INCOMING CME: A magnetic filament connected to sunspot AR1450 erupted on April 2nd, hurling a faint CME in the direction of Earth. A weak impact is expected sometime on April 4th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 15% to 25% chance of polar geomagnetic storms when the cloud arrives. Aurora alerts: text, phone.
EIGHT SISTERS: For one more night, the Seven Sisters are actually Eight. Look west after sunset to see Venus on the outskirts of the Pleiades star cluster, temporarily adding its bright light to the cluster's delicate luminosity. Amateur astronomer Doug Zubenel photographed the conjunction last night from DeSoto, Kansas:
"The view of Venus, an eighth sister among the Pleiades framed by branches bearing freshly opened oak leaves, was nothing short of mind-blowing!!" he says.
Tonight, Venus exits the cluster, so this is your last chance to see a meeting that occurs only once every 8 years. Don't miss it.
more images: from Fred Espenak of Portal, Arizona; from Kamila Mazurkiewicz of Puławy, Poland; from Jimmy Westlake of Steamboat Springs, Colorado; from Efe Tuncel of Ankara, Turkey; from Fritz Helmut Hemmerich of Tenerife (Canary Islands); from Marion Haligowski of Phoenix, Arizona; from Aaron Top of Shallow Lake, Ontario; from Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland; from M. Raşid Tuğral of Ankara, Turkiye; from Ugur Ikizler of Mudanya - Bursa / Turkey; from Gadi Eidelheit of Givat Shmuel, Israel
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Solar wind
speed: 337.1 km/sec
density: 2.8 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1636 UT
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X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B3 1412 UT Apr04
24-hr: B7 0557 UT Apr04
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1600 UT
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Daily Sun: 04 Apr 12
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Solar activity is low. None of these sunspots is actively flaring. Credit: SDO/HMI
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Sunspot number: 62
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 03 Apr 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
Updated 03 Apr 2012
The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 104 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 03 Apr 2012
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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= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data
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Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.2 nT
Bz: 1.1 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 1636 UT
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Coronal Holes: 04 Apr 12
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A solar wind stream flowing from this southern coronal hole could brush against Earth's magnetic field on April 7th. Credit: SDO/AIA.
[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9CuFzUrgG4]
