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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 444.8 km/sec
density: 5.7 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Mar08
24-hr: A0
0035 UT Mar08
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 08 Mar 08
Sunspot 984 has rotated over the sun's western limb leaving the sun once again blank. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 08 Mar 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4
unsettled
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 10.9 nT
Bz: 0.7 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should hit Earth's magnetic field during the next 24 hours. Credit:SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Mar 08 2203 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
CLASS X
01 %
01 %
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm
Updated at: 2008 Mar 08 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
50 %
30 %
MINOR
25 %
15 %
SEVERE
15 %
05 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
55 %
35 %
MINOR
25 %
20 %
SEVERE
15 %
05 %

What's up in Space
March 8, 2008
Where's Saturn? Is that a UFO--or the ISS? What's the name of that star? Get the answers from mySKY--a fun new astronomy helper from Meade.   mySKY

NEO ALERT: Discovered just yesterday, small asteroid 2008 EZ7 will fly past Earth tonight at a distance of only ~100,000 miles. Using an ephemeris from the Minor Planet Center, advanced amateur astronomers may be able to find and photograph the space rock racing among the stars. Submit your images here.

ASTEROID MOON ECLIPSE: On Saturday evening, March 8th, a moon of asteroid Eugenia will pass directly in front of the 5.7th magnitude star SAO 94227. This will cause the star to wink out for a fraction of a second sometime between 9:42 pm and 9:45 pm PST. The "path of totality" stretches from Florida to southern California: maps. Astronomers, point your GOTO telescope to these coordinates: 4h 57m 22.3s, +17o 09' 13" and report what you see.

HOLMES ON TOUR: Comet 17P/Holmes is touring California--the Nebula. Amateur astronomer Chris Schur sends this picture taken March 6th from rural Payson, Arizona:


Photo details: Stellarvue SV80s, Canon XTi, ASA800, 30 mins

"Both the comet and the nebula were were naked-eye objects at our 5100-ft elevation observatory," says Schur. Almost everywhere else, however, a telescope+digital camera is required to see the faint but beautiful duo. The photo-op continues until about March 12th when Holmes exits the California coast and sails off into an ocean of stars. Astrophotographers, you know what to do: sky map, ephemeris.

more images: from Rolando Ligustri using a remotely-controlled telescope in New Mexico; from Sebastian Voltmer of the Black Forest, Germany; from Michael Jäger of Stixendorf, Austria; from Patrick Bornet of Saint Martin sur Nohain, Nièvre, France;

SUNDOWN: Can't wait for the sun to go down? Maybe it needs a little help. This man in the Shahdad Desert of Iran demonstrates the proper technique:

Saied Bahrami Nezhad took the picture using his Canon 400D. "The sun is so large, but with a little ingenuity we can place it underfoot," he says. The moral of this photo: photographing the sunset can be fun. Try it!

more images: from Rodrigo Roesch of Glenview, IL; from Paul Evans of Brighton, UK; from Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from Gary Freitag of Mountain Point Ketchikan, Alaska; from Aymen Ibrahem of Alexandria, Egypt;

Near-Earth Asteroids
Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs is on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time. [comment]
On March 8, 2008 there were 941 potentially hazardous asteroids.
March 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 DH5
Mar. 5
7.1 LD
18
60 m
2008 EZ7
Mar. 9
0.4 LD
18
18 m
1620 Geographos
Mar. 17
49 LD
13
3 km
2003 FY6
Mar. 21
6.3 LD
15
145 m
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.
Essential Links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government bureau for real-time monitoring of solar and geophysical events, research in solar-terrestrial physics, and forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances.
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  From the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
  more links...
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