Many people have now heard about the upcoming entry to the inner solar system of the comet Elenin (http://elenin.org) and there is a whole range of ideas and speculations about what this might entail. Comets have always been seen as harbingers of auspicious or (more
The solar wind is at elevated levels and this may stir up minor activity at very high latitudes.Solar windspeed: 622.5 km/secdensity: 3.8 protons/cm3Planetary K-indexNow: Kp= 5 storm24-hr max: Kp= 5 stormInterplanetary Mag.
On June 7, 2011, Earth-orbiting satellites detected a flash of X-rays coming from the western edge of the solar disk. Registering only “M” (for medium) on the Richter scale of solar flares, the blast at first appeared to be a run-of-the-mill eruption- that is, until
The CME was not squarely Earth-directed and is not traveling at great speed, only minor geomagnetic storming is expected when the cloud arrives. A coronal mass ejection (CME) that billowed away from sunspot 1247 on July 9th could hit Earth's magnetic field on…
During the early hours of July 9th, a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) billowed away from new sunspot 1247. A preliminary analysis of data from NASA's twin STEREO-A and -B spacecraft suggests that the flank of the CME could hit Earth's magnetic field sometime on July
On July 7th, the sun produced a series of strong shortwave radio bursts. Click on the dynamic spectrum below to play a 21 MHz sample recorded by amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft in rural New Mexico. The action begins about 18 seconds into the 2-minute…
During the late hours of July 5th, an unnamed icy comet from the outer solar system dove into the sun and disintegrated. Click on the arrow to witness the death plunge recorded by coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):Over the years,
High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. A G1-class (Kp=5) geomagnetic storm is in progress.NOAA Space Weather Scale for Geomagnetic StormsSolar windspeed:
The six-member crew of the International Space Station took shelter in two Russian Soyuz spacecraft early Tuesday because of a predicted close approach by an unknown piece of space debris.Safety procedures are put into effect when radar tracking indicates debris
Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 MD will pass only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) above Earth’s surface on Monday June 27 at about 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 UT).
