| | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 2.00 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 2.00 quiet explanation | more data Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 9.94 nT Bz: 1.30 nT north more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 22 Feb 23 Solar wind flowing from this equatorial coronal hole could reach Earth on Feb 27-28. Credit: SDO/AIA Noctilucent Clouds The southern hemisphere season for noctilucent clouds has begun. NASA's AIM spacecraft detected the first electric-blue puffs over Antarctica on Dec. 1st. Switch view:Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated Feb22 SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2023 Feb 22 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 50 % | 50 % | CLASS X | 10 % | 10 % | Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at: 2023 Feb 22 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 | 20 % | 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 tour guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | | THE SUN IS CRACKLING WITH FLARES: Growing sunspot AR3234 is crackling with solar flares, including more than half a dozen M-class events since Monday. Pulses of radiation are ionizing the top of Earth's atmosphere, causing a rolling series of shortwave radio blackouts around all longitudes of our planet. This sunspot will become even more geoeffective in the days ahead as it continues to turn toward Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text. SUNSET SKY SHOW: Around the world, people are watching Venus, Jupiter, and the crescent Moon line up in the sunset sky. Jan Jackson took this picture last night in Ziheautanejo, Mexico: "The planets were so bright, we could photograph them with nothing more than a cell phone," says Jackson. There's something different to see every night. Tonight, the Moon moves up and passes close to Jupiter (Pro tip: Be alert for Earthshine.) Tomorrow, there will be a nearly-vertical Moon-Jupiter-Venus line in the sky. Sky maps: Feb. 21, 22, 23. Best of all, Venus and Jupiter are converging. At closest approach on March 1st, Venus and Jupiter will be just 0.5 degrees apart--a beautiful pairing and one of the best astrophoto-ops of 2023. Take a look and submit your photos here. more images: from Hari Kumar of Trivandrum, India; from Daniele Gasparri of Nellim, Finland; from Petr Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava) in Thoddoo, Maldives; from Peter Zimnikoval of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia; from Marko Posavec of Virje, Croatia Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter SOLAR ECLIPSE CRYSTAL PYRAMID: On Aug. 21, 2017, during the Great American Solar Eclipse, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched 11 space weather balloons from the path of totality. The armada soared into the stratosphere, touching the shadow of the Moon more than 100,000 feet above Earth's surface. This pyramid hitched a ride: You can have it for $159.95. With the sun, Earth, and Moon perfectly aligned, the faces of the 5-sided crystal caught the reflection of the eclipsed sun. Watch the video! The pyramid comes with a gift card showing the crystal floating at the top of Earth's atmosphere and passing through the Moon's shadow. The interior of the card tells the story of the flight and confirms that this gift has been to the edge of space and back again. 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 Feb 22 2023, 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 February 22, 2023 there were 2331 potentially hazardous asteroids. | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | 2023 CA3 | 2023-Feb-17 | 5.9 LD | 12.4 | 14 | 2023 CS3 | 2023-Feb-17 | 9.4 LD | 4.7 | 15 | 2023 CY1 | 2023-Feb-17 | 4.6 LD | 6.7 | 20 | 2023 CW2 | 2023-Feb-17 | 1.6 LD | 2.3 | 4 | 2020 DG4 | 2023-Feb-17 | 1.4 LD | 6.9 | 8 | 2023 CC1 | 2023-Feb-18 | 15 LD | 12.2 | 41 | 2023 DN | 2023-Feb-18 | 2.6 LD | 6.2 | 20 | 2023 CS2 | 2023-Feb-18 | 4.3 LD | 7.6 | 9 | 2023 DH | 2023-Feb-18 | 6.6 LD | 4.9 | 10 | 2023 CE2 | 2023-Feb-18 | 13.6 LD | 16.1 | 28 | 2023 CH1 | 2023-Feb-18 | 7.6 LD | 7.5 | 17 | 2023 CW | 2023-Feb-18 | 6.7 LD | 7.6 | 26 | 2020 CX1 | 2023-Feb-19 | 17.4 LD | 7.7 | 53 | 2023 DC | 2023-Feb-20 | 8.6 LD | 7.8 | 12 | 2023 CR2 | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.2 LD | 17.3 | 21 | 2023 DJ | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.6 LD | 12.4 | 75 | 2023 DF | 2023-Feb-21 | 4.3 LD | 9.8 | 14 | 37638 | 2023-Feb-21 | 17 LD | 11.1 | 493 | 2023 AA2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 17.4 LD | 10.1 | 133 | 2023 CM2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 2.1 LD | 11.2 | 22 | 2023 DE | 2023-Feb-22 | 8.6 LD | 16.9 | 25 | 2023 CS1 | 2023-Feb-23 | 15.1 LD | 9.1 | 31 | 2023 DK | 2023-Feb-25 | 6.6 LD | 4 | 9 | 2023 CG1 | 2023-Feb-25 | 15.2 LD | 6.5 | 32 | 2023 DA | 2023-Feb-26 | 2.8 LD | 5.9 | 18 | 2023 CX2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 7.6 LD | 2.3 | 11 | 2023 CC2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 16.2 LD | 5.1 | 31 | 2012 DK31 | 2023-Feb-27 | 12.6 LD | 15.5 | 143 | 2006 BE55 | 2023-Feb-28 | 9.4 LD | 13.3 | 145 | 2021 QW | 2023-Mar-03 | 13.9 LD | 12.1 | 79 | 2017 BM123 | 2023-Mar-03 | 12.1 LD | 7.8 | 61 | 2007 ED125 | 2023-Mar-03 | 11.7 LD | 13.1 | 224 | 2015 EG | 2023-Mar-04 | 13.9 LD | 10.6 | 27 | 2023 BK5 | 2023-Mar-05 | 17.8 LD | 8.4 | 62 | 535844 | 2023-Mar-07 | 10.5 LD | 7.7 | 149 | 2020 FQ | 2023-Mar-09 | 14 LD | 6.3 | 13 | 2020 FV4 | 2023-Mar-13 | 17.6 LD | 8.2 | 30 | 2023 CM | 2023-Mar-14 | 10.3 LD | 14 | 190 | 2023 DM | 2023-Mar-15 | 8.5 LD | 7.4 | 65 | 2018 UQ1 | 2023-Mar-17 | 10.7 LD | 11.7 | 143 | 2016 WH | 2023-Mar-19 | 18.1 LD | 11.8 | 14 | 2018 FE3 | 2023-Mar-21 | 10.1 LD | 5.4 | 13 | 2023 CE4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 20 LD | 10.1 | 93 | 2022 YK4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 11.9 LD | 2.3 | 25 | 2017 SE12 | 2023-Mar-30 | 5.2 LD | 8.4 | 15 | 2016 GH1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 7.7 LD | 5.8 | 11 | 2022 GO3 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17 LD | 11.6 | 15 | 2021 GN1 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17.7 LD | 14.2 | 18 | 2018 FD | 2023-Apr-07 | 17.9 LD | 8.2 | 47 | 2019 GK21 | 2023-Apr-13 | 15.2 LD | 8.1 | 27 | 2022 YK9 | 2023-Apr-13 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 175 | 436774 | 2023-Apr-13 | 12.5 LD | 17.6 | 719 | 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 | | 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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