SOLAR WIND: Earth is passing through a stream of solar wind blowing ~500 km/s. The action of the wind has not yet caused a geomagnetic storm, but it has been enough to spark bright lights around the Arctic Circle. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras tonight. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
HARVEST MOON: The northernn autumnal equinox is only two days away. That makes this week's full Moon the Harvest Moon, the full Moon closest to the beginning of Fall. Louis Suarato sends this picture of the Harvest Moon rising on Sept. 18th over a farm in Buskirk, New York:
"A farmer was very generous in allowing me to capture this view from a hill overlooking his farm," says
The setting is a nod to the origins of the name "Harvest Moon." Before the days of electric lights, farmers relied on moonlight to harvest crops which ripened all at once in autumn. They couldn't afford to stop working at sunset, so "harvest moonlight" was essential to their operations. The flow of electricity has made the Moon obsolete as a source of practical illumination, but not as an object of beauty. Step outside tonight at sunset, look east and enjoy the view.
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Solar wind
speed: 500.5 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2127 UT
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X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B8 1645 UT Sep19
24-hr: C1 0817 UT Sep19
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2100 UT
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Daily Sun: 19 Sep 13
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Sunspot AR1846 poses a slight threat for M-class solar flares. Until such a flare occurs, however, solar activity remains low.. Credit: SDO/HMI
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Sunspot number: 59
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 19 Sep 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 19 Sep 2013
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 99 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 19 Sep 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= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet
explanation | more data
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Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.3 nT
Bz: 1.8 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2127 UT
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Coronal Holes: 19 Sep 13
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Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on Sept. 23-24. Credit: SDO/AIA.
