~Space Weather Update~ Solar Wind Speed at 599.9 We are Moving Fast [1]

METEOR SHOWER PEAKING: The International Meteor Organization is reporting [2] Geminid rates between 100 and 200 per hour (ZHR) on Dec. 14th. This means the shower is peaking. Check the realtime photo gallery [3] for Geminid photos from around the world. And if it's dark where you are, be alert for meteors! [sky map [4]] [meteor radar [5]]

Last night, NASA's network of all-sky meteor cameras detected 67 Geminid fireballs over the United States. One of them flew over the New Mexico observatory of amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft. Click to see--and hear--the fireball:

[6]

The soundtrack of Ashcraft's fireball movie is the echo of a distant TV transmission bouncing off the ionized trail of the disintegrating meteoroid. "By radio I could tell there was a strong display of meteors all through the night," says Ashcraft. "We were lucky that some Geminid fireballs appeared through holes in our cloudy skies."

Realtime Meteor Photo Gallery [3]

INCOMING CMES, CHANCE OF STORMS: Yesterday, December 12th, a pair of magnetic filaments on the sun erupted in quick succession between 0300 UT and 0630 UT. The explosions hurled a pair of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) into space. SOHO recorded the clouds racing away from the sun at approximately 1.1 million mph (500 km/s):

[7]

Although neither explosion was squarely Earth-directed, the two clouds could deliver glancing blows to Earth's magnetic field on Dec. 14th or (more likely) the 15th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the clouds arrive. Aurora alerts: text [8], voice [9]

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery [10]

EDGE OF SPACE CHRISTMAS CARDS: What do you give to the sky watcher who has everything? How about a Christmas card from the Edge of Space? For only $49.95, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus [11] will fly your holiday greeting or favorite picture to the top of Earth's atmosphere, photograph it, and return the snapshot in time for the holidays. It's a unique gift! The group has previously flown cupcakes [12], shoes [13], US presidents [14], ad banners [15] and telescopes [16]. This holiday magic is performed using suborbital helium balloons. Contact Dr. Tony Phillips [17] for more information.

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

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled
explanation [28] | more data [29]

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 9.9 nT
B_z: 9.5 nT north
explanation [30] | more data [31]
Updated: Today at 2126 UT

Coronal Holes: 14 Dec 13

[32]

Solar wind flowing from this large coronal hole could reach Earth on Dec. 15-17. Credit: SDO/AIA.