Space Weather
Solar Flares, Sun spots There's something on the wing  Space Weather Observations, Alerts, and Forecast

 3-day Solar-Geophysical Forecast
  3-day Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity

Issued Mar 20 22:00 UTC

Solar Activity Forecast:
Solar activity is expected to remain very low for the next 3 days (21-23 March).

Geophysical Activity Forecast:
The geomagnetic field is expected to remain quiet with brief periods of unsettled conditions over the next 3 days (21-23 March).




 Today’s Space Weather

Updated 2010 March 21 04:38 UTC


Spring GOES-14 XRS Eclipse Season Feb 27 - Apr 14

During the spring and fall, GOES-14 experiences eclipses in which the Earth blocks the X-ray instrument view to the sun for short periods once each day. For spring 2010 this period will run from Feb. 27 to Apr. 12, 2010. Eclipses ranging from minutes to just over an hour occur around 0700 UT. At these times there will be a dip or gap in the XRS signal shown.


Latest GOES 14 Solar X-ray Image, link to large image

Latest GOES 14 Solar X-ray Image Image

SWPC GOES SXI Web Page

See Solar Image References for other solar image sites.

Real Time Images of the Sun


SOHO EIT 304
Click for time-lapse image of the sun
SOHO EIT 284
SOHO EIT 284 image of the sun
Mauna Loa Solar Image
Latest Mauna Loa image of the Sun

The sun is constantly monitored for sun spots and coronal mass ejections. EIT (Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope) images the solar atmosphere at several wavelengths, and therefore, shows solar material at different temperatures. In the images taken at 304 Angstrom the bright material is at 60,000 to 80,000 degrees Kelvin. In those taken at 171 Angstrom, at 1 million degrees. 195 Angstrom images correspond to about 1.5 million Kelvin, 284 Angstrom to 2 million degrees. The hotter the temperature, the higher you look in the solar atmosphere.

Real Time Solar X-ray and Solar Wind

CURRENT TIME
(based on your computer's time):   UTC..
Local
Solar Cycle Progression
Graph showing current solar cycle progression (click to enlarge)
Solar Cycle chart updated using the latest ISES predictions.
Graph showing Real-Time Solar Wind
Real-Time Solar Wind data broadcast from NASA's ACE satellite.

The Solar Cycle is observed by counting the frequency and placement of sunspots visible on the Sun. Solar minimum occurred in December, 2008. Solar maximum is expected to occur in May, 2013.


Solar X-ray Flux
Graph showing Real-Time Solar X-ray Flux (click to enlarge)
This plot shows 3-days of 5-minute solar x-ray flux values measured on the SWPC primary and secondary GOES satellites.
Satellite Environment Plot
Graph showing Real-Time Satellite Environment Plot (click to enlarge)
The Satellite Environment Plot combines satellite and ground-based data to provide an overview of the current geosynchronous satellite environment.


Auroral Activity Extrapolated from NOAA POES


Northern Hemi Auroral Map
Current Northern hemispheric power input map
Southern Hemi Auroral Map
Current Southern hemispheric power input map

Instruments on board the NOAA Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) continually monitor the power flux carried by the protons and electrons that produce aurora in the atmosphere. SWPC has developed a technique that uses the power flux observations obtained during a single pass of the satellite over a polar region (which takes about 25 minutes) to estimate the total power deposited in an entire polar region by these auroral particles. The power input estimate is converted to an auroral activity index that ranges from 1 to 10.




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 March 21, 2010 there were 1110 potentially hazardous asteroids.
March 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2001 PT9
March 3
11.1 LD
15
305 m
4486 Mithra
March 12
73.5 LD
15
3.3 km
2001 FM129
March 13
44.1 LD
16
1.5 km
2010 EF43
March 18
5.0 LD
19
23 m
2002 TE66
March 28
48.0 LD
15
940 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.
Source: Space Weather.com




A Closer Look at the Sun in Real time



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