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

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 543.7 km/s
density: 1.6 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0525 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C9 1905 UT Jul13
24-hr: M5 1450 UT Jul13
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2355 UT

Daily Sun: 14 Jul '05

Sunspot 786 poses a continuing threat for M-class solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 55
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 13 Jul 2005

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 3.3 nT
B_z: 2.4 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0527 UT

Coronal Holes:

A new coronal hole is emerging over the sun's eastern limb. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope.

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 2005 Jul 13 2204 UTC

FLARE	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
CLASS M	50 %	20 %
CLASS X	10 %	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 2005 Jul 13 2204 UTC
Mid-latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	25 %	40 %
MINOR	15 %	20 %
SEVERE	05 %	10 %

High latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	30 %	50 %
MINOR	20 %	30 %
SEVERE	10 %	15 %

What's Up in Space -- 14 Jul 2005
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SOLAR ACTIVITY: Yesterday, an M5-explosion above sunspot 786 hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space: movie. The CME is not heading directly toward Earth, but it could deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field, possibly tonight, sparking auroras over Canada and northern US states.

SOLAR LOOPS: Astronomers are monitoring a remarkably beautiful solar prominence today. It's emerging from sunspot 786 near the sun's western limb. This picture, taken on July 13th by Didier Favre of Los Angeles, CA, shows the prominence with Earth side-by-side for comparison. Croquet anyone?

Prominences are magnetic loops filled with hot-glowing gas. They're often seen when sunspots approach the sun's limb, as sunspot 786 is doing now. Magnetic fields rising above the 'spot glow beautifully against the black of space. This prominence should remain visible for days.

more images: from Gary Palmer of Los Angeles, CA; from John Stetson of Falmouth, Maine.

MORNING PLANET: Have you seen Mars lately? It's a pretty sight in the eastern sky before sunrise: sky map. To the unaided eye, Mars looks like a bright red star. A backyard telescope pointed at Mars will show you Mars' icy-bright South Polar Cap and strange dark markings on the planet's surface.

Right: Mars on July 13th, as seen through a 10-inch telescope. Photo credit: Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands.

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 14 Jul 2005 there were 703 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids June-July 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters

ASTEROID	DATE (UT)	MISS DISTANCE	MAG.
2005 LM3	June 3	4.0 LD	18
2005 LU3	June 4	4.9 LD	20
2005 LD	June 19	7.1 LD	17
2000 AG6	July 22	8.7 LD	20

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.

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.

Atmospheric Optics -- the first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. See also Snow Crystals.

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. See also the GOES-12 Solar X-ray Imager.

Recent Solar Events -- a nice summary of current solar conditions from lmsal.com.

SOHO Farside Images of the Sun from SWAN and MDI.

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

The Sun from Earth -- daily images of our star from the Big Bear Solar Observatory

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. How powerful are solar wind gusts? Read this story from Science@NASA.

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

What is an Iridium flare? See also Photographing Satellites by Brian Webb.

What is an Astronomical Unit, or AU ?

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; Jan-Mar., 2005;

Space Audio Streams: (University of Florida) 20 MHz radio emissions from Jupiter: #1, #2, #3, #4; (NASA/Marshall) INSPIRE: #1; (Stan Nelson of Roswell, New Mexico) meteor radar: #1, #2;

Recent International Astronomical Union Circulars

GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL