POLAR STORM WARNING: Two CMEs are heading for Earth. The plasma clouds were expelled from the sun on August 20-21 by a pair of erupting magnetic filaments. NOAA forecasters expect the CMEs to arrive on August 23-24, possibly sparking geomagnetic storms around the poles. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
AURORA SEASON BEGINS: Around the Arctic Circle, summer is long and bright. Auroras vanish in the glow of the midnight sun. News flash: the auroras are back. "Tonight I saw the first auroras of the new season in Oulu, Finland," says Thomas Kast, who took this picture on August 22nd:
"This is how the sky looked at ten minutes past midnight," says Kast. "The orange color on the left is twilight, just between sunset and sunrise, and the waves of the Baltic Sea were lit up by the Full Moon. Above it all were some surprisingly strong Northern lights. I saw needles, purple color, and even a very faint corona."
With autumn approaching, Arctic nights are rapidly darkening. This means more auroras are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% - 45% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on August 22 - 23.
Says Kast: "What a promising start!"
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Solar wind
speed: 523.7 km/sec
density: 1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1447 UT
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X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C2 1325 UT Aug22
24-hr: C4 0506 UT Aug22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1400 UT
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Daily Sun: 21 Aug 13
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New sunspot AR1827 has a 'beta-gamma' magnetic field that poses a threat for M-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
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Sunspot number: 149
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 21 Aug 2013
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days
Update 21 Aug 2013
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 132 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 21 Aug 2013
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Current Auroral Oval:
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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
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Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled
explanation | more data
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Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.6 nT
Bz: 0.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1447 UT
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Coronal Holes: 21 Aug 13
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Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Aug. 23-24. Credit: SDO/AIA.
