LOOK WEST AT SUNSET: Venus, Jupiter and the crescent Moon are beaming through the evening twilight, forming a bright triangle visible through city lights and even thin clouds. Try to catch them before the sky fades completely black. The trio surrounded by twilight blue is an especially beautiful sight. Sky maps: Feb. 25, Feb. 26.
CME TARGETS EARTH, MARS: A coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the sun on Feb. 24th appears set to hit both Earth and Mars. According to analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab, the cloud should reach Earth today, Feb. 26th around 1330 UT, followed by Mars two days later. Click to view the CME's animated forecast track:
The cloud's impact could spark a G2-class geomagnetic storm, so high latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: text, voice.
If the forecast is correct, the CME could also hit NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Feb. 27th. The rover, en route to the red planet onboard the Mars Science Lab spacecraft, is equipped with a radiation sensor that could detect energetic particles accelerated by the CME's passage. Indeed, this has happened before.
The CME was hurled into space by a filament of magnetism, which rose up from the sun's northestern limb and erupted on Feb. 24th: SDO movie. Although much of the cloud headed north, out of the plane of the planets, the cloud's lower edge will dip down low enough to intersect Earth, Curiosity, and Mars.
Solar wind
speed: 403.2 km/sec
density: 1.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1456 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1 1125 UT Feb26
24-hr: C1 1125 UT Feb26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1500 UT
Daily Sun: 25 Feb 12
These sunspots pose no threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 47
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 24 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 24 Feb 2012
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 105 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 24 Feb 2012
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.1 nT
Bz: 1.6 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1458 UT
Coronal Holes: 24 Feb 12
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on Feb. 25-26. Credit: SDO/AIA.
