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Solar wind speed: 487.5 km/sec density: 3.7 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 0407 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: B9 2131 UT Aug23 24-hr: C1 0040 UT Aug23 explanation | more data Updated: Today at: 2359 UT Daily Sun: 23 Aug 13 None of these sunspots poses a threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI Sunspot number: 127 What is the sunspot number? Updated 23 Aug 2013 Spotless Days Current Stretch: 0 days 2013 total: 0 days (0%) 2012 total: 0 days (0%) 2011 total: 2 days (<1 br=""> 2010 total: 51 days (14%) 2009 total: 260 days (71%) Since 2004: 821 days Typical Solar Min: 486 days Update 23 Aug 2013 The Radio Sun 10.7 cm flux: 132 sfu explanation | more data Updated 23 Aug 2013 Current Auroral Oval: Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/POES Planetary K-index Now: Kp= 2 quiet 24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet explanation | more data Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 8.5 nT Bz: 3.8 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 0407 UT Coronal Holes: 23 Aug 13 Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Aug. 26-27. Credit: SDO/AIA. Spaceweather.com is now posting daily satellite images of noctilucent clouds (NLCs), which hover over Earth's poles at the edge of space. The data come from NASA's AIM spacecraft. The north polar "daisy" pictured below is a composite of near-realtime images from AIM assembled by researchers at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP). Noctilucent Clouds Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar Updated at: 08-23-2013 13:55:02 SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts Updated at: 2013 Aug 23 2200 UTC FLARE 0-24 hr 24-48 hr CLASS M 10 % 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: 2013 Aug 23 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes 0-24 hr 24-48 hr ACTIVE 40 % 40 % MINOR 25 % 30 % SEVERE 05 % 10 % High latitudes 0-24 hr 24-48 hr ACTIVE 10 % 05 % MINOR 25 % 20 % SEVERE 60 % 75 %   end quote from: http://spaceweather.com/

Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013 What's up in space   They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.   POLAR STORM WARNING: Two CMEs are heading for Earth. The plasma clouds were expelled from the sun on August 20-21 by a pair of erupting magnetic filaments. NOAA forecasters expect the CMEs to arrive on August 23-24, possibly sparking geomagnetic storms around the poles. Aurora alerts: text, voice. ANOTHER SUNDIVING COMET: Here we go again. Another comet is diving into the sun, the second one this week. Coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) are monitoring the death plunge: The icy comet, which probably measures a few 10s of meters wide, is vaporizing furiously and is not expected to survive much longer. Like the comet that came before it, this one is a member of the Kreutz family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They get their name from 19th century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, who studied them in detail. Because of their common parentage, sungrazers often come in clusters. After today's sungrazer evaporates, it wouldn't be surprising to find yet another in the offing. Stay tuned. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery AURORA SEASON BEGINS: Around the Arctic Circle, summer is long and bright. Auroras vanish in the glow of the midnight sun. News flash: the auroras are back. "Tonight I saw the first auroras of the new season in Oulu, Finland," says Thomas Kast, who took this picture on August 22nd: "This is how the sky looked at ten minutes past midnight," says Kast. "The orange color on the left is twilight, just between sunset and sunrise, and the waves of the Baltic Sea were lit up by the Full Moon. Above it all were some surprisingly strong Northern lights. I saw needles, purple color, and even a very faint corona." With autumn approaching, Arctic nights are rapidly darkening. This means more auroras are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% - 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on August 22 - 23. Says Kast: "What a promising start!" Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery [previous years: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011] Realtime Comet Photo Gallery   Near Earth Asteroids 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 August 24, 2013 there were 1421 potentially hazardous asteroids. Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Size 1999 CF9 Aug 23 24.7 LD 1.1 km 2013 QR1 Aug 25 8.2 LD 215 m 2002 JR9 Aug 31 63.5 LD 1.4 km 2013 PX6 Sep 21 68.6 LD 1.0 km 2000 DK79 Nov 10 49.1 LD 3.2 km 2011 JY1 Nov 13 8.2 LD 57 m Notes: LD means "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 Weather Prediction Center   The official U.S. government space weather bureau Atmospheric Optics   The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. Solar Dynamics Observatory   Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. STEREO   3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory Solar and Heliospheric Observatory   Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. Daily Sunspot Summaries   from the NOAA Space Environment Center Heliophysics   the underlying science of space weather Space Weather Alerts   more links...