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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: 476.7 km/sec
density: 3.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2246 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Mar17
24-hr: A0
1525 UT Mar17
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 17 Mar 08
The decay of sunspot 986 has reversed and the small spot is growing again. Readers with solar telescopes may wish to monitor its rapid development. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 12
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 16 Mar 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals a possible sunspot group on the far side of the sun. Check tomorrow's farside image for confirmation. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
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: 5.3 nT
Bz: 1.9 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no well-defined coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit:SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Mar 17 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 17 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
March 17, 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

ASTEROID FLYBY: Massive asteroid 1620 Geographos is flying past Earth today at a distance of 12 million miles. After sunset, point your telescope at these coordinates to track the strangely oblong space rock glowing like a 13th magnitude star in the constellation Monoceros (near Orion).

movies: from Dennis Simmons of Brisbane, Australia; from Alberto Quijano Vodniza of Pasto, NariƱo, Colombia.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY: So the city of Chicago dyed a river green to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? That's nothing. Greg Piepol of Rockville, Maryland, offers up to the Leprecauns an entire star:

"This is today's sun, photographed through my Coronado SolarMax90 Calcium K telescope and colorized for March 17th," he says. "Tiny sunspot 986 is at the top."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

LAVA AND STARS: "This looks like an ordinary scenic of the Milky Way, but it isn't," says photographer Stephen James O'Meara writing from the Big Island of Hawaii. "The real excitement is the fiery red glow at lower left." What is it? Scroll down for the answer:


Photo details: Canon 20D, 229 second exposure, f/4, ISO 1600

If it's Hawaii, it must be a volcano. Photographed on March 14th, "this is first time incandesence from molten rock beneath the surface has been sighted at the summit of Kilauea volcano in more than a quarter century!" he says. "The last time red was seen at the summit crater, Halemaumau, was in April/May 1982 during a brief fissure eruption." O'Meara's close-up shot is truly hot stuff.

more images: from Jim Pastore flying in a helicopter above the Big Island of Hawaii.

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 17, 2008 there were 943 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
2008 ED8
Mar. 10
1.4 LD
12
64 m
2008 EF32
Mar. 10
0.2 LD
18
6 m
2008 EM68
Mar. 10
0.6 LD
18
12 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...
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.
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