~Space Weather Update~ Crackling with C Class Flares

'METEOR SMOKE' LINKED TO NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS: A key ingredient of Earth's strangest clouds does not come from Earth. New data from NASA's AIM spacecraft shows that "meteor smoke" is essential to the formation of noctilucent clouds. [full story] [video]

FIRST AURORAS OF THE SEASON: After a long summer of midnight suns and starless nights, the Arctic Circle is glowing with its first auroras of the new season. Todd Salat photographed the kick-off in Fairbanks, Alaska, on August 6th:

"From 1 am to 1:30 am local time I took these photos of the northern lights dancing above the Fairbanks city lights," says Salat. "Although the nights still do not get completely dark in the far northern latitudes, the deep blue twilight skies proved dark enough to make the auroras stand out. And at a balmy 55° F, it was quite a treat to be watching the lights in t-shirt weather."

The second auroras of the season could appear tonight. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of polar geomagnetic storms in response to the expected glancng blow from an incoming CME. Aurora alerts: text, phone.

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

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled
explanation | more data

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 3.1 nT
B_z: 2.8 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1446 UT

Coronal Holes: 08 Aug 12

There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.