WEAK IMPACT: A weak disturbance in the solar wind swept past Earth on Feb 5th at ~1400 UT. It may have been the long-overdue CME of Jan 31st, finally arriving after five days in transit. The weak impact did not spark a geomagnetic storm. Aurora alerts: text, voice
AS THE SUN TURNS: Carried along by the sun's 27-day rotation, big sunspot AR1967 is turning away from Earth. Ironically this is making the active region even more dangerous. AR1967 is moving toward a location where the sun's spiraling magnetic field is well-connected to our planet and energetic particles can be funneled in our direction. An explosion there could spark a radiation storm around Earth. Click to watch the sun turn:
AR1967 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for strong eruptions. The past 24 hours has been relatively quiet, but that could be the calm before the storm. NOAA forecasters estimate an 80% chance of M-class solar flares and a 50% chance of X-class solar flares on Feb. 5th.. Solar flare alerts: text, voice
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
MUST-SEE AURORA MOVIE: "We are enjoying one of our best years ever," reports Chad Blakley, an aurora tour guide in Sweden's Abisko National Park. "So far we have seen auroras on 29 out of the 31 nights we have looked. Last night was extra special. The sky exploded in color and I was lucky to capture the phenomenon with several different cameras from multiple angles." Click to view the resulting footage:
"The lights were so powerful that the images became overexposed with a shutter speed of less than one second," he continues. "I can honestly say that this was one of the greatest displays of natural beauty that I have ever seen."
The show is apt to continue tonight. NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of geomagnetic storms on Feb. 3-4 when an approaching CME is expected to deliver a glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field. Aurora alerts: text, voice
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Solar wind
speed: 377.4 km/sec
density: 0.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1725 UT
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X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1 1620 UT Feb05
24-hr: M1 1620 UT Feb05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1700 UT
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Daily Sun: 05 Feb 14
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Earth-facing sunspot AR1967 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Credit: SDO/HMI
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Sunspot number: 183
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 05 Feb 2014
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2014 total: 0 days (0%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Update 05 Feb 2014
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 188 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 05 Feb 2014
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Current Auroral Oval:
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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
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Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data
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Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 9.5 nT
Bz: 1.8 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1657 UT
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Coronal Holes: 05 Feb 14
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A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about Feb. 9th. Credit: SDO/AIA
