SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 447.7 km/s density:6.3 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2156 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: C2 1845 UT Mar19 24-hr: C2 1845 UT Mar19 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2245 UT Daily Sun: 19 Mar '01 The already-low sunspot number is set to plunge even lower when 9373 and 9384 disappear over the Sun's western limb. Sunspot group 9373 has a beta-gamma magnetic field that may harbor energy for M-class solar flares. Sunspot Number: 91 More about sunspots Updated: 18 Mar 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 28 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 16 Mar 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 14.8 nT Bz: 4.3 nT north explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2158 UT Coronal Holes: A tiny coronal hole crossing the center of the Sun's disk is spewing a solar wind stream that Earth may encounter later this week. Image credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope. More about coronal holes SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts Solar Flares: Probabilities for a medium-sized (M-class) or a major (X-class) solar flare during the next 24/48 hours are tabulated below. Updated at 2001 Mar 19 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 25 % | 25 % | 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 2001 Mar 19 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 10 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 15 % | MINOR | 10 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 01 % | | What's Up in Space -- 19 Mar 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! HERE COMES THE SUN: Coronagraphs on board the ESA-NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spotted two halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) during the weekend. The first emerged at 02:06 UT on 2001/03/18 -- this was a backside event and not directed toward Earth. A second, much fainter CME appeared at 05:26 UT on 2001/03/19 after a solar filament collapsed. This second CME is Earth-directed and should arrive in our vicinity on March 22nd. Stay tuned for additional details. IMPACT! An interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetosphere Monday morning at 1100 UT. The disturbance was the leading edge of a coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on March 15th. A G1-category geomagnetic storm is in progress. [450 kb CME animation] MIR UPDATE: On March 19, 2001, the Russian Space Agency reports that space station Mir is 228 km above Earth and losing altitude at a rate of 3 km per day. Deorbiting maneuvers are expected to begin on March 22nd when Mir's altitude is 220 km. [Full Story] WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than ~100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are searching for and discovering new ones all the time. On 19 Mar 2001 there were 291 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Upcoming Encounters with Earth (Mar 1 - Apr 30) Object | Date (UTC) | Miss Distance | 2000 PN9 | 2001-Mar-02 17:29 | 0.0610 AU | 1998 SF36 | 2001-Mar-29 18:37 | 0.0383 AU | 1986 PA | 2001-Apr-03 01:06 | 0.1465 AU | 2000 EE104 | 2001-Apr-12 20:37 | 0.0822 AU | - TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Jan. 9, 2001, the full Moon glided through Earth's copper-colored shadow. [gallery]
- CHRISTMAS ECLIPSE: Sky watchers across North America enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on Christmas Day 2000 [gallery]
- LEONIDS 2000: Observers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. [gallery]
Feb. 21, 2001: Nature's Tiniest Space Junk -- Using an experimental radar at the Marshall Space Flight Center, scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous meteoroids that swarm around our planet. Feb. 15, 2001: The Sun Does a Flip -- NASA scientists who monitor the Sun say our star's enormous magnetic field is reversing -- a sure sign that solar maximum is here. Jan. 25, 2001: Earth's Invisible Magnetic Tail -- NASA's IMAGE spacecraft, the first to enjoy a global view of the magnetosphere, spotted a curious plasma tail pointing from Earth toward the Sun. Jan. 4, 2001: Earth at Perihelion -- On January 4, 2001, our planet made its annual closest approach to the Sun. Dec. 29, 2000: Millennium Meteors -- North Americans will have a front-row seat for a brief but powerful meteor shower on January 3, 2001. Dec. 28, 2000: Galileo Looks for Auroras on Ganymede -- NASA's durable Galileo spacecraft flew above the solar system's largest moon this morning in search of extraterrestrial "Northern Lights" Dec. 22, 2000: Watching the Angry Sun -- Solar physicists are enjoying their best-ever look at a Solar Maximum thanks to NOAA and NASA satellites. MORE SPACE WEATHER HEADLINES |