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17 Jun ' 18:28
Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio
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17 Jun ' 11:58
When is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.
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17 Jun ' 05:33
318.2 2.2 Updated: Today at 1226 UT 0812 UT Jun17 0812 UT Updated: Today at: 1200 UT1 5.8 1.2 north Updated: Today at 1227 UTWhen is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.
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17 Jun ' 00:01
328.8 3.3 Updated: Today at 0657 UT C1 0348 UT Jun17 0348 UT Jun17 Updated: Today at: 0600 UT Daily Sun: 17 Jun 13
Sunspot number:
104
Updated
17 Jun 201317
Jun 2013116
Updated 17 Jun 2013
2 Kp= 2 4.7 0.6 Updated: Today at 0657 UT Coronal Holes: 17 Jun 13
They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.
SLIGHT CHANCE OF FLARES: There are 7 sunspot groups on the Earthside of the sun, but none has a complex magnetic field that harbors energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 10% chance of M-class flares and no more than a 1% chance of X-class flares on June 17th.
SOUTHERN SUNSPOTS: So far, Solar Cycle 24 has been lopsided. Sunspots north of the sun's equator have outnumbered sunspots to the south by a significant margin: data. But now the southern hemisphere is catching up. Today a raft of southern sunspots is rotating over the sun's eastern limb:
Solar physicist and sunspot forecaster Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center believes Solar Cycle 24 is likely double-peaked. A surge in southern sunspots could herald the second peak, due in late 2013 or early 2014. This solar cycle has been fairly anemic so far, so it could use a boost; the sun's southern hemisphere could be poised to provide it. Solar flare alerts:textvoice
On June14th high school students in Bishop, California, launched their seventh "space weather balloon." Its mission: To investigate the effect of solar flares and radiation storms on Earth's ozone layer. 's mentor, Dr. Tony Phillips, photographed the balloon moments before liftoff from their "Edge of Space Port" in the Sierra Nevada mountains:
The balloon's payload carried two cameras, an ozone sensor, a cryogenic thermometer, and a GPS altimeter to an altitude of 110,000 feet above Earth's surface. All of the payload's core space weather instrumentation was built by the students themselves. After the balloon popped, as planned, the payload parachuted back to Earth, landing near the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in California's White Mountains. A recovery team has already retrieved the payload, and students are inspecting the data now.
The students launched the balloon on June 14th, a period of low solar activity, because they wanted to compare quiet sun data with a similar data set they collected on May 22nd during a strong solar radiation storm. Stay tuned for their results!
, offer a service for sponsors called "Edge of Space Advertising." During the "ozone flight" on June 14th they flew an ad for Interpret America (,
SPACE STATION 3D: On June 15th, the International Space Station flew directly above Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse, France. Amateur astronomer Sylvain Weiller trained his telescope on the bright, fast-moving speck of light and recorded a high-res movie of the passing spaceship. Click on the image below--and cross your eyes to see the flyby in 3D:
"To capture a high resolution movie of the ISS, everything must be okay--the weather, the seeing, the scope and mount, an overhead pass, yourself, the PCs and a bit of luck!" says Weiller. "This was the case for me on the evening of June 15. The full story of my lucky observing session and additional movies may be found here."
Readers who wish to try their own luck with the ISS can turn their smartphone into a field-tested satellite tracker. Download Spaceweather.com's Satellite Flybys app and let the flybys begin.
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16 Jun ' 19:11
322.0 1.7 Updated: Today at 0207 UT B7 2125 UT Jun16 Updated: Today at: 2359 UT1.8 south Updated: Today at 0207 UT Updated at: 2013 Jun 16 2200 UTC
Updated at: 2013 Jun 16 2200 UTC25 %Monday, Jun. 17, 2013On June 17, 2013 there were47 m -
16 Jun ' 14:29
338.8 3.3 Updated: Today at 2117 UT B6 1752 UT Jun16 Updated: Today at: 2100 UT5.9 0.8 north Updated: Today at 2117 UT -
16 Jun ' 09:44
340.0 2.6 Updated: Today at 1637 UT Updated: Today at: 1600 UT1 5.4 -0.0 Updated: Today at 1636 UTWhen is the best time to see auroras? Where is the best place to go? And how do you photograph them? These questions and more are answered in a new book, Northern Lights - a Guide, by Pal Brekke & Fredrik Broms.
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16 Jun ' 05:01
344.0 3.9 Updated: Today at 1154 UT C1 1020 UT Jun16 C1 1020 UT Updated: Today at: 1100 UT4.4 2.2 Updated: Today at 1157 UT -
16 Jun ' 00:39
337.9 2.6 Updated: Today at 0727 UT B7 0213 UT Jun16 B7 0213 UT Jun16 Updated: Today at: 0700 UT Daily Sun: 16 Jun 13
A raft of new
sunspots emerging over the sun's southeastern limb
is increasing the sunspot number and the chance
of flares. So far, however, solar activity remains
low. Credit: SDO/HMIUpdated
16 Jun 201316
Jun 2013111
Updated 16 Jun 2013
0 4.5 1.0 Updated: Today at 0727 UT Coronal Holes: 16 Jun 13
Spewing solar
wind, a large coronal hole is emerging over the
sun's NW limb. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Listen to radar echoes from satellites and meteors, live on listener-supported Space Weather Radio
QUIET, FOR NOW: Solar activity remains low. However, a raft of sunspots emerging over the sun's eastern limb is boosting the sunspot number and the chance of flares.
ISS MOON TRANSIT: The Moon is waxing full this week, which means there's more bright territory for spaceships to cross. Yesterday, astrophotographer Maximilian Teodorescu of Dumitrana, Romania, caught the International Space Station passing in front of the Moon in broad daylight:
"In the past I have captured the silhouette of the ISS in front of the Sun or Moon," says Teodorescu. But this time the ISS was not silhouetted. It was even more brightly lit than the Moon behind it. "I photographed them both in plain daylight, with the Sun still hanging at 26 degrees above the horizon."
Travelling at 17,000 mph, the ISS flits across the face of the Moon in only a fraction of a second. Teodorescu knew when to activate his Canon 550D digital camera using precise transit predictions from CalSky
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15 Jun ' 20:25
343.6 3.6 Updated: Today at 0317 UT B9 2306 UT Jun15 Updated: Today at: 2359 UT Sunspot number: 101Kp= 1 4.7 3.4 north Updated: Today at 0317 UTSunday, Jun. 16, 2013They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store
SUN HALO: Sky watchers, the next time you are outside on a bright sunny day and cirrus clouds drift across the sun, find a flower and hold it up. You might see something like this:
"Yesterday, my wife and I were at an Iris flower farm in traverse city, Michigan, with 6 acres of awsome colored flowers in prime bloom," says photographer Jim Fantozzi. "I noticed the ring around the sun, so I had my wife block the sun with an iris flower and--wow--it came out pretty cool."
The ring of light is a 22-degree sun halo caused by ice crystals in the clouds. Up where cirrus clouds form, 5 to 10 km high, the air temperature is always cold enough for ice crystals, which means sun halos may be seen at any time of year. Irises, however, prefer spring. In other seasons, you might have to cover the sun with something else such as a finger or a five-year old. Browse the sun halo gallery for more ideas:
Realtime Sun Halo Photo Gallery
On June 16, 2013 there were
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