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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 425.4 km/sec
density: 3.85 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2
1835 UT Feb26
24-hr: C3
0620 UT Feb26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2350 UT
Daily Sun: 26 Feb 24
Expand: labels | no labels | Carrington
Sunspot AR3590 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 114
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 26 Feb 2024

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2024 total: 0 days (0%)
2023 total: 0 days (0%)
2022 total: 1 day (<1%)
2021 total: 64 days (18%)
2020 total: 208 days (57%)
2019 total: 281 days (77%)
2018 total: 221 days (61%)
2017 total: 104 days (28%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
2015 total: 0 days (0%)
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)
2008 total: 268 days (73%)
2007 total: 152 days (42%)
2006 total: 70 days (19%)

Updated 26 Feb 2024


Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 18.47x1010 W Warm
Max: 49.4
x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05
x1010 W Cold (02/2009)
explanation | more data: gfx, txt
Updated 26 Feb 2024

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 181 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 26 Feb 2024

Cosmic Rays Solar Cycle 25 is intensifying, and this is reflected in the number of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth are slowly declining--a result of the yin-yang relationship between the solar cycle and cosmic rays.

Oulu Neutron Counts

Percentages of the Space Age average:
today: -4.9% Low
48-hr change: -0.3%
Max: +11.7% Very High
(12/2009)
Min: -32.1% Very Low (06/1991)
explanation | more data
Updated 26 Feb 2024 @ 0700 UT

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1.67 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.33
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 7.45 nT
Bz: -6.52 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1147 UT
Coronal Holes: 26 Feb 24

A stream of solar wind flowing from this southern coronal hole could hit Earth on Feb. 26-27.
Credit: SDO/AIA

Polar Stratospheric Clouds
Colorful Type II polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) form when the temperature in the stratosphere drops to a staggeringly low -85C. NASA's MERRA-2 climate model predicts when the air up there is cold enough:

On Feb. 26, 2024, the Arctic stratosphere is too warm for Type II polar stratospheric clouds. | more data.

Noctilucent Clouds
The southern season for NLCs is over. The first clouds were detected inside the Antarctic Circle on Dec. 4, 2023, by the NOAA 21 satellite. The same satellite detected the last cloud on Feb. 21, 2024. Daily maps are now blank:

noctilucent clouds
Updated: Feb 22, 2024

An instrument onboard NOAA 21 (OMPS LP) is able to detect NLCs (also known as "polar mesospheric clouds" or PMCs). Now that the southern season has ended, attention turns to the northern hemisphere. The first NLCs should appear inside the Arctic Circle in mid to late May.

SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2024 Feb 26 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: 2024 Feb 26 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
15 %
MINOR
25 %
20 %
SEVERE
20 %
20 %
 
Monday, Feb. 26, 2024
What's up in space
       
 

This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by ChatGPT and other Large Language Models is spreading rapidly across the Internet. It's well-written, artificial, frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being.

 

WEAK IMPACT FAILS TO CAUSE A STORM: As predicted, a CME grazed Earth's magnetic field on Feb. 25th (~1645 UT). However, the impact was weak and it did not cause a geomagnetic storm. The CME was hurled into space on Feb. 21st by an erupting filament of magnetism (movie) in the sun's northern hemisphere. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

BIG SUNSPOT GETS EVEN BIGGER: Giant sunspot AR3590 spent the weekend getting bigger. This two-day movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows its area increasing by a quarter in only 48 hours:

AR3590 is now the largest sunspot of Solar Cycle 25. For comparison, it is now 60% as large (by surface area) as the great sunspot that caused the Carrington Event in Sept. 1859. Even a 60%-intensity Carrington Event occuring today could cause problems for satellites, power grids, and internet connectivity. That's why forecasters are carefully watching this sunspot.

Last week, AR3590 unleashed three X-flares in rapid succession, including the strongest flare of the current solar cycle (X6.3) . Since then the sunspot has been relatively quiet, producing only a handful of low-level M-class explosions. Is it gathering itself for another X-flare? If so, the flare will be geoeffective as AR3590 is almost directly facing Earth. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text

more images: from John O'Neal of Statesville, NC; from Ivar Hamberg of Nice, France; from Gerardo Jimenez of Ávila. Spain; from Dan Bush of Albany, Missouri; from Hadházi Csaba of Hajduhadhaz, Hungary;

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

SUNSPOT SUNSET: Yesterday in Venice, Italy, a flock of birds was about to cross the setting sun. Photographer Filippo Fazzini quickly aimed his camera to catch the transit. "I also caught giant sunspot AR3590," he says.

"This is a 1/8000 sec exposure at ISO 100 taken with my Sony A7 III," says Fazzini. "I did not need a solar filter."

Indeed, when the sun is hanging low at dawn or dusk, the atmosphere itself acts like a solar filter, tempoarily dimming the sun enough for photography. Be careful though! It is never safe to look at the sun through unfiltered optics; magnified sunlight can damage your eyes. Always point your camera using the LCD viewfinder as Fazzini did.

more images: from Robert Lowton of Mam Tor, Peak District, UK; from Bill Reyna of West Orange, NJ, USA;

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

18K GOLD "LOVE YOU TO THE MOON" LOCKET: This is a very special locket. It's heart-shaped, plated with 18K gold, and we will fly it again during this year's total eclipse of the sun. Keep reading...

On Jan. 26, 2024, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this locket to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. At the apex of the flight, it floated 111,535 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:

Buy it now for $149.95, and we'll fly it again--FOR FREE--during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. The students will be launching multiple balloons from the path of totality in Texas. Your pendant will go along for the ride, touching the shadow of the Moon at the edge of space. (Simply type "FLY IT AGAIN" in the comments box at checkout.)

The locket, which opens to hold a personal photo or other small item, comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter


Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

  All Sky Fireball Network
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 26, 2024, the network reported 3 fireballs.
(3 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]

  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 February 26, 2024 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2024 DM1
2024-Feb-21
8.7 LD
7.5
14
2024 CL5
2024-Feb-21
4.8 LD
14
21
2024 DW
2024-Feb-22
0.6 LD
17.9
14
2024 CE8
2024-Feb-22
10.6 LD
18.8
29
2024 DX
2024-Feb-22
2 LD
10.4
12
2024 DJ1
2024-Feb-22
12.5 LD
13.5
34
2024 BY15
2024-Feb-23
12 LD
1.6
16
2024 CL3
2024-Feb-23
9.3 LD
4.2
19
2024 CT7
2024-Feb-27
6.2 LD
7.7
17
2024 CC7
2024-Feb-28
15.4 LD
6
19
2024 CE7
2024-Feb-28
13.6 LD
19.3
39
2024 DL
2024-Feb-29
4.6 LD
6.7
24
2024 CA7
2024-Feb-29
14.9 LD
32.5
113
2019 DA1
2024-Mar-03
14.6 LD
13.4
23
2024 CW6
2024-Mar-04
10 LD
2.5
10
2024 CK8
2024-Mar-04
6.9 LD
4.8
31
2024 DA1
2024-Mar-11
9.4 LD
9.9
49
2015 FM34
2024-Mar-12
19.4 LD
11.1
113
2020 FU
2024-Mar-15
14.9 LD
15.5
19
2024 CJ8
2024-Mar-16
17.3 LD
12.1
81
2020 FD
2024-Mar-18
4.5 LD
15.1
10
2024 BD7
2024-Mar-19
18.8 LD
10.1
140
2019 CJ
2024-Mar-24
12.4 LD
4.4
28
2021 CF6
2024-Mar-25
14.6 LD
8.3
62
2023 RO49
2024-Mar-29
14.1 LD
4.3
45
2015 MB54
2024-Mar-30
11.7 LD
3.8
54
2024 DQ
2024-Mar-30
6.4 LD
2.9
41
2018 CC14
2024-Apr-03
19.6 LD
8.9
115
2023 GC2
2024-Apr-04
8.7 LD
5.7
12
2005 FG
2024-Apr-08
18.4 LD
5.5
57
2020 BP13
2024-Apr-09
15.2 LD
6.8
209
2021 RJ19
2024-Apr-12
19.6 LD
11.4
25
2021 GQ5
2024-Apr-13
8.8 LD
7.5
7
2023 FN13
2024-Apr-14
3.3 LD
4.9
13
2022 UO1
2024-Apr-14
16.7 LD
14
33
517681
2024-Apr-15
18.4 LD
14.2
589
439437
2024-Apr-15
8.5 LD
16.5
609
2023 HU3
2024-Apr-18
15.9 LD
19.1
35
2021 JW2
2024-Apr-19
1.6 LD
5.1
11
2017 SA20
2024-Apr-19
3.8 LD
6.2
8
2021 VH2
2024-Apr-25
9.3 LD
2.7
6
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.

  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.
SolarMonitor.org
  information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary
Starlink Satellite Statistics
  current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page
The Aerospace Corporation
  Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
NOAA 27-Day Space Weather Forecasts
  fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong.
Aurora 30 min forecast
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Live Aurora Webcam
  from Lights over Lapland
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather

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