You are viewing the page for Mar. 3, 2010
  Select another date:
<<back forward>>
SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
SPACE WEATHER
Current conditions
Solar wind
speed: 371.5 km/sec
density: 4.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2342 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
2310 UT Mar03
24-hr: B1
2310 UT Mar03
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 03 Mar. 10
None of these sunspots pose a threat for strong solar flares. Image credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 39
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 02 Mar 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 2 days (3%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 772 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 02 Mar 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 79 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 02 Mar 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.1 nT
Bz: -0.0 nT
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
Coronal Holes:
A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about March 9th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2010 Mar 03 2201 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: 2010 Mar 03 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
March 3, 2010

NEW AND IMPROVED: Turn your iPhone or iPod Touch into a field-tested global satellite tracker. The Satellite Flybys app now works in all countries.

 

PHOBOS FLYBY: Later today, March 3rd, Mars Express will fly past Phobos at a distance of only 67 km, the closest any spacecraft has ever been to the mysterious asteroid-moon of Mars. The purpose of the flyby is not to take pictures but to map the gravity field of Phobos and, thus, to determine its internal structure. Spacecraft cameras will be turned off during the encounter to provide a clean "carrier signal" for the radio-gravity experiment. Hi-res images will be made, however, on March 7th during a follow-up flyby at a range of 107 km. Follow the action at the ESA flyby blog.

TREMBLING EARTH, WOBBLY STARS: In Chile, astronomers know the ground is still shaking. They can see it in the stars. Colin Legg reports from the Andes east of Santiago: "I made this 88-second exposure on Sunday night, Feb. 28th, less than 24 hours after the big 8.8-magnitude quake. It records the movement of the Earth in the star trails during an earth tremor."

Earthquake experts say the shaking will continue for months. Indeed, in the days after the "Big One", Chilean seismometers have recorded more than 10 aftershocks in the range 6th to 7th magnitude, and more than 200 aftershocks stronger than 4th magnitude. A tip for astrophotographers: Keep your exposure times short. The stars over Chile could be wobbling for some time to come.

NORTHERN LIGHTS: Northern spring is almost here--and that means it's aurora season. For reasons researchers don't fully understand, the weeks around equinoxes are the best time of the year to look for Northern Lights. Just last night the sky over Norway unexpectedly erupted in color:

"I didn`t expect to see any auroras, but then a sudden outburst came at about 22:00 local time," reports Fredrik Broms of Kvaløya. "After a brief but intense peak in activity, with a wonderful corona in green and red, the Northern Lights calmed down and behaved in a way I haven't seen before. They criss-crossed above the thin moonlit clouds, creating an eerie look in the winter landscape. Very pretty."

Stay tuned for more as the equinox approaches!

UPDATED: March Northern Lights Gallery
[previous Marches: 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003]

 
       
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.
On March 3, 2010 there were 1103 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Feb. 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 UN3
Feb. 9
14.3 LD
12
1.2 km
2010 CK19
Feb. 17
0.9 LD
17
11 m
2001 FD58
Feb. 19
58.5 LD
17
0.9 km
2010 CJ18
Feb. 19
3.3 LD
18
20 m
2002 EZ11
Feb. 24
77.5 LD
18
1.0 km
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 space weather bureau
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.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Current Solar Images
  from the National Solar Data Analysis Center
Science Central
   
  more links...
   
©2008, SpaceWeather.com -- This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©2019 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved.