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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: 470.2 km/sec
density: 3.5 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0
2235 UT Mar24
24-hr: A0
2235 UT Mar24
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 24 Mar 09
The sun is blank--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 0
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 23 Mar. 2009
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= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3
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: 3.6 nT
Bz: 2.2 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes:
There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-facing side of the sun. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2009 Mar 24 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: 2009 Mar 24 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
20 %
20 %
MINOR
10 %
10 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
What's up in Space
March 24, 2009

AURORA ALERT: Did you sleep through the Northern Lights? Next time get a wake-up call: Spaceweather PHONE.

 

MT. REDOUBT ERUPTS: After months of teasing seismic activity, Alaska's Mt. Redoubt finally erupted on March 23rd. The blast hurled clouds of ash into the lower stratosphere at least 18 km high. The last time an Alaskan volcano blew its top (Kasatochi in August 2008), stratospheric aerosols caused fantastic sunsets around the northern hemisphere--a phenomenon that could recur in the days and weeks ahead. Mt. Redoubt isn't finished. "A large explosion may occur again at anytime," says the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Stay tuned for updates.

SATELLITE WRECKAGE: Last month, the Iridium 33 communications satellite was completely destroyed when it collided with Russian satellite Cosmos 2251. Or was it? Satellite observer Marco Langbroek has observed a substantial piece of Iridium 33 wreckage apparently still intact tumbling over the Netherlands:


Photo details: Canon EOS 450D + EF 50/2.5 Macro lens

"This photo is one of two I shot on March 20th showing Iridium 33 flashing at magnitude +2 with a period of 4.6 to 4.7 seconds," says Langbroek. "Simone Corbellini in Italy and I have independently observed it occasionally giving off much brighter flashes of magnitude -2. Simone thinks that the main mission antennas are still intact and glinting in the orbital sunlight."

"It seems that Iridium 33 received a glancing blow," he suggests. "Pieces scattered off, but there is still a considerable body left."

Readers, if you would like to try to observe the wreckage, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times. You might see nothing when Iridium 33 passes overhead, but the possibility of a bright flash makes it worth a try.

SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS IN THE STATE OF DENMARK: On March 20th, Danish photographer Jesper Gronne looked up at the clouds and saw not just one or two but three concentric halos around the sun. Before the rare display could fade, he grabbed his camera (a Canon 5D) and snapped more than 20 pictures. Stacking the images on his computer yielded a pin-up quality record of the event:

"I never expected to see such a rich variety of ice halos here in lowland Denmark--and it's not even winter anymore!" he marveled.

What could cause such an apparition? Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains: "We can work outwards from the sun to explore the mysteries of this display. The first ring is an exceptionally bright and rare 9-degree halo made by tumbling pyramidal ice crystals in the clouds. The same crystals also produced displays on the other side of the North Sea the night before. The inner halo's bright upper and lower patches could be something very rare indeed, plate arcs from aligned pyramids. But we must be cautious, they could just be spots of thicker cloud!"

"The next bright ring is at first sight the common 22-degree halo but with so many pyramidal crystals about it could also be a combination of other pyramidal halo rings. There are hints too of 18 degree pyramidal halos inside it. At least the two sundogs are familiar sights!"

"Farther from the sun at top is another familiar halo, the ‘smile-in the-sky' circumzenithal arc made from ordinary ice plates. But the one touching it and curving downwards is another mystery. We know it is either a supralateral arc or a 46 degree halo. But if a supralateral, we would expect an upper tangent arc from the same column crystals – there is none. If a 46 degree halo then the inner 22 degree ring should be much brighter! Displays like this one are fascinating and need long studies of many photos to unravel and be sure of their secrets."


March 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Marches: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]


Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter Telescope: review] [Comet Lulin finder chart]


Explore the Sunspot Cycle

       
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 24, 2009 there were 1048 potentially hazardous asteroids.
March 2009 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2009 DS43
Mar. 1
6.9 LD
18
32 m
2009 DD45
Mar. 2
0.2 LD
11
35 m
2009 DN4
Mar. 3
8.1 LD
21
27 m
2009 EA
Mar. 4
7.4 LD
19
24 m
2009 EW
Mar. 6
0.9 LD
16
23 m
161989 Cacus
Mar. 7
70.5 LD
16
1.7 km
2009 EH1
Mar. 8
1.6 LD
18
12 m
2009 ET
Mar. 9
9.5 LD
21
15 m
2009 DV43
Mar. 10
8.5 LD
18
80 m
2009 EU
Mar. 11
3.5 LD
18
21 m
1998 OR2
Mar. 12
69.8 LD
14
3.3 km
2009 DR3
Mar. 14
7.2 LD
16
225 m
2009 FR
Mar. 16
6.7 LD
19
22 m
2009 FJ
Mar. 16
4.9 LD
17
46 m
2009 FW4
Mar. 17
2.8 LD
16
53 m
2009 FH
Mar. 18
0.2 LD
14
21 m
2009 FK
Mar. 19
1.0 LD
17
9 m
2009 DO111
Mar. 20
1.2 LD
13
117 m
2009 FX4
Mar. 23
6.1 LD
19
37 m
2009 FD
Mar. 27
1.6 LD
13
160 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 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...
   
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