Space Weather News for August 21, 2020 https://spaceweather.com https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com MARS IS NOW BRIGHTER THAN SIRIUS: Mars is approaching Earth for one of its best apparitions since 2003. Earlier this week, the Red Planet crossed an important threshold. It is now brighter than Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. Amateur astronomers are capturing amazing images of Mars using ordinary telescopes, and the best is yet to come. Visit Spaceweather.com for observing tips. Aurora al ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2020 Aug 21 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 234 Issued at 0030Z on 21 Aug 2020 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 20 Aug I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 20/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 2772 N17W63 297 0010 Bxo 06 03 Beta IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 20/ ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 1 day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FIRES (1 updated event, 2 new images) -- 2020 FIRE SEASON IN THE WESTERN U.S. Fire season in the West can stretch from late spring until seasonal winter rains and snow arrive. Climate change has made recent warmer and drier, intensifying some natural fire cycles. * Thick Smoke Obscures California Skies (Image from Aug 19, 2020; Posted Aug 19, 2020) https://earthobservatory.nasa ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2020 Aug 20 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 233 Issued at 0030Z on 20 Aug 2020 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 19 Aug I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 19/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 2772 N18W47 295 0030 Cro 05 05 Beta IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 19/ ...Continue Reading

Space Weather News for August 19, 2020 https://spaceweather.com https://www.spaceweatheralerts.com RESEARCHERS PREDICT A SURGE IN COSMIC RAYS: Interplanetary space is about to become a more dangerous place. A new study just published in the research journal Space Weather predicts that galactic cosmic rays will surge in the decades ahead--a result of the sputtering solar cycle. This could limit deep space missions for astronauts to as little as 200 days. Get the full story at Spaceweather.com. ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2020 Aug 19 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 232 Issued at 0030Z on 19 Aug 2020 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 18 Aug I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 18/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type 2772 N18W36 296 0010 Bxo 01 02 Beta IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 18/ ...Continue Reading

The latest from NASA's Earth Observatory (18 August 2020) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Happy 20th anniversary to our sister site, Visible Earth! Cheers to 32,451 NASA images of Earth taken from space. Check out Visible Earth at https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/ -------------------- Latest Images: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/topic/image-of-the-day * How Birds Respond to Extreme Weather https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147105/how-birds-respond-to-extreme-weathe ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 1 day. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- FIRES (1 updated event, 1 new image) -- 2020 FIRE SEASON IN THE WESTERN U.S. Fire season in the West can stretch from late spring until seasonal winter rains and snow arrive. Climate change has made recent warmer and drier, intensifying some natural fire cycles. * Four Fires in Colorado (Image from Aug 15, 2020; Posted Aug 17, 2020) https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/1471 ...Continue Reading

:Product: Solar Region Summary :Issued: 2020 Aug 18 0030 UTC # Prepared jointly by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, # Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force. # Joint USAF/NOAA Solar Region Summary SRS Number 231 Issued at 0030Z on 18 Aug 2020 Report compiled from data received at SWO on 17 Aug I. Regions with Sunspots. Locations Valid at 17/2400Z Nmbr Location Lo Area Z LL NN Mag Type None IA. H-alpha Plages without Spots. Locations Valid at 17/2400Z Aug Nmbr Location Lo 2771 ...Continue Reading

The following sections have been updated in the past 7 days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- UNIQUE IMAGERY (1 updated event, 1 new image) -- RAIN AND FLOODING IN AUSTRALIA Heavy rains in Australia can have far-reaching consequences for both people and ecosystems. * Double Cloud Trouble (Image from Aug 10, 2020; Posted Aug 13, 2020) https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/147115/double-cloud-trouble/?src=nha ----------------------------------------------------------- ...Continue Reading