SOLAR WATCH * Huge X8.2 Flare Sept. 10, 2017! (Updated Daily)

LEO (Low Earth Orbit) is about to get much more crowded. Elon Musk's SpaceX has US Govt. approval to launch nearly 12, 000 new satellites!

Don't trust your 'self-driving car' when a massive CME hits, haha.

FCC tells SpaceX it can deploy up to 11,943 broadband satellites

Initial launch of 4,425 satellites to be followed by 7,518 closer to the ground.

Cable-like latency

SpaceX's initial 4,425 satellites are expected to orbit at altitudes of 1,110km to 1,325km, a fraction of the altitude of traditional broadband satellites. Because of the low orbits, SpaceX says its broadband network will have latencies as low as 25ms, similar to cable or fiber systems. SpaceX has also said it will provide gigabit speeds and that it will provide broadband access worldwide.

Full report:
[link to arstechnica.com (secure)]

Musk will have 5G networks on the Moon by 2030 (but NOT Mars).... just my prediction.

Thank you Helios for the news articles.... Glad that your computer has figured out GLP for now.


Our @USNRL LASCO/C2 camera on @ESA/@NASASun SOHO witnessed the total vaporization of yet another sungrazing comet last night. Note also Jupiter moving across the top of the images.

video
[link to twitter.com (secure)]

COMET PLUNGES INTO THE SUN: Subtract one from the Solar System's total count of comets. Yesterday a small unnamed comet dove into the sun and evaporated. Coronagrapbhs on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded the death plunge. The doomed comet was a member of the Kreutz family. Kreutz sungrazers are fragments from the breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago. They are seen falling into the sun dozens of times a year. This particular sungrazer measured a few tens of meters in diameter, too small to survive a close approach with the sun.

SOLAR ACTIVITY UPDATE: Sun Diving Comet Nov 25th, 2018.


[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Bye bye comet!

THE NEXT GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are likely on Dec. 1st when a stream of solar wind hits Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. This is a long-lasting hole that has lashed Earth with solar wind about once a month since July. The last time it happened on Nov. 4th, auroras were sighted in US states including Wyoming, Montana, Iowa, Washington, North Dakota and, of course, Alaska. It could happen again this weekend.

[link to spaceweather.com]

A HYPERACTIVE COMET IS APPROACHING EARTH: Small but hyperactive Comet 46P/Wirtanen is approaching Earth and could soon become visible to the naked eye. On Dec. 16th, the kilometer-wide ball of dirty ice will be less than 11.5 million km away--making it one of the 10 closest-approaching comets of the Space Age. It already looks magnificent through amateur telescopes.

On Nov. 26th, Gerald Rhemann took this picture using a 12-inch reflector in Farm Tivoli, Namibia: [link to spaceweathergallery.com]

Rhemann says that the comet's emerald green atmosphere is 50 arcminutes wide. In other words--almost twice as wide as a full Moon. Its apparent diameter could double in the weeks ahead as the comet comes even closer. Because Wirtanen's brightness is spread over such a wide area, it is diluted just below the limit of naked eye visibility, with a current magnitude near +6.0. We don't yet know if the comet will ultimately become visible to the unaided eye--but it will certainly be an easy target for binoculars and backyard telescopes in December.

[link to ssd.jpl.nasa.gov (secure)]

Comet Wirtanen passes through the inner solar system every 5.4 years. Right now it is just below the orbit of Earth, and the gap is narrowing. Click on the image above to explore the comet's approach, courtesy of NASA/JPL.

[link to spaceweather.com]

More resources:
[link to www.aerith.net]
[link to cgi.minorplanetcenter.net (secure)]
[link to ssd.jpl.nasa.gov (secure)]
[link to wirtanen.astro.umd.edu]

NASA Spacecraft is Fast Approaching the 1,650-foot-wide Asteroid Bennu

Osiris-Rex is fast approaching Bennu and will arrive in orbit around the 1,650-foot-wide (500 meters) space rock on December 3, 2018.

The spacecraft Completed Inflight Testing of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) on Nov. 14, 2018. It is scheduled to arrive at Bennu and begin surveying the asteroid up close.

The Osiris-Rex spacecraft will initiate an intricate dance with Bennu, mapping and studying it in preparation for sample collection in July 2020. Osiris-Rex will deliver the sample to Earth in Septenber 2023.

Scientists suggest that a massive collision between an asteroid and a planetsimal about one billion years ago, may have resulted in the birth of Bennu.

[link to www.asteroidmission.org (secure)]


[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

Karl Battams @SungrazerComets

18yrs or so ago, I was in an undergrad solar physics class. Day one, prof tells us "if you have any solar physics books written before SOHO, throw them away."

Today marks 23-years since the launch of this extraordinary mission. Keep rewriting those books,

[link to twitter.com (secure)]

Good to know

Any one have a screen shot of the supposed filament lift off cme from Nov. 30th? Predicted to arrive 12-5? Thanks.

I'm catching it here for another hour or so and then it will rotate off.

[link to sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov (secure)]

Enlil has it as very faint and missing earth completely.

[link to iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov (secure)]

Just in case they shut the power off Wed. and try to blame a CME.

Last Edited by Isis One on 12/03/2018 11:27 PM

[link to youtu.be (secure)]

Thank you Xeno! That side view had it looking more serious. I think its still shy of earth though. We'll have to see. It had some serious plasma to it.

No worries Isis! Yes it did, we'll see. I've often wondered why there aren't better statistics on cme's when one is supposedly tracking solar activity

Last Edited by Xenophon on 12/03/2018 11:45 PM

Awesome post! I'm awed by your SubGenius analysis of what's important.

You rock, Simple!

Comet 46P is one of the BEST COMETS in recent history for the Northern Hemisphere. It's projected to be naked-eye visible by mid-December.

Tracker Chart:
[link to s22380.pcdn.co (secure)]

Typically during the course of a year about a dozen comets will come within the range of amateur telescopes. Most quietly come and go with little fanfare, but during the upcoming weeks one rather small comet will be making an unusually close approach to the Earth. On December 16th, Comet 46P/Wirtanen (pronounced WERE-tuh-nun) will pass just over 11 million kilometers (7 million miles) from Earth.
[link to www.skyandtelescope.com (secure)]

Telescopic Map of 46P coordinates:

[link to s22380.pcdn.co (secure)]

SOLAR WIND SPARKS POLAR AURORAS: A stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field. Last night, it turned the landscape of northern Norway green.

[link to spaceweathergallery.com]

More auroras are in the offing. Not only will Earth remain in the current stream of solar wind for another ~24 hours, but also a CME is coming. NOAA forecasters say that a coronal mass ejection (CME) might hit Earth's magnetic field on Dec. 5th. It was launched into space Nov. 30th when a filament of magnetism in the sun's southern hemisphere exploded. The slow-moving CME is not heading directly for Earth, but even a grazing impact would likely spark strong polar auroras.

[link to spaceweather.com]

Hi Hugh

A southern hemisphere coronal hole is facing Earth. Enhanced solar wind could arrive in ~3 days.

[link to twitter.com (secure)]

Follow live on
[link to www.spaceweatherlive.com (secure)]

Now visible: Comet as big as the full moon
[link to twitter.com (secure)]

snip:
Wirtanen’s relatively small core of dirty ice cannot produce enough gas and dust to create a really bright, flamboyant tail. The best case scenario is probably a big diffuse cloud of magnitude +3 or +4, barely visible to the unaided eye but an easy target for binoculars and small wide-field telescopes.

and this:
Last night in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, photographer Chris Cook didn't even need a telescope to capture Wirtanen's green glow. He took this picture using a Canon 6D digital camera with a 35 mm lens:

and:
On the nights of closest approach, 46P/Wirtanen can be found in the constellation Taurus rising in the east at sunset and high in the sky at midnight.

[link to spaceweather.com]

A Southward Storm Launch Brings New Hope: Solar Storm Shortie 12-04-2018

Although we are in solar minimum, our Sun is staying busy! It launched a partially Earth-directed solar storm back on November 30th and we are expecting it to impact by December 5th. This solar storm will likely graze Earth to the south, but as I mention in the informal forecast (on Patreon), the tail end of this storm could actually hit Earth a little more directly. This means we could see aurora to mid-latitudes, if only briefly! Learn the details of this coming solar storm, how long it will linger, and what else our Sun has in store!

[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]

hihihi I love those filament of magnetism erupting from the sun's there some-kind of Sexy

AnyWay..!

IS THE SUN CONSCIOUS?

Forgive me if this has already been posted.

Although hard to absorb in one sitting, I had to share this here for obvious reasons;) I have my own theories on a 'conscious' Sun', but they're even crazier than Mr. Sheldrake's.

Viewing Hint- The first 20-30 minutes are a crash course in philosophy of science. Skip ahead past 30 mins. to hear some wild ideas. Personally, I recommend watching the whole talk in 10-15 min chunks, but that's me.

Rupert's information is really, really great, but his no-frills presentation may put you to sleep.... I intend to watch this several times!



[link to www.youtube.com (secure)]



Last Edited by Helios Maximus on 12/05/2018 01:00 AM

That was excellent. I skipped the middle section. Thought provoking. Magnetic Resonance resonates with me, lol!!

A NEW SUNSPOT: Breaking a string of 9 spotless days, a new sunspot group is emerging near the sun's equator. Only 24 hours ago it was invisible. Now the sunspot contains almost a dozen dark cores and sprawls across more than 75,000 km of the solar surface.

Click here to watch a movie of sunspot genesis. [link to spaceweather.com]

[link to spaceweather.com]

December 5, 2018 @ 21:00 UTC

New Sunspot

A rare sight during the descent into solar minimum, a new sunspot. Region 2729, a member of weakening Solar Cycle 24, formed fairly quickly in the southwest quadrant and is currently producing very minor B-Class solar flares. Although noteworthy solar flares are not expected, the sunspot should be monitored during the next 24 hours.

Image below by SDO/HMI.
[link to solarham.net]

[link to solarham.net]

I was just looking at the x-ray flux at spaceweather going wha????? Its up off the floor. Now I know why!! Thanks S!

[link to spaceweather.com]


Tell me what you see that is absolutely perfect in the center

"The display over Senja, Norway, on Nov. 11th was nothing short of magical," recalls photographer Adrien Mauduit. "Huge colorful pillars took the shape of a fiery bird."

The same stream of solar wind will return on Dec. 8th or 9th and it may be even more potent this time because the underlying coronal hole has hrown larger in the intervening month. Arctic sky watchers, mark your calendars and warm your cameras. The Phoenix might rise again.

[link to spaceweather.com]

Another phoenix?

2 perfect dark eyes center little below middle