plow through the solar corona. Listen: MP3.

ZODIACAL LIGHTS: Autumn is the season for early morning Zodiacal Lights. Each day before dawn sky watchers with dark skies can spot a faint triangle of light above the eastern horizon caused by sunlight reflecting from interplanetary dust grains. Visit our Zodiacal Lights Gallery and see for yourself.

WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER



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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.

On 21 Oct 2001 there were 335 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

Oct. 2001 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 MISS DISTANCE

 MAG.
2001 SY269

 Oct. 4

 16.9 LD

 17.2
1998 ST27

 Oct. 12

 24.1 LD

 15.5
2001 UP

 Oct. 21

 2.5 LD

 16.5
Notes: LD is a "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.

  • PERSEIDS 2001: Perseid watchers on August 12th spotted meteors, auroras, and a disintegrating Russian rocket! [gallery]
  • MORNING PLANETS: In July and Aug. 2001, the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and Mercury put on a dazzling early-morning sky show. [gallery]
  • C/2001 A2 (LINEAR): This volatile comet is still visible through small telescopes as it recedes from Earth. [gallery]
  • ECLIPSE SAFARI: Onlookers cried out in delight on June 21, 2001, when the Moon covered the African Sun, revealing the dazzling corona. [gallery]
  • TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
  • CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
  • LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]

July 27, 2001: Meteorites Don't Pop Corn -- A fireball that dazzled Americans on July 23rd probably didn't scorch any cornfields, contrary to widespread reports.

June 12, 2001: The Biggest Explosions in the Solar System -- NASA's HESSI spacecraft aims to unravel an explosive mystery: the origin of solar flares.

Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar, NASA scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet.

Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here.

Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun.

Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun.

Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001.

Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights"

Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites.

MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES

 

 

 

 

 

 
Editor's Note: Space weather forecasts that appear on this site are based in part on data from NASA and NOAA satellites and ground-monitoring stations. Predictions and explanations are formulated by Dr. Tony Phillips; they are not official statements of any government organ or guarantees of space weather activity.

Essential Web Links

NOAA Space Environment Center -- The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory -- Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. (European Mirror Site)

Daily Sunspot Summaries -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Current Solar Images --a gallery of up-to-date solar pictures from the National Solar Data Analysis Center at the Goddard Space Flight Center.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

The Latest SOHO Coronagraph Images -- from the Naval Research Lab

List of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

Observable Comets -- from the Harvard Minor Planet Center.

What is the Interplanetary Magnetic Field? -- A lucid answer from the University of Michigan. See also the Anatomy of Earth's Magnetosphere.

Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from NASA's ACE spacecraft.

More Real-time Solar Wind Data -- from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Proton Monitor.

Aurora Forecast --from the University of Alaska's Geophysical Institute

Daily Solar Flare and Sunspot Data -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001.

NOAA geomagnetic latitude maps: North America, Eurasia, South Africa & Australia, South America

Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: January - December 1999 -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: January - December 2000 -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Quarterly Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: January - March 2001 -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Quarterly Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: April - June 2001 -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

Quarterly Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: July - Sept 2001 -- from the NOAA Space Environment Center.

at http://eclipse.span.ch/orionid.avi


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