Space Weather Update~ M Class
MILD LEONIDS: The Leonid meteor shower peaks on Nov. 17/18 as Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Reports so far are consistent with a weak shower--no more than about 10 per hour. In the past, Leonids have been known to produce fantastic storms of thousands of shooting stars. This year, however, Earth is passing through the outskirts of the comet's debris stream, so the shower is relatively mild. [meteor gallery] [meteor radar]
FAST-GROWING SUNSPOT: Barely visible when the weekend began, sunspot AR1619 has blossomed into a large active region more than three times as wide as Earth. Click to play a 24 hour movie recorded by NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory:
So far the growing sunspot has not produced any significant flares, but the quiet is unlikely to continue if its expansion continues apace. Fast-changing magnetic fields on the sun have a tendency to reconnect and erupt. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours.Solar flare alerts:
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