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Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 458.3 km/s
density: 2.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0956 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B3 0840 UT May05
24-hr: B3 0840 UT May05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0945 UT

Daily Sun: 05 May '04
None of the spots on the sun today pose a threat for strong solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

The Far Side of the Sun

This holographic image reveals maybe one sunspot groups on the far side of the Sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 63
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 04 May 2004

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 10.4 nT
Bz: 1.1 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0957 UT

Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth today and spark high-latitude auroras. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Imager

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 2004 May 04 2240 UTC
FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr
CLASS M 15 % 15 %
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 2004 May 04 2240 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 35 % 30 %
MINOR 20 % 15 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr 24-48 hr
ACTIVE 40 % 35 %
MINOR 30 % 25 %
SEVERE 05 % 05 %

What's Up in Space -- 5 May 2004
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METEOR SHOWER: Earth is passing through a stream of dusty debris from Halley's Comet--the source of the annual eta Aquarid meteor shower. Unfortunately, tonight's full Moon will outshine the display, reducing it to near invisibility. Try listening to the shower instead, using Stan Nelson's 67 MHz meteor radar in Roswell, New Mexico.

Would you like a call when auroras appear over your home town? Sign up for Spaceweather PHONE.

LUNAR ECLIPSE: The May 4th lunar eclipse is done, and it was lovely. Sky watchers in Europa, Asia, Africa, Australia and Sounth America watched the Moon turn a shade of sunset-red as it glided through Earth's shadow. Justin McGuire took this picture of the red Moon rising over Canberra, Australia:


Stay tuned for more images.

AURORA OUTLOOK: NOAA forecasters estimate a 5% chance of severe geomagnetic storming today. If auroras appear, the best displays will be at high latitudes--e.g., Canada and northern-tier US states such as Minnesota and Wisconsin. [gallery]

PHOTO OP: On May 6th and 7th, the tail of Comet Bradfield (C/2004 F4) will sweep in front of the Andromeda Galaxy. Look for the pair before dawn, rising just ahead of the morning Sun. Both are faint, best seen through binoculars or small telescopes, but this will be a good photo-op for astrophotographers. [sky map]

Above: Comet Bradfield and the Andromeda Galaxy as seen from Arches National Park in Utah on April 28th. Photo credit: Terry Acomb & John Chumack.

more images: from Rob Ratkowski at Mt. Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii (May 2); from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK (May 2); from Anthony Arrigo of Park City, Utah (May 1); from Tom Teters at Cactus Flats in the Pawnee Prairie Grasslands of Colorado (Apr. 27); from Chris Cook of Cape Cod, Mass. (Apr. 29); from Gerhard Kupfer of Bopfingen, Ostalbkreis, Germany (April 30).



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 5 May 2004 there were 595 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids

April 2004 Earth-asteroid encounters
ASTEROID

 DATE (UT)

 MISS DISTANCE

 MAG.
2001 HB

Apr. 4

36 LD

 19
2004 FY31

Apr. 11

12 LD

 19
1999 DJ4

Apr. 20

23 LD

 19
2004 GE2

Apr. 24

13 LD

 17
2003 YT1

Apr. 30

29 LD

 14
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 Soft 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.

Vandenberg AFB missile launch schedule.

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; Jan-Mar., 2004;

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

Editor's Note: This site is sponsored by Science@NASA. Space weather and other forecasts that appear here are formulated by Dr. Tony Phillips. They are not guarantees of space weather or other celestial activity.

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