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

SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions

Solar Wind
speed: 391.9 km/s
density: 1.3 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1047 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1 1045 UT Nov27
24-hr: B1 1045 UT Nov27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1045 UT

Daily Sun: 27 Nov '05

Sunspot 824 poses no threat for strong solar flares. Solar activity should remain low. Credit: SOHO/MDI

Sunspot Number: 30
What is the sunspot number?
Updated: 26 Nov 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: 4.3 nT
B_z: 3.8 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1047 UT

Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Dec. 1st or 2nd. 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 Nov 26 2203 UTC

FLARE	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
CLASS M	01 %	01 %
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 2005 Nov 26 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	15 %	20 %
MINOR	05 %	10 %
SEVERE	01 %	01 %

High latitudes

	0-24 hr	24-48 hr
ACTIVE	20 %	25 %
MINOR	10 %	15 %
SEVERE	01 %	05 %

What's Up in Space -- 27 Nov 2005
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ASTEROID LANDING: According to the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), the Hayabusa probe successfully touched down on asteroid Itokawa on Nov 25th, possibly collecting samples for return to Earth in 2007. The probe is having troubles, though. After backing some 5 km away from the asteroid, Hayabusa reportedly developed a gas leak in one of its thrusters. Mission controllers are investigating.

SUNSPOT 822: For two weeks in November, Neptune-sized sunspot 822 glided across the face of the sun. It promised strong flares and auroras--but never delivered. At least it was photogenic!

Gary Palmer of Los Angeles photographed the 'spot every morning he could. Click on the image below to view his complete retrospective:

Palmer took the pictures using two filters: On the right we see sunspot 822 in the familiar red light of solar hydrogen. Red "H-alpha" filters reveal the dark cores of sunspots and the magnetic filaments that snake in and out of these active regions.

On the left we see the 'spot in the violet light of singly-ionized calcium. Violet "CaK" filters highlight the bright "beaches" (plages) surrounding sunspots as well as bubbling supergranules rising and falling all across the sun's surface.

"Retrospectives are rewarding to work on," says Palmer. "Our sun is in a constant state of flux."

HALL OF MIRRORS: OK, the sun is in a constant state of flux, but this is ridiculous. "It was really amazing to watch the familiar sun taking such strange shapes," says Mila Zinkova of San Francisco, CA, who took these pictures of the sun setting on Nov 22nd:

Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains what she saw: "Stacked temperature inversions have combined to make an atmospheric hall of mirrors. As the sun sinks slowly into the uppermost layer an inverted sun rises to merge with it. Beneath that, two more layers show more miraged slices of the sun that swell and shrink. The bands of warm and cold air have bent the setting sun's light into multiple mirages. Amazing sunsets like these are the place to search for green flashes."

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 27 Nov 2005 there were 743 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids August 2005 Earth-asteroid encounters

ASTEROID	DATE (UT)	MISS DISTANCE	MAG.
1992 UY4	August 8	16 LD	12

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

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; Jan-Mar 2005; Apr-Jun 2005; Jul-Sep 2005; Oct-Dec 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