SOLAR WEATHER
and some interesting space stuff

2009

compiled by Dee Finney

updated 6-30-09

JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH - APRIL - MAY  - JUNE - JULY -
 

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER - NOVEMBER - DECEMBER

THIS COMPILATION IS BEING DONE IN HONOR OF KENT STEADMAN
OF  www.cyberspaceorbit.com  who left his earthly abode in 2008

2008 SOLAR WEATHER

PAGE 6 - JUNE 2009

On January 6, 2009 there were 1014 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On February 2, 2009, there were 1019 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On March 2nd, there were 1033 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On April 1st, there were 1049 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On April 8th, there were 1050 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On May 3, there were 1054 potentially hazardous asteroids.
On June 2, there were 1061 potentially hazardous asteroids
On June 26, there are 1065 potentially hazardous asteroids
 
June 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
 
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 KR21
June 1
0.7 LD
16
21 m
2009 KL8
June 1
5.1 LD
18
63 m
2003 QO104
June 9
36.8 LD
14
2.9 km
1994 CC
June 10
6.6 LD
13
1.2 km
2001 FE90
June 28
7.0 LD
13
435 m
2002 KL6
June 28
57.5 LD
16
1.4 km
2006 MV1
June 30
9.6 LD
23
20 m

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.

 
GOES 8 MAGNETOMETER MONITOR
GOES 8 SATELLITE DATA
CURRENT SOLAR FLARE DATA

CURRENT SPACE WEATHER DATA
CURRENT SOLAR X-RAY DATA
LASCO IMAGES
 

NEBULA - THE RIGHT HAND OF APOLLO

TOWARD THE END OF TIME
IT'S THE DANGER OF THE SUN

Explore the Sunspot Cycle

 

6-30-09 - New sunspot coming around the left lower corner

 

NEW SUNSPOT: Observers are reporting a new sunspot forming near the sun's southeastern limb.
It appears to be a member of Solar Cycle 24.
images: #1, #2.

SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 453.7 km/sec
density: 2.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1810 UT Jun30
24-hr: A0
1810 UT Jun30
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-29-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 518.8 km/sec
density: 1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun29
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun29
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

SOLAR WIND: A solar wind stream is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, but it is not stirring up geomagnetic storms or auroras. Geomagnetic activity should remain low.

 

6-28-09 - No sunspots stoday

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 418.4 km/sec
density: 9.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2325 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun28
24-hr: A0
0400 UT Jun28
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-27-09 - The sun is blank today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 399.6 km/sec
density: 2.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun27
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-26-09 - No sunspots today
 
 Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 402.8 km/sec
density: 3.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2156 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1725 UT Jun26
24-hr: A0
1725 UT Jun26
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2145 UT

Earth is inside a solar wind
stream flowing from the
 indicated coronal hole.
 Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

Light goes out on solar mission

Ulysses (Esa)
Engineers expect contact to be lost with Ulysses very soon

After more than 18 years studying the Sun, the plug is finally being pulled on the ailing spacecraft Ulysses.

Final communication with the joint European-US satellite will take place on 30 June.

The long-serving craft, launched in October 1990, has already served four times its expected design life.

The Esa-Nasa mission was the first to survey the environment in space above and below the poles of the Sun.

Data from the craft, published last year, also suggested that the solar wind - the stream of charged particles billowing away from the Sun - is at its weakest for 50 years.

"We expected the spacecraft to cease functioning much earlier," said Paolo Ferri of the European Space Agency (Esa).

"Although it is always hard to take the decision to terminate a mission, we have to accept that the satellite is running out of resources and a controlled switch-off is the best ending."

Long life

Ulysses has already defied the odds several times. In its 18-year life, the mission has been extended four times.

But its protracted mission has taken its toll. Ulysses' main transmitter no longer works and its back-up systems are also beginning to fail.

Last year, the space agencies finally announced that they were finally ready to pull the plug after the satellite's power supply had weakened to the point where the craft could no longer prevent its hydrazine fuel from freezing.

Engineers believed the craft would become uncontrollable and its end of life was scheduled for 1 July 2008.

However, mission scientists came up with a short-term fix whereby the fuel could be kept circulating by performing a short thruster burn every two hours.

The ingenious fix gave the craft another year of life. But, now, scientists believe it is time to switch off the mission.

In particular, they feel the scientific return has reached a level where it is hard to justify the operational costs.

Final communication with the craft will begin at 1635 GMT and run until 2120 GMT on 30 June, after which no further contact is planned. The craft will in effect become a man-made comet.

"[It] will be a very sad day when we send the last commands to Ulysses," said Nigel Angold, Esa Mission Operations Manager.
 

VOLCANIC PLUME: An enormous plume of sulfur dioxide (SO2) blasted into the stratosphere by Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano on June 12th is circumnavigating the globe at northern latitudes. Check out this movie made by the GOME-2 sensor onboard Europe's MetOp-A satellite. SO2 is drifting across the North Atlantic and appears poised to reach Europe over the next 48 hours. Sky watchers there should be alert for volcanic sunsets.

VOLCANIC SUNSET: On June 22nd, photographer Brian Whittaker was flying 35,000 feet above Nunavut, Canada, when he witnessed "the most spectacular sunset that I have ever seen," he says. "The giant volcanic cloud from Russia's Sarychev Peak [see below] was illuminated by the arctic sun--and this completely transformed the landscape. For a moment, I thought I was on Mars."

This was the view from the window seat:

"All the curtains were drawn so that people could sleep which is very normal," notes Whittaker. "It is possible that very few people have seen this despite all the potential observers!"

Whittaker's airplane traveled all the way from British Columbia to Europe, so he got a good long look at the cloud. "It stretched for more than 4,000 kilometers. Will it reach Europe?" he wonders. Stay tuned for updates.

more images: #1, #2, #3, #4

SARYCHEV PEAK VOLCANO: Perfect timing. On June 12th, just as Russia's Sarychev Peak volcano was erupting for the first time in 20 years, the International Space Station flew directly overhead. Astronauts had their camera ready and snapped one of the most dramatic Earth-science photos ever taken from space:

Researchers are studying this rare photo to learn about the early stages of powerful volcanic eruptions. A few phenomena stand out:

(1) The volcano erupted with such force, the plume actually punched through the atmosphere. Note how clouds around the volcano have parted in a circular ring--that is a result of a shock wave produced by the upward blast. (2) The plume is a mixture of brown ash and white steam. A "dirty thunderstorm" complete with lightning could be in progress within the roiling cloud. (3) The smooth white bubble on top of the plume is probably a mass of water condensing from air shoved upward by the rising ash column. If so, it is akin to the iridescent pileus clouds sometimes featured on spaceweather.com.

If you're not amazed yet, try this: Put on a pair of red-blue stereo glasses and behold the eruption in 3D. The anaglyph was created by graphic artist Patrick Vantuyne of Belgium. No stereo glasses? A cross-eyed version is also available.

 

6-25-09 - Sunspot 1023 is fading

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 472.8 km/sec
density: 3.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun25
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun25
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field on June 24th, sparking a brief but potent geomagnetic storm (Kp=5). The midnight sun prevented sightings of Northern Lights around the Arctic Circle.

 

6-24-09 - Only sunspot 1023 remains

Sunspot 1023 is a member
 of new Solar Cycle 24.
Credit: SOHO/MDI

SUNSPOT SYZYGY: Sunspot group 1023 has an eye-catching shape--it is a straight line. The group's four spots have formed a rare "sunspot syzygy." The formation makes a nice target for backyard solar telescopes.

more images: from Andy Dodson of Huirangi, New Zealand; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Steve Wainwright of Swansea South Wales, UK;

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 479.4 km/sec
density: 4.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun24
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun24
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-23-09 -  Two sunspots today - 1022 and 1023

Sunspot 1022 is rapidly fading away. Both 1022 and 1023 are members of Solar Cycle 24. Credit: SOHO/MDI

SUNSPOT WATCH: Yesterday, in a moment of rare extravagance, the sun produced two spots. Today, one of them, sunspot 1022, is fading away. The other, sunspot 1023, is still going strong:

Amateur astronomer Jacob Bassøe took the picture hours ago from his backyard observatory in Copenhagen, Denmark. "It is a nice bipolar sunspot with a bushy dark filament emerging from one of the cores," he says.

The magnetic polarity of sunspot 1023 identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Its appearance coincides with the movement of two solar jet streams into a range of heliographic latitudes that promotes sunspot formation. No one knows exactly how the sun's deep jet streams boost the sunspot count, but they do. As a result, this week's sunspot activity might herald more to come. Stay tuned for updates.

more images: from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Didier Favre of Brétigny-sur-orge, France; from Michael Buxton of Ocean Beach, California; from Peter Paice of Belfast, Northern Ireland

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 260.5 km/sec
density: 8.2 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1840 UT Jun23
24-hr: A0
1840 UT Jun23
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-22-09 - Sunspot #12

Two new sunspots are emerging
 in the sun's southern hemisphere. |
Both are members of Solar Cycle 24.
Credit: SOHO/MDI

NEW SUNSPOTS: Since 2007, it has been unusual to see even a single spot on the sun. Today there are two. Jacob Bassøe photographed them this morning from his backyard observatory in Copenhagen, Denmark:

The magnetic polarity of the two spots

.htm"> solar jet streams into a range of heliographic latitudes that promotes sunspot formation. No one knows exactly how the sun's deep jet streams boost the sunspot count, but they do. As a result, these tiny spots might herald more to come. Stay tuned for updates.

more images: from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Didier Favre of Brétigny-sur-orge, France; from Michael Buxton of Ocean Beach, California

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 280.0 km/sec
density: 3.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun22
24-hr: A5
0835 UT Jun22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

A solar wind stream flowing
from this far-northern coronal
hole will probably miss Earth
or at most deliver a glancing
blow on or about June 25th.
Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

Space Weather News for June 22, 2009
http://spaceweather.com

LUNAR FLYBY: Tomorrow morning, NASA's LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite) spacecraft will fly by the Moon and send pictures back to Earth from only 9000 km above the lunar surface. The purpose of the maneuver is to put LCROSS in an elongated Earth orbit and position it for impact at the lunar south pole later this year. Live video streaming of the flyby begins at approximately 5:20 AM PDT on Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Visit http://spaceweather.com for links and updates.

NEW SUNSPOTS: Since 2007, it has been unusual to see even a single spot on the sun. Today there are two.  A pair of new-cycle sunspots is emerging in the sun's southern hemisphere.  This is a good opportunity for readers with solar telescopes to witness sunspot genesis in action.
 

6-21-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 304.5 km/sec
density: 4.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2120 UT Jun21
24-hr: A0
2120 UT Jun21
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

HAPPY SOLSTICE: Summer begins in the northern hemisphere on Sunday, June 21st, at 5:45 am UT (1:45 am EDT) when the sun reaches its maximum declination above the celestial equator. At the same moment, winter begins in the southern hemisphere. Happy Solstice!

 

6-20-09 - No sunspots today

A solar wind stream flowing
from this far-northern coronal
hole will probably miss Earth
or at most deliver a glancing
blow on or about June 25th.
Credit:
SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 363.8 km/sec
density: 9.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun20
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun20
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

LAST SHOTS FROM KAGUYA: On June 10th at 1825 UT, Japan's massive Kaguya spacecraft crashed into the Moon. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has just released a movie of Kaguya's last moments. Click on the image to set the scene in motion:

The onrushing landscape is what Kaguya's cameras saw as the spacecraft glided into the lunar surface at a shallow angle. When the 2,900 kg spacecraft hit the surface at 6,000 km/hr, astronomers in Australia observed a fireball at the impact site. The explosion punctuated a remarkably successful mission of lunar discovery.

Why bother hitting the Moon? For one thing, it's a good way to end a mission. Lunar satellites can't orbit forever because the Moon's gravitational field is weird and lumpy. Crashing is better than flying off into space, where the spacecraft could pose a hazard to other missions. Crashing also produces a fireball, which allows astronomers to estimate the "luminous efficiency" of objects hitting the Moon. Luminous efficiency is a key parameter required to interpret genuine lunar meteorite impacts. Also, hitting the Moon might uncover something interesting--like evidence of water. NASA's LCROSS spacecraft will attempt that trick later this year.

GREAT GANYMEDE: On June 16th, Paul Haese of Blackwood, South Australia, looked at Jupiter through his 14-inch Celestron telescope and witnessed a "dark and foreboding spot. It was Ganymede," he says, "transiting the cloudtops of Jupiter."

If Ganymede looks big in Haese's photo, that's because it is. Ganymede is the largest moon in the whole solar system--slightly wider than the planet Mercury and more than three-quarters the size of Mars. If it orbited the sun instead of Jupiter, Ganymede would surely be considered a planet.

Ganymede is easy to see through backyard telescopes. Look for it right beside (or sometimes directly in front of) Jupiter in the southern sky just before dawn: sky map.

 

6-19-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 282.5 km/sec
density: 1.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun19
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun19
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
 
6-18-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 318.5 km/sec
density: 2.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun18
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun18
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
 
6-17-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 295.9 km/sec
density: 2.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun17
24-hr: A0
0130 UT Jun17
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

Mystery of the Missing Sunspots, Solved?

June 17, 2009: The sun is in the pits of a century-class solar minimum, and sunspots have been puzzlingly scarce for more than two years. Now, for the first time, solar physicists might understand why.

At an American Astronomical Society press conference today in Boulder, Colorado, researchers announced that a jet stream deep inside the sun is migrating slower than usual through the star's interior, giving rise to the current lack of sunspots.

Rachel Howe and Frank Hill of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson, Arizona, used a technique called helioseismology to detect and track the jet stream down to depths of 7,000 km below the surface of the sun. The sun generates new jet streams near its poles every 11 years, they explained to a room full of reporters and fellow scientists. The streams migrate slowly from the poles to the equator and when a jet stream reaches the critical latitude of 22 degrees, new-cycle sunspots begin to appear.

see caption

Above: A helioseismic map of the solar interior. Tilted red-yellow bands trace solar jet streams. Black contours denote sunspot activity. When the jet streams reach a critical latitude around 22 degrees, sunspot activity intensifies. [larger image] [more graphics]

Howe and Hill found that the stream associated with the next solar cycle has moved sluggishly, taking three years to cover a 10 degree range in latitude compared to only two years for the previous solar cycle.

The jet stream is now, finally, reaching the critical latitude, heralding a return of solar activity in the months and years ahead.

"It is exciting to see", says Hill, "that just as this sluggish stream reaches the usual active latitude of 22 degrees, a year late, we finally begin to see new groups of sunspots emerging."

The current solar minimum has been so long and deep, it prompted some scientists to speculate that the sun might enter a long period with no sunspot activity at all, akin to the Maunder Minimum of the 17th century. This new result dispells those concerns. The sun's internal magnetic dynamo is still operating, and the sunspot cycle is not "broken."

Because it flows beneath the surface of the sun, the jet stream is not directly visible. Hill and Howe tracked its hidden motions via helioseismology. Shifting masses inside the sun send pressure waves rippling the tied to the creation of sunspots and how jet streams can affect the timing of the solar cycle."

see captionThere is, however, much more to learn.

"We still don't understand exactly how jet streams trigger sunspot production," says Pesnell. "Nor do we fully understand how the jet streams themselves are generated."

To solve these mysteries, and others, NASA plans to launch the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) later this year. SDO is equipped with sophisticated helioseismology sensors that will allow it to probe the solar interior better than ever before.

Right: An artist's concept of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. [more]

"The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on SDO will improve our understanding of these jet streams and other internal flows by providing full disk images at ever-increasing depths in the sun," says Pesnell.

Continued tracking and study of solar jet streams could help researchers do something unprecedented--accurately predict the unfolding of future solar cycles. Stay tuned for that!

FROM: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/17jun_jetstream.htm

 

6-16-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 301.7 km/sec
density: 2.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun16
24-hr: A0
1100 UT Jun16
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-15-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 296.2 km/sec
density: 0.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2146 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1805 UT Jun15
24-hr: A0
1210 UT Jun15
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2140 UT

 

6-14-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 310.5 km/sec
density: 1.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun14
24-hr: A0
2340 UT Jun14
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

TRIANGLE OF FIRE: This weekend, astronomers have been monitoring a colossal "triangle of fire" on the limb of the sun. Click on the image below to launch a 1.5 hour movie (DivX required) recorded by Larry Alvarez of Flower Mound, Texas:

"The movie shows several blobs of plasma dripping like rain from the arch, while others leap up from the sun's surface to join the action," describes Alvarez. "At the end there is a small explosion off to the left that is extremely quick."

Prominences are clouds of hot plasma (ionized gas) held aloft by solar magnetic fields. How "plasma blobs" manage to leap and fall through the magnetic thicket is a matter of keen interest to nuclear engineers. Controlling plasma is key to the development of fusion reactors, and the sun is an excellent laboratory for studying interactions between plasma and magnetic fields.

There are many more prominences dancing around the edge of the sun today. Readers, if you have a solar telescope, take a look.

more images: from Guenter Kleinschuster of Feldbach, Styria, Austria; from Jacob Bassøe of Copenhagen, Denmark; from Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana; from P. Fitzpatrick et al of South Portland, Maine; from Didier Favre of Brétigny-sur-Orge, France; from Günther Strauch of Borken, Germany; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from Matthias Juergens of Gnevsdorf, Germany; from Eric Roel of Valle de Bravo, México;

 

6-13-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 313.8 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun13
24-hr: A0
0820 UT Jun13
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

SOLAR ACTIVITY: This morning, John Stetson of Portalnd, Maine trained his solar telescope on the sun and witnessed an enormous "triangle of fire." Students P. Fitzpatrick and F. Stewart helped him take this picture:

"We really enjoyed observing and imaging this prominence on the sun's northwestern limb," says Stetson.

Although it resembles fire, no combustion is involved. Prominences are glowing clouds of solar plasma held aloft by magnetic fields. The shape of the prominence traces the shape of the underlying magnetic field--in this case a towering triangle. For scale, Earth would fit beneath the arch with room to spare.

There are many more prominences dancing around the edge of the sun today. Readers, if you have a solar telescope, take a look.

more images: from Patrick Pelletier of Serbannes, France; from Marco Vidovic of Stojnci, Slovenia; from Matthias Juergens of Gnevsdorf, Germany

 

6-12-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 289.8 km/sec
density: 0.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun12
24-hr: A0
1305 UT Jun12
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
 
6-11-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 331.8 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2115 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2110 UT Jun11
24-hr: A0
0400 UT Jun11
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2110 UT

Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Now Classified
By Leonard David
SPACE.com's Space Insider Columnist
posted: 10 June 2009
05:35 pm ET

For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere – but no longer.

A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned.

The satellites' main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists.

The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified.

"It's baffling to us why this would suddenly change," said one scientist familiar with the work. "It's unfortunate because there was this great synergy...a very good cooperative arrangement. Systems were put into dual-use mode where a lot of science was getting done that couldn't be done any other way. It's a regrettable change in policy."

Scientists say not only will research into the threat from space be hampered, but public understanding of sometimes dramatic sky explosions will be diminished, perhaps leading to hype and fear of the unknown.

Incoming!

Most "shooting stars" are caused by natural space debris no larger than peas. But routinely, rocks as big as basketballs and even small cars crash into the atmosphere. Most vaporize or explode on the way in, but some reach the surface or explode above the surface. Understandably, scientists want to know about these events so they can better predict the risk here on Earth.

Yet because the world is two-thirds ocean, most incoming objects aren't visible to observers on the ground. Many other incoming space rocks go unnoticed because daylight drowns them out.

Over the last decade or so, hundreds of these events have been spotted by the classified satellites. Priceless observational information derived from the spacecraft were made quickly available, giving researchers such insights as time, a location, height above the surface, as well as light-curves to help pin down the amount of energy churned out from the fireballs.

And in the shaky world we now live, it's nice to know that a sky-high detonation is natural versus a nuclear weapon blast.

Where the space-based surveillance truly shines is over remote stretches of ocean – far away from the prospect of ground-based data collection.

But all that ended within the last few months, leaving scientists blind-sided and miffed by the shift in policy. The hope is that the policy decision will be revisited and overturned.

Critical importance

"The fireball data from military or surveillance assets have been of critical importance for assessing the impact hazard," said David Morrison, a Near Earth Object (NEO) scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center. He noted that his views are his own, not as a NASA spokesperson.

The size of the average largest atmospheric impact from small asteroids is a key piece of experimental data to anchor the low-energy end of the power-law distribution of impactors, from asteroids greater than 6 miles (10 kilometers) in diameter down to the meter scale, Morrison told SPACE.com.

"These fireball data together with astronomical observations of larger near-Earth asteroids define the nature of the impact hazard and allow rational planning to deal with this issue," Morrison said.

Morrison said that fireball data are today playing additional important roles.

As example, the fireball data together with infrasound allowed scientists to verify the approximate size and energy of the unique Carancas impact in the Altiplano -- on the Peru-Bolivia border -- on Sept. 15, 2007.

Fireball information also played an important part in the story of the small asteroid 2008 TC3, Morrison said. That was the first-ever case of the astronomical detection of a small asteroid before it hit last year. The fireball data were key for locating the impact point and the subsequent recovery of fragments from this impact.

Link in public understanding

Astronomers are closing in on a years-long effort to find most of the potentially devastating large asteroids in our neck of the cosmic woods, those that could cause widespread regional or global devastation. Now they plan to look for the smaller stuff.

So it is ironic that the availability of these fireball data should be curtailed just at the time the NEO program is moving toward surveying the small impactors that are most likely to be picked up in the fireball monitoring program, Morrision said.

"These data have been available to the scientific community for the past decade," he said. "It is unfortunate this information is shut off just when it is becoming more valuable to the community interested in characterizing near Earth asteroids and protecting our planet from asteroid impacts."

The newly issued policy edict by the U.S. military of reporting fireball observations from satellites also caught the attention of Clark Chapman, a planetary scientist and asteroid impact expert at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

"I think that this information is very important to make public," Chapman told SPACE.com.

"More important than the scientific value, I think, is that these rare, bright fireballs provide a link in public understanding to the asteroid impact hazard posed by still larger and less frequent asteroids," Chapman explained. 

Those objects are witnessed by unsuspecting people in far-flung places, Chapman said, often generating incorrect and exaggerated reports.

"The grounding achieved by associating these reports by untrained observers with the satellite measurements is very useful for calibrating the observer reports and closing the loop with folks who think they have seen something mysterious and extraordinary," Chapman said.

Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than four decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999.

 

6-10-09 - Sunspot 1021 is already gone

Solar wind
speed: 346.8 km/sec
density: 1.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2126 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2120 UT Jun10
24-hr: A0
2120 UT Jun10
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2120 UT

IMPACT ALERT: Japan's Kaguya spacecraft will crash into the Moon on Wednesday, June 10th, at around 1830 UT. The timing favors telescopic observers in east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, who may be able to see a brief flash of light or a plume of debris rising from the Moon's southeastern limb close to selenographic coordinates 80ºE, 63ºS. The expected impact point is marked by a red dot in this image from astrophotographer Pete Lawrence:
Click on the image for a more detailed view.

Kaguya is a big spaceship. It masses 2,900 kg and will hit the Moon at an oblique angle traveling approximately 6,000 km/hr. Whether it tumbles and bounces along the lunar surface or runs headlong into some towering crater wall, no one can say. Clues to the end of Kaguya will come on June 10th in the form of an explosive flash (or lack thereof) and high-res images of the crash site taken by future lunar orbiters.

The impact is not accidental. The Japanese space agency, JAXA, has long planned to end the mission in this fashion. Kaguya has been in lunar orbit since Oct. 2007; it has searched dark craters for evidence of frozen water, mapped the moon's gravitational field, and taken some of the all-time prettiest pictures of Earth's satellite.

Farewell, Kaguya! Links for observers: #1: #2, #3.

LUNAR IMPACT: Japan's Kaguya spacecraft crashed into the Moon on Wednesday, June 10th, and the impact reportedly produced a flash visible from Earth. This sequence of images comes from the 3.9 meter Anglo-Australian Telescope in New South Wales, Australia:

Astronomers Jeremy Bailey and Steve Lee used the observatory's Infrared Imager and Spectrograph (IRIS2) to record the fireball, which appeared at 18:25 UT when the 2,900 kg spacecraft slammed into the lunar surface at 6000 km/hr. The observations were made with a 2.3 micron narrow band filter, and are part of a time series of 1 second exposures with 0.6 seconds dead time between each frame.

Readers are asking, why bother hitting the Moon? For one thing, it's a good way to end a mission. Lunar satellites can't orbit forever because the Moon's gravitational field is weird and lumpy. Crashing is better than flying off into space, where the spacecraft could pose a hazard to other missions. Crashing also produces a fireball, which allows astronomers to estimate the "luminous efficiency" of objects hitting the Moon. Luminous efficiency is a key parameter required to interpret genuine lunar meteorite impacts. Also, hitting the Moon might uncover something interesting--like evidence of water. NASA's LCROSS spacecraft will attempt that trick later this year.

 


June 10, 2009 Betelgeuse

If there's one thing I've realized when writing articles about space, is that it is very easy to link a mysterious astronomical phenomena with doom. If not doom for Earth, certainly doom resulting in a huge explosion of some kind, destroying something, somewhere...

Mystery = Doom

Let's look at a very simple example: In 1983, NASA's Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) carried out the first ever space-based survey of the entire sky at infrared wavelengths.

IRAS spotted some mystery infrared objects (make a note of the word "mystery"). This would be expected, I suppose, as this was the first survey of its kind.

The Washington Post picked up on NASA's initial findings and published an article entitled "Mystery Heavenly Body Discovered," in which the author lays out some possibilities for these infrared objects. Initial reports postulated that one of these objects could be a long-period comet, or a planet, or a far-off young galaxy or a protostar.

Innocent enough, you may think. However, this one news article planted the seed of an entire Planet X doomsday scenario that has given root to countless YouTube videos, doomsday books and now, a Sony Pictures movie, to be released in November.

It's of little concern to doomsday "believers" that these mystery infrared objects were identified as ultra-luminous young galaxies far, far away, and not a nearby Earth-killing "Planet X". Doomsday theories stick, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary.

Shrinking Stars and Supernovae

So, today I read about the incredible observation by astronomers that the famous red supergiant star Betelgeuse is shrinking. According to University of California, Berkeley astrophysicists, over the last 15 years, Betelgeuse has shriveled by 15% in diameter.

This is a startling observation in my opinion. Although the star has undergone no variation in luminosity, to be able to distinguish a 15% reduction in size of a star some 600 light years away is astonishing. The supergiant isn't even an "easy" star to observe; as it's so old, it's undergoing some violent changes, blasting hot gas into space, shrouding its surface from view. Only by using the extremely sensitive Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) on the top of Mt. Wilson in Southern California, researchers were able to see through the haze and measure the star diameter with such precision.

On reading through the Berkeley press release, there is no mention that this shrinkage could indicate Betelgeuse is about to explode. Granted, the 15 year shrinkage is a "mystery" (there's that word again), but the star has been known to vary in size in the past. In fact, it is known to pulsate in size with periods of one and six years. Also, the rotational period of Betelgeuse is once every 18 years; simulations suggest the star is not spherical, so the shrinkage could be an illusion, we are seeing a potato-shaped disk on its thinnest edge.

Despite all these factors, Fox News runs with the title "Nearby Star May Be Getting Ready to Explode." Using the Berkeley press release as a source, and quoting all the facts mentioned above, they've put two and two together, made five and declared stellar Armageddon.

Oh dear.

They've also made their own prediction right at the end:

It's possible we're observing the beginning of Betelgeuse's final collapse now.

If so, the star, which is 600 light-years away, will already have exploded — and we'll soon be in for a spectacular, and perfectly safe, interstellar fireworks show.

Yes, it's totally possible Betelgeuse could explode, but the chances of this happening in this 600 year window is highly unlikely, regardless how fast it seems to be shrinking.

Needless to say, the Fox article has done the best on the social bookmarking sites, hitting the front page of Digg. Everyone loves a supernova. As for the "shrinking star" reports, not so much.

This may not have the makings of the next, great doomsday movie plot, but it is an example how definite conclusions (i.e. a supernova) can be made from a fairly benign, yet interesting astronomical "mystery".

Sources: AFP, FOX, UCB, Universe Today

 

6-9-09 - Sunspot 1021  Small, faint sunspot 1020 is a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Credit: SOHO/MDI -calling this sunspot 12
 

Solar wind
speed: 313.4 km/sec
density: 3.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun09
24-hr: A0
0620 UT Jun09
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

BIG ASTEROID FLYBY: Today, June 9th, asteroid 2003 QO104 is passing by Earth only 9 million miles away. Measuring 2 miles in diameter, the massive asteroid is about 1/3rd the size of the K-T impactor that probably wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. There's no danger of a collision this time, it's just a photo-op.

flyby images: from Alberto Quijano Vodniza of Pasto, Nariño, Colombia

 

6-8-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 303.3 km/sec
density: 1.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2145 UT Jun08
24-hr: A0
2145 UT Jun08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

TRANSIT OF VENUS: Five years ago today, Venus made an historic transit of the Sun. Our 15-page photo gallery documents the crossing, ranked by witnesses as one of the most beautiful events of modern astronomy. The next transit: June 6, 2012. Book your ticket for the South Pacific!
 

6-7-09 - No sunspots today

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 365.5 km/sec
density: 2.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2323 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun07
24-hr: A0
1640 UT Jun07
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

ARIETID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Arietid meteor shower peaks on Sunday, June 7th. The Arietids are unusual because they are daytime meteors; the shower is most intense after sunrise. Early risers could spot a small number of earthgrazing Arietids during the dark hours before dawn on Sunday morning. After daybreak, you can listen to the shower by tuning into our online meteor radar.

 

6-6-09 - No sunspots today

Solar wind
speed: 306.9 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2342 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2340 UT Jun06
24-hr: B2
0325 UT Jun06
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-5-09 - Sunspot 1019 fading even more as it travels across the face of the sun.

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 330.8 km/sec
density: 3.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2314 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A1
1910 UT Jun05
24-hr: A2
1320 UT Jun05
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

 

6-4-09  - Sunspot 1019 is in the center top of the sun but is fading away -  today they are calling it #17

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 290.5 km/sec
density: 1.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
1800 UT Jun04
24-hr: A4
1530 UT Jun04
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
 
6-3-09 - Sunspot # 1019 - number 19
 

SUNSPOT 1019: New-cycle sunspot 1019 burst through the surface of the sun on May 31st and it has been growing rapidly ever since. This movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) shows the progress of the active region over a two-day period:

The sunspot's two dark cores are each about the size of Earth, and they are crackling with B-class solar flares. During years of Solar Max (e.g., 2000-2002) we would consider such activity minor, but now, during the deep solar minimum of 2008-2009, it merits attention. The magnetic polarity and high latitude of the sunspot identify it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24, expected to peak in 2013. This makes sunspot 1019 a sign of things to come. Readers with solar telescopes should take a look.

more images: from Jérôme Grenier of Paris France; from Marco Vidovic of Stojnci, Slovenia; from Pavol Rapavy of Observatory Rimavska Sobota, Slovakia; from Steve Wainwright of Swansea, S.Wales, UK; from Gilles Frenette of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; ; from Deirdre Kelleghan of Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland; from J. Maciaszek and J. Stetson of South Portland, Maine; from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Etienne Lecoq of Mesnil-Panneville, Normandy, France; from P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden;

BLINDING FLASH: On May 31st, evening sky watchers in northern Poland were temporarily blinded by a sudden flash of light brighter than the full Moon. An automated camera in the town of Gniewowo captured this snapshot of the "un-night" sky:

What happened? A meteoroid of unknown origin hit Earth's atmosphere and exploded. "It was a huge fireball, probably brighter than magnitude -13," reports Gniewowo resident Przemyslaw Zoladek. "The explosion occured at 20:48 UT and was observed by many casual witnesses and at least two Polish Fireball Network video stations." No one knows if fragments of the object reached the ground. Click here for updates.

Solar wind
speed: 275.2 km/sec
density: 0.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0355 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A1
2155 UT Jun02
24-hr: B1
0640 UT Jun02
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2355 UT

 

6-2-09 - sunspot #1019 - number 19  see photos above

Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 297.0 km/sec
density: 0.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A1
2155 UT Jun02
24-hr: B1
0640 UT Jun02
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

Current Auroral Oval:

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES <

 

6-1-09 - sunspot 1019 coming around the corner of the sun - photos above.

it is called #11 on 6-1-09 and changed to #19 on 6-3-09

more images: from Steve Rismiller of Milford, Ohio; from Matthias Juergens of Gnevsdorf, Germany; from Mike Borman of Evansville, Indiana; from Peter Paice of Belfast, Northern Ireland; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany; from Howard Eskildsen of Ocala, Florida;
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Current conditions

Solar wind
speed: 309.3 km/sec
density: 0.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A9
1855 UT Jun01
24-hr: A9
1855 UT Jun01
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

SOLAR ACTIVITY: "Solar activity is heating up!" reports Robert Arnold from the Isle of Skye, Scotland. This morning he photographed a fiery prominence and a new sunspot emerging near the sun's northeastern limb:

The sunspot, numbered 1019, in growing rapidly as shown in this movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. The high latitude and magnetic polarity of the spot identify it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Readers , if you have a solar telescope, train it on the sun and watch sunspot genesis in action.

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