~ Space Weather Update~ We Continue With M Class Flares~ WOOHOO

WHAT DOES DEEP SPACE SOUND LIKE? As Voyager 1 recedes from the solar system, researchers are hoping the spacecraft will beam back tones from plasma waves, a form of "interstellar music" that reveals conditions in the realm of the stars. Find out what deep space sounds like in a new video from Science@NASA.

SUNRISE SOLAR ECLIPSE: This morning, the New Moon passed in front of the sun, producing a solar eclipse visible from the east Coast of North America to the western side of Africa. In Hampton, Virginia, the eclipse was underway when the morning sun rose over the Atlantic Ocean:

"We had a beautiful view of the partially eclipsed sun peeking between the clouds," says photographer Stephen Gagnon who stationed his camera on Buckroe Beach.

Later, the New Moon covered the entire sun, producing an annular eclipse and then a total solar eclipse visible across the Atlantic and Africa. The narrow path of totality touched several African nations including Gabon, the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. Browse the gallery for images.

More information from NASA , Sky and Telescope, EarthSky and Shadow & Substance.

Realtime Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery

RE-DISCOVERING THE PFOTZER MAXIMUM: On Oct. 27th, when the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a pair of radiation sensors to the stratosphere onboard a helium balloon, they didn't know what to expect. This just in: They have re-discovered the Pfotzer Maximum. Most people have never heard of it. The Pfotzer Maximum is a layer of peak radiation about 20 km above Earth's surface. Take a look at this data plot from the team's space weather balloon and keep reading below for more information:

The plot shows a complete profile of ionizing radiation between 2.7 km and 27 km above Earth's surface. Data from their sensor counted X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10.0 KeV to 20.0 MeV. A peak in radiation levels occured in the tropopause--that's the Pfotzer Maximum.

When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles. With increasing depth in the atmosphere, the primary cosmic radiation component decreases, whereas the secondary radiation component increases. This complex situation results in a maximum of the dose rate at an altitude of ~20 km, the so-called "Pfotzer maximum," named after physicist George Pfotzer who discovered the peak using balloons and Geiger tubes in the 1930s.

The Earth to Sky experiment was prompted by a recent NASA report concerning the effects of space weather on aviation. Like astronauts, ordinary air travelers can be exposed to significant doses of radiation when the sun is active. Data collected by balloon-borne sensors can be used to check and improve research models of radiation percolating through Earth's atmosphere.

The students are ready to fly their sensors again. A radiation storm in the week ahead is a possibility as solar activity remains high. If one erupts, they plan to revisit the Pfotzer Maximum to find out how it reacts. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery

FARSIDE SOLAR ACTIVITY: This weekend, solar activity has quieted on the Earthside of the sun, but the farside is still lively. NASA's twin STEREO probes have recorded solar flares and coronal mass ejections from multiple farside blast sites on Nov. 2th. STEREO-Behind photographed this powerful eruption around 0600 UT:

The farside active regions STEREO is observing now pose no threat to Earth, but they could become geoeffective in ~10 days when the sun turns them toward our planet.

Until then, the sunspot of greatest interest to Earth is AR1884. Directly-facing Earth, it has a mixed-polarity magnetic field that harbors energy for strong eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-flares on Nov. 2nd and 3rd. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

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

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3 quiet
explanation | more data

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 4.4 nT
B_z: 0.1 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1616 UT

Coronal Holes: 01 Nov 13

Solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole could reach Earth on Nov. 5-7. Credit: SDO/AIA.