|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
speed:
526.8
km/s
density:
3.6
protons/cm3
explanation
| more data
Updated: Today at
0947
UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max:
C2
0930
UT
Jul19
24-hr:
C2
0930
UT
Jul19
explanation
| more data
Updated: Today
at
0945
UT
Daily
Sun: 18 Jul '03 
Sunspots
409 and 410 have beta-gamma magnetic fields that harbor energy for M-class
solar flares. Image credit: SOHO MDI
Sunspot Number:
193
What
is the sunspot number?
Updated:
18
Jul
2003
Coronal
Holes:
Earth is inside a solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal
hole. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
More
about coronal holes
Interplanetary Mag.
Field
Btotal:
9.3
nT
Bz: 0.2
nT south
explanation
| more data
Updated: Today at 0947
UT
 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 2003 Jul 18 2200 UTC
|
FLARE |
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
|
CLASS M |
45
% |
45
% |
|
CLASS X |
05
% |
05
% |
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities
for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given
for three activity levels: active,
minor storm, severe
storm
Updated
at 2003 Jul 18 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
|
ACTIVE |
35
% |
35
% |
|
MINOR |
20
% |
20
% |
|
SEVERE |
05
% |
05
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24 hr |
24-48 hr |
|
ACTIVE |
35
% |
35
% |
|
MINOR |
20
% |
20
% |
|
SEVERE |
05
% |
05
% |
|
|
What's
Up in Space --
19
Jul
2003
Subscribe
to Space Weather News!
SUMMER AURORAS: July
isn't normally a good month for
Northern Lights--but this July
has been very
good. Sky watchers
have spotted auroras across Wisconsin,
Minnesota,
Iowa, Idaho, Montana, and Michigan
in the United States. Canadians
have seen some vivid auroras, too,
in spite of their very short nights
at this time of year. (continued
below)
On
July 18th, Jean
Chiasson of Québec took this picture of
green auroras over the Laurentides wildlife reserve.
That fuzzy
patch near the top of the photo is the Andromeda
galaxy,
two million light years away.
Would
you like a phone call when auroras appear over your
home town?
Sign up for Spaceweather
PHONE.
 MARS & THE
MOON: Before
sunrise on Thursday morning,
July 17th, the Moon and Mars had
a remarkable close encounter.
Viewed from most places in North
America, the pair were less than
one Moon-width apart. In south
Florida the Moon actually covered
Mars. Mike
Harden of Ft. Myers, FL,
captured this picture of the
red planet peeking over the lunar
limb. He used a Televue 102 Apo-Refractor
and a Nikon 995 digital camera.
More
images: from
Jesús Ojeda of St. Francis, WI; from
Alberto Quijano
Vodniza of Pasto, Colombia; from
Mike Harden of Ft Myers, FL; from
John Stetson of Torrance, CA; from
Rick Stankiewicz of Peterborough, Ontario; from
George Lilley of Warner Robins, Georgia; from
Rich Thompson of Troy, NC; from
George G. Burnley of Brownstown, PA; from
David and Nathaniel Darling of Sun Prairie,
WI; from
Jay Reynolds of Bay Village, OH;
TRUE
COLORS: Traveling
photographer Brian
Whittaker was in India on July 13th when he
saw this colorful sunset. "It was the most
spectacular display of iridescence I
have ever seen," says Whittaker. "This
photograph has not been enhanced in any way. In
fact, the picture doesn't show the colours as vividly
as real life." (continued below)
The
colors Whittaker saw were caused by tiny water
droplets diffracting sunlight
as the light filtered through a high-altitude lenticular
cloud. This is the same phenomenon that causes
occasional coronas
around the moon and rare nacreus
clouds.
NOCTILUCENT
CLOUDS: They glow at night, seeded by meteoroids and
fed by rocket exhaust. Check our gallery for recent
sightings of noctilucent clouds.
Spaceweather PHONE | Upcoming
Events | Archives
|
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
19
Jul
2003
there were 519 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids
June-July 2003 Earth-asteroid
encounters
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.
- LUNAR
ECLIPSE: On
May 15th, sky watchers from North America to Europe saw
the normally-bright full moon disappear inside Earth's
shadow--the first lunar
eclipse of 2003. Visit our lunar
eclipse gallery and see hundreds of photos
from around the world.
- LEONIDS 2002: The
Leonids have come and gone, but our meteor gallery keeps growing.
Check out the latest
additions, which include a stunning image of 44 meteors emerging
from the radiant in Leo.
- DAWN PLANETS: Just
before dawn on Sunday, Dec. 1st, the planets Venus and Mars converged
and formed a lovely triangle with the slender crescent Moon. [gallery]
- NEARBY ASTEROID: Asteroid 2002
NY40 came
so
close to Earth
on August 18th that people could see it through binoculars or small
telescopes. [gallery]
- PERSEIDS 2002:
Sky watchers spotted plenty of
bright shooting stars--including some colorful earthgrazers--during
the 2002 Perseid
meteor shower. [gallery]
- CRESCENT SUN:
See strange
shadows, weird sunsets, eclipse dogs, crescent-eyed turkeys and extraordinary
rings of fire photographed during the June 10th solar eclipse. [gallery]
|
