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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: 427.4 km/sec
density: 13.6 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2241 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2245 UT Feb27
24-hr: A0
1310 UT Feb27
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 27 Feb 08
New sunspot 983 poses no threat for strong solar flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 12
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 25 Feb 2008
Far side of the Sun:
This holographic image reveals no large sunspots on the far side of the sun. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 5 mild
24-hr max: Kp= 5
mild
explanation | more data
Current Auroral Oval:

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Updated:
What is the auroral oval?
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.3 nT
Bz: 2.9 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2247 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on Feb. 28th or 29th. Credit: Hinode X-Ray Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2008 Feb 27 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 Feb 27 2203 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
20 %
MINOR
10 %
05 %
SEVERE
05 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
30 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %

What's up in Space
February 27, 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

STRANGE CRATERS: The surprises continue. Scientists examining photos from Messenger's January flyby of Mercury have found several strange dark-rimmed craters and one crater with a shiny bottom. The dark rims may be "melt marks" caused by exploding impactors. And the shiny bottom? No one knows. Click here and ponder the mystery.

MORNING SHOW: This morning in Fort Collins, Colorado, Robbie Merrill woke up early, looked southeast, and saw two bright lights beaming through the dawn. It was Venus and Mercury only 1o apart:


Photo Details: Nikon D40 at ISO 400, 3 second exposure, f/14

The two innermost planets have gathered together and are rising before the Sun every morning for the next week. They're easy to see if you can wake up early enough. A date of note is March 5th when the crescent moon joins the show: sky map.

more images: from Doug Zubenel of Johnson Co. Kansas; from Dan Gibbons of St. George, Utah; from Jorge Solano of San José Pinula, Guatemala; from Salvador Aguirre of Hermosillo, Mexico; from Elias Chasiotis of Markopoulo, Greece;

NEW YORK FIREBALL: "Last night [Feb. 25], I was just out walking the dog when I saw a HUGE burning ball fly through the air, reports. Michele Kiefer of Ithaca, New York. "If the stars were the size of a pin prick, this object was the size of a quarter!" John Cook of Endicott, New York, witnessed the same thing: "It was glorious and really bright. There really was no missing it if someone was looking up."

What was it? Answer: A garden variety fireball.

Earth is under constant bombardment by small asteroids and other space debris, creating a drizzle of surprisingly-bright and -frequent meteors. According to calculations by NASA astronomer Bill Cooke, fireballs as bright as Venus appear somewhere on Earth more than 100 times daily. Fireballs as bright as a quarter Moon occur once every ten days, and fireballs as bright as a full Moon once every five months:

The vast majority are never noticed. About 70% of all fireballs streak over uninhabited ocean. Half appear during the day, invisible in sunny skies. Many are missed, however, simply because no one bothers to look up. So grab a leash and a dog (optional), and head outside. The chance of a fireball is better than you think.

GREENLAND FIREBALL: On Feb. 17th, a small and random asteroid disintegrated in the skies above Qaanaq (Thule) Greenland. "At first, I thought it was an airplane falling from the sky," says eyewitness Sara Lyberth. "There was a lot of fire and I immediately called the police." Moments later, police officer Farda Olsen took this picture of the meteor's smokey trail twisting in the wind. Radio Greenland offers a full account.


Lunar Eclipse Photo Gallery
[Interactive World Map of Eclipse Photos]

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 February 27, 2008 there were 931 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Feb. 2008 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2008 CT1
Feb. 5
0.3 LD
15
13 m
2007 DA
Feb. 12
9.8 LD
18
140 m
2008 CK70
Feb. 15
1.0 LD
16
40 m
4450 Pan
Feb. 19
15.9 LD
13
1.6 km
2002 TD66
Feb. 26
16.7 LD
15
440 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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