BIG SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR1416 tripled in size this weekend and, in the process, developed a "beta-gamma" magnetic field that harbors energy for M-class solar flares. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of M-flares during the next 24 hours. Any such eruption would likely be Earth-directed as the sunspot is facing our planet. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

IRANIAN SATELLITE: On Feb. 3rd, Iran launched the country's third satellite. Named "Navid," the 110-pound mini-spacecraft is meant to stay in orbit for 18 months, sending back images to Iran as it completes a revolution of Earth every 90 minutes. On Feb. 10th, veteran satellite observer Marco Langbroek photographed Navid as it passed over his home in Leiden, the Netherlands:

"It was a clear evening and I had a 71 degree elevation pass of Navid, which moves in a 250 x 375 km orbit," says Langbroek. "The satellite was invisible to the naked eye (I estimate its magnitude as +7), but my camera was able to record its faint trail moving just south of the alpha Persei star association. Measuring only 50 x 60 cm, Navid is the smallest object in orbit I have ever photographed."

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
B_total: 6.4 nT
B_z: 2.4 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1557 UT

Coronal Holes: 12 Feb 12

Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth later today. Credit: SDO/AIA.