Celebrating Astronaut Alan Shepard's 100th Birthday

Images

Friday, 17 November 2023

Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., attired in his Mercury pressure suit, poses for a photo on May 5, 1961, prior to his launch in a Mercury-Redstone 3 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on a suborbital mission – the first U.S. manned spaceflight.

Image Credit: NASA

Planetary Positions

25.12.2024 at 19:18:51 UTC

Planet	Longitude
The Sun	04 Cap 29' 52"
The Moon	05 Sco 33' 03"
Mercury	12 Sag 32' 49"
Venus	20 Aqu 58' 27"
Mars	03 Leo 44' 20" R
Jupiter	13 Gem 54' 60" R
Saturn	14 Pis 04' 56"
Uranus	23 Tau 48' 01" R
Neptune	27 Pis 13' 23"
Pluto	00 Aqu 52' 41"

Solar Status

BZ Status:	0
Proton Density:	2.04
Proton Speed:	452.0 k/sec
KP Status:	0.67

Type	Dec 25	Dec 26	Dec 27
Active	20%	39%	40%
Minor	40%	40%	15%
Moderate	25%	20%	1%
Strong	1%	1%	1%
Kp Index Prediction
00-03UT	2.33	3.67	3.67
03-06UT	2.00	3.33	2.67
06-09UT	2.67	3.67	2.33
09-12UT	3.00	4.33	2.33
12-15UT	4.33	5.00	2.00
15-18UT	5.00	4.00	1.67
18-21UT	5.33	3.33	2.00
21-00UT	3.67	3.00	2.33
Solar Activity
Solar activity reached high levels this period with 7 M-class flares, all but two from Region 3932 (S18E06, Fkc/beta-gamma). The largest flare of the period was an M4.9/Sb at 25/0449 UTC which had an associated Type II sweep (1064 km/s). An associated CME was observed in LASCO starting near 25/0500 UTC. This event is being analyzed at the time of this summary. Newly numbered Region 3938 (N20E59, Dsi/beta-gamma) produced M-class activity, including an M2.8 flare at 25/0430 UTC.
Solar Wind
Solar wind parameters varied this period. Total field was at nominal background levels, with a peak of 6 nT, and Bz varying between +/- 5 nT. Solar wind speeds slowly decreased from ~550-500 km/s. The phi angle remained predominantly negative.
Energetic Particle
The greater than 10 MeV proton flux remained elevated above background but well below the S1 threshold, mostly due to activity that erupted on the far side of the Sun over 20 Dec. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached moderate levels.

Celebrating Astronaut Alan Shepard's 100th Birthday

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