SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 294.4 km/s
density:
5.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2056 UT


X-ray Solar Flares

6-hr max:
B8 1625 UT Apr03
24-hr: C1 1200 UT Apr03
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2055 UT

Daily Sun: 03 Apr '06

Sunspot 865 has a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI.


Sunspot Number: 68
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 02 Apr 2006

Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals one large sunspot on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.1 nT
Bz:
1.6 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2056 UT

Coronal Holes:

The indicated coronal hole is at such high northern latitudes that its solar wind stream might miss Earth entirely. 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 2006 Apr 02 2203 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 05 % 05 %
CLASS X 01 % 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 2006 Apr 02 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 15 % 15 %
MINOR 05 % 05 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 20 % 20 %
MINOR 10 % 10 %
SEVERE 01 % 01 %

What's Up in Space -- 3 Apr 2006
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Did you miss the auroras of March? Next time get a wake-up call. Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE.

SOLAR ACTIVITY: Things are heating up on the sun. The growth of sunspot group 865 continues; it now stretches more than 10 Earth diameters from end to end. The spot has a twisted and possibly unstable magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares.

Meanwhile, flame-shaped prominences are dancing around the sun's limb, as shown in this six-hour movie recorded by amateur astronomer Andrew Chatman of Pittsford, New York:

Although they look like flames, prominences are not fire. They are enormous clouds of gas held aloft by solar magnetic force fields. The best way to see them is through H-alpha telescopes tuned to the red glow of solar hydrogen.

more images: from Andy Dodson of Huirangi, New Zealand; from Harald Paleske of Langendorf, Germany; from Monty Leventhal of Sydney Australia; from Alan Friedman of Buffalo, New York; from Didier Favre of Brétigny, France; from Mike Strieber of Newport News, Virginia;

MOON & PLEIADES: On Saturday night, April 1st, the crescent Moon had a close encounter with the Pleiades star cluster. "The twilight scene was visually stunning," says Thad V'Soske who snapped this picture from the Colorado National Monument:

If you can believe it, the scene was even prettier in eastern parts of the United States where the Moon was not merely close to the Pleiades but actually on top of them. One by one, the cluster's stars were covered by the Moon's dark limb during a 3-hour occultation: photo gallery.



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 3 Apr 2006 there were 775 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids
March 2006 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE
(UT)

MISS DISTANCE

MAG.

 SIZE
(meters)
2000 PN9

March 6

7.9 LD

12

~2 km
2006 EH1

March 7

2.0 LD

18

~20 m
2006 EC

March 8

0.7 LD

16

~19 m
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

Daily images from the sun -- 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.

Lists of Coronal Mass Ejections -- from 1998 to 2001

Mirages: Mirages in Finland; An Introduction to Mirages;

NOAA Solar Flare and Sunspot Data: 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; Jan-Mar 2006;

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

This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips: email
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