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Solar cycle 24 prediction: Belgian expertise in an international panel

October 2006, the "Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel" met for the first time in Boulder, Colorado to figure out what how the Sun will behave in the future. The expertise of the SIDC was presented in this international panel by solar physicist Dr. Ronald Van der Linden.

PROBA2: the making of

Two instruments, Lyra and SWAP were integrated on the Proba 2 satellite in March 2007. Have a look at the slideshow underneath. More info in a previous Newsitem.

 

Be alerted

Five brand new products (SIDC) have been opened for registration. All new products are email alerts and send when space weather conditions are such that a warning is needed. The emails concern the flaring conditions, halo CMEs and geomagnetic conditions. You are the first to know!

We list the code name and short description of the fast alerts:

Space Weather threatening astronauts at ISS?

Earth and satellites are attacked by a proton storm. The >10MeV proton flux exceeded the threshold of 10 particles several times since December 06. On December 09, the space shuttle was launched and brought more people to the international space station. They return on December 21.

X9.0 flare

Unexpectedly, a major flare was fired from a source region at the very east limb. The first X-flare since September 2005.

STEREO mission

In October 2006, NASA will launch the STEREO mission that features important Belgian contributions. This mission will provide the first ever three-dimensional view of the heliosphere and of the solar corona. The SIDC developed special software to make full use of the incoming data.

Solar-B will be launched

On September 23, Solar-B, the third solar physics satellite of ISAS, Institute of space and astronautical science of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will be launched in Japan.

Third European Space Weather Week

From 13th November until 17th November 2006, scientists from all over the world will gather in Brussels to discuss space weather. Developments in forecast methods, ionospheric issues, modelling, data analysis methods and scientific research will be on the menu for 5 days.

Made in Belgium: Proba 2

The mini-satellite Proba 2, an ESA-mission, will be launched in September 2007. Onboard are SWAP and LYRA, two instruments in which the Royal Observatory of Belgium, the SIDC is deeply involved. Belgium will keep an eye on the Sun!

Annual Report of the SIDC

Once a year, we bundle all our activities and publications of the past year in a document. All projects and services on which we are currently are described. It fits in the bulky report of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, one of the 10 scientific federal institutes.

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