~Space Weather Update~ [1]

THE FIREBALLS OF FEBRUARY: A number of unusual fireballs observed around the USA this month have researchers wondering if Earth is passing through a special "February swarm" of meteoroids. [full story [2]]

 

CRESCENT MOON ALERT: When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west into the sunset. An exquisitely, almost invisibly slender crescent Moon is beaming through the twilight. Jens Hackmann took this picture yesterday from Weikersheim, Germany:

 

[3]

 

"It was a lucky shot," says Hackmann, "because many planes were criss-crossing the sky, but not one of them got in the way of the Moon."

Seeing such a slender Moon is difficult, but it will become easier in the nights ahead as the waxing crescent ascends the evening sky for a dazzling close encounter with Venus and Jupiter. The best nights to look are Feb. 25th and 26th. Get the full story [4] and a video [5] from Science@NASA [6].

 

more images: from Stefano De Rosa [7] of Turin (Italy); from Mark Williams [8] of Geneva, Switzerland; from Carl Bernhardt [9] of Riverside, California; from Sam Linse [10] of Mukilteo, Washington; from Elviro Inama [11] of Verona, Italy

 

 

 

Solar wind
speed: 434.0 km/sec
density: 0.8 protons/cm³
explanation [12] | more data [13]
Updated: Today at 1746 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B4 1155 UT Feb23
24-hr: B6 0850 UT Feb23
explanation [14] | more data [15]
Updated: Today at: 1700 UT

Daily Sun: 23 Feb 12

[16]

A new sunspot is emerging at the circled location. Credit: SDO/HMI

Sunspot number: 31
What is the sunspot number? [17]
Updated 22 Feb 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
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
Updated 22 Feb 2012

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 104 sfu
explanation [18] | more data [19]
Updated 22 Feb 2012

Current Auroral Oval: