By Spaceweather.com, 09/01/2015
SOLAR SECTOR BOUNDARY CROSSNG: High-latitude auroras are possible on Sept. 2nd when Earth crosses through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet. This is called a “solar sector boundary crossing,” and NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when it occurs. Aurora alerts: text or voice
ALMOST-BLANK SUN: The sunspot number is plummeting, and the Earth-facing side of the sun is almost blank. Scan this image, taken on Sept. 1st by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, to see how many dark cores you can find:
There are only a few tiny spots, circled here. Not one of them has the type of unstable magnetic field that harbors energy for strong flares. As a result, the sun’s X-ray output is flatlining. NOAA forecasters estimate a 5% chance of M-flares and no more than a 1% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts:text or voice
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
THE SPACE PIZZA EXPERIMENT: Regular readers of Spaceweather.com know that we have been flying colonies of yeast to the edge of space to study the effect of cosmic rays on their biology. But yeast aren’t just for science. They also make great pizza. To support our program, Emily Winter purchased some yeast packets from the stratosphere, and she has a report to share: “My friends and I made a pizza with your space yeast. We had so much fun!” Their video is a must-see:
The yeast packets Emily and her friends used to bake “space pizza” were exposed to extreme conditions in the stratosphere: air pressures less than 1% of sea level, temperatures as low as -60 C, and cosmic ray dose rates nearly 100x Earth-normal. Despite this harsh treatment, the yeast returned to Earth with more than enough vitality to puff up a delicious pizza crust. This is in accord with our scientific measurements of yeast survival rates–in some cases greater than 90%. The microbes are extremely tough and can easily survive near-space travel.
Emily and friends say the space pizza tasted much like normal pizza, but it did have an unexpected side effect. Watch the video all the way to the end for their revelation.
NORTHERN LIGHTS, NO PARKA REQUIRED: Arctic skies are dimming again after a rare burst of summer auroras. From Aug. 26th to 29th, Earth passed through a region of space where the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) connected with our own magnetic field, opening a crack in Earth’s magnetosphere. Solar wind poured in to fuel displays like this one over Anchorage, Alaska:
“The sky was full of lights,” says Anthony Madden, who took the picture from Lake Hood Airport on Aug. 28th. “The best part was, it was warm enough that I did not need a parka.”
The storms are subsiding now, but they could return on Sept. 2nd when Earth crosses through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet. This is called a “solar sector boundary crossing,” and NOAA forecasters estimate a 70% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when it occurs. Aurora alerts: text or voice
All Sky Fireball Network
Every night, a network of NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth’s atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On Sep. 1, 2015, the network reported 51 fireballs.
(50 sporadics, 1 alpha Aurigid)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point–Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]
Near Earth Asteroids
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time.
On September 1, 2015 there were 1607 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Size
2015 QT3
Aug 28
4.2 LD
71 m
2015 PT227
Aug 29
9.7 LD
69 m
2004 BO41
Aug 31
57.3 LD
1.2 km
1991 CS
Sep 4
62.1 LD
1.4 km
2014 KS76
Sep 14
8.7 LD
22 m
2004 TR12
Sep 15
58.8 LD
1.0 km
2000 FL10
Oct 10
65.7 LD
1.9 km
2011 QD48
Oct 17
67.5 LD
1.0 km
2014 UR
Oct 18
3.8 LD
21 m
2011 SE97
Oct 18
12 LD
50 m
2001 UY4
Oct 21
58.2 LD
1.0 km
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.
Current Conditions
Solar wind
speed: 364.9 km/sec
density: 7.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1510 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B2 1143 UT Sep01
24-hr: B3 0705 UT Sep01
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1500 UT
Daily Sun: 01 Sep 15
With only a few small sunspots dotting the solar disk, the Earth-facing side of the sun is nearly blank. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 50
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 01 Sep 2015
Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2015 total: 0 days (0%)
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
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%)
Updated 01 Sep 2015
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 91 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 01 Sep 2015
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.4 nT
Bz: 1.8 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1509 UT
Coronal Holes: 01 Sept. 15
A stream of solar wind flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about Sept. 3rd. Credit: SDO/AIA.
Noctilucent Clouds
The northern season for NLCs is finished. According to NASA’s AIM spacecraft, the last clouds were observed over Greenland on Aug. 27th. Now the waiting begins for the southern season to begin sometime in November.
Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar
Updated at: 08-31-2015 06:00:00
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2015 Aug 31 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
05 %
01 %
CLASS X
01 %
01 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2015 Aug 31 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
45 %
45 %
MINOR
25 %
25 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
25 %
25 %
SEVERE
65 %
70 %
Space Weather Update: 09/01/2015
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