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SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 380.1 km/sec
density: 0.8 protons/cm3
explanation |more data
Updated: Today at 0415 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0 2355 UT Sep01
24-hr: A0 2355 UT Sep01
explanation |more data
Updated: Today at: 2355 UT

Daily Sun: 02 Sept. 09

Tiny sunspot 1025 is rapidly fading away. It's decaying corpse may be seen in this magnetogram. Photo credit: SOHO/MDI


Sunspot number: 12
What is the sunspot number?Updated 01 Sept 2009
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2009 total: 193 days (79%)
Since 2004: 704 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation |more info
Updated 01 Sept 2009


Far side of the Sun:

Thisholographic image reveals a possible sunspot on the far side of the sun--but it is not real. It is a noisy artifact of the data processing. The sun remains blank. Image credit: SOHO/MDI

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation |more data

Current Auroral Oval:

Switch to:Europe,USA,New Zealand,Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES

Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 1.8 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT north
explanation |more data
Updated: Today at 0416 UT
Coronal Holes:

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Sept. 3rd or 4th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts


Updated at: 2009 Sep 01 2201 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: 2009 Sep 01 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %

High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %

What's up in Space September 2, 2009


AURORA ALERT: Did you miss theNorthern Lights? In July they descended as far south as Nebraska. Next time get a wake-up call:Spaceweather PHONE.

VANISHING MOONS: On the night of Sept. 2nd-3rd, for the first time in many years, the moons of Jupiter are going to disappear. At least that's how it will seem when Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto line up in front of and behind the giant planet. A casual look through a backyard telescope will show no moons at all. The 2-hour vanishing act begins at 9:43 p.m PDT. Jupiter is easy to find right beside the nearly full Moon. [sky map] [animation] [full story]
AURORA WATCH: On August 30th, a gust of solar wind hit Earth and sparked auroras so bright they were visible in arctic twilight. This is what the sky looked like over Tromso, Norway:

"What a pleasure to be outdoors on a late-summer evening with a warm breeze and the auroras dancing overhead," says photographer Kjetil Skogli. "I took the picture using aCanon 5D Mark II."
More auroras are in the offing. A solar wind stream is heading for Earth and it could spark a geomagnetic storm when it arrives on Sept. 3rd or 4th. Residents of Alaska, Canada, Iceland and Scandinavia should keep an eye on the sky in the nights ahead.
August 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Augusts:2008,2007,2006,2005,2004,2003,2002,2001]
TWO SPACESHIPS: Space shuttle Discovery is docked to the International Space Station (ISS) and, thus joined, the two spaceships are putting on a good show in the night sky. Peter Rosén caught them flying over Stockholm, Sweden, just before sunrise on August 31st:

"The mission is getting a lot of media coverage here because of our Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang," says Rosén.
Yesterday, Fuglesang helped unload more than 15,000 lb (Earth weight) of supplies from Discovery's cargo bay. Much of that weight was laboratory equipment. Astronauts are outfitting the space station's science labs with a -80 degree research freezer; a rack of hardware to study crystals and semiconductors in low gravity; and a new set of tools for microgravity fluid physics experiments. NASA says this mission marks an important transition. The space station's "Under Construction" sign is coming down and its world-class science labs are ramping up.
That's worth a look. Check theSimple Satellite Tracker for flybys.
Explore the Sunspot Cycle



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 findingnew ones all the time.
On September 2, 2009 there were 1068 potentially hazardous asteroids.

August 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters: Asteroid Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 MC9 Aug. 7
70.3 LD
16
1.2 km
2009 OF Aug. 8
15.4 LD
18
220 m
2007 RQ17 Aug. 9
8.4 LD
17
130 m
2000 LC16 Aug. 17
75.6 LD
14
2.0 km
2006 SV19 Aug. 21
59.2 LD
16
1.3 km

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 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 and Heliospheric Observatory

Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.

STEREO

3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory

Daily Sunspot Summaries

from the NOAA Space Environment Center

Current Solar Images

from the National Solar Data Analysis Center

Science Central