~Space Weather Update~ We are Active NOW [1]
ACTIVE SUNSPOT: A sunspot, currently located on the farside of the sun, is about to emerge over the sun's southeastern limb. It is crackling with M-class [2] solar flares and could bring a significant uptick in solar activity. Solar flare alerts: text [3], voice [4].
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY CONTINUES: For the third day in a row, geomagnetic storms are circling the poles. In North America, auroras have spilled across the Canadian border descending as far south as Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. The best place to see the show, according to pilot Matt Melnyk, is from the window of an airplane:
[5]
"I photographed an unbelievable display from the cockpit at 21,000 feet while flying across Alberta Canada," says Melnyk. "Being the pilot we get a front row view of the amazing aurora and this display was nothing less than spectacular!"
The storms were instigated by a CME strike on Oct. 8th and they are about to be re-energized by a solar wind stream due to hit Earth's magnetic field on Oct. 10th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of strong geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours, so high-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: text [3], voice [4].
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery [6]
DRAGON AND THE ISS: Laden with supplies, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft is approaching the International Space Station for docking on Wednesday, Oct. 10th. Last night, David Blanchard saw the commercial spacecraft chasing the ISS across the sky above Flagstaff, Arizona:
[7]
"The Dragon capsule raced to catch the ISS as the pair moved across the western sky separated by about 20 seconds," says Blanhard. "This image [8]is a single 30-s exposure that shows the separation and how Dragon trails ISS."
On Wednesday, these two streaks will merge. As the Dragon approaches the ISS, astronaut and station commander Suni Williams will reach out with the station's robot arm to grapple the capsule. The spacecraft will then be joined to one of the station's ports where astronauts will unload its 1,000 pounds of food, clothing, science gear and other items. Later, the astronauts will load almost 2,000 pounds of used equipment and experiments into the Dragon to be returned to Earth safely in about three weeks.
Solar wind
speed: 531.2 km/sec
density: 0.1 protons/cm3
explanation [9] | more data [10]
Updated: Today at 1447 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C3 0708 UT Oct10
24-hr: M1 0504 UT Oct10
explanation [11] | more data [12]
Updated: Today at: 1359 UT
Daily Sun: 10 Oct 12
[13]
A farside sunspot crackling with M-flares [2] is about to emerge at the circled location. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 63
What is the sunspot number? [14]
Updated 10 Oct 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
Update 10 Oct 2012
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 106sfu
explanation [15] | more data [16]
Updated 10 Oct 2012
Current Auroral Oval:
[17]
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 5 storm
explanation [18] | more data [19]
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.1 nT
Bz: 1.5 nT south
explanation [20] | more data [21]
Updated: Today at 1447 UT
Coronal Holes: 09 Oct 12
[22]
Earth is entering a stream of solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole. Credit: SDO/AIA