|   SPACE WEATHER
Current
Conditions
Solar Wind
velocity: 396.8 km/s
density:3.0 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2158 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1 1955 UT Mar24
24-hr: M1 1955 UT Mar24
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2245 UT
Daily Sun: 24 Mar '01 
A large sunspot is rotating into view on the Sun's east limb. It's too soon to say what sort of magnetic field it has and whether it will be a likely source of eruptions in the days ahead.
Sunspot Number: 145
More about sunspots
Updated: 23 Mar 2001
Radio Meteor Rate
24 hr max: 39 per hr
Listen to the Meteor Radar!
Updated: 24 Mar 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.9 nT
Bz: 2.6 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2158 UT Coronal Holes:
These two coronal holes are spewing streams of solar wind that our planet will likely encounter late Saturday and Sunday. 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 24 2200 UT
| FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | | CLASS M | 70 % | 70 % | | CLASS X | 15 % | 15 % |
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 24 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 20 % | 20 % | | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % |
High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | | ACTIVE | 25 % | 25 % | | MINOR | 10 % | 10 % | | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % |
| What's Up in Space -- 24 Mar 2001
Subscribe to Space Weather News!  SOLAR ACTIVITY: The largest sunspot group in months has appeared near the Sun's eastern limb. The active region, numbered 9393, is magnetically complex and could unleash M-class solar flares in the days ahead. Right: The ESA-NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory captured these images of a beautiful coronal mass ejection billowing away from the Sun on March 23rd. The eruption was not Earth-directed.
SPLASHDOWN: The Russian space station Mir disintegrated in Earth's atmosphere and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, March 23rd, ending its reign as the heaviest object orbiting Earth other than the Moon itself. Observers saw a dazzling trail of fireballs as the station descended. [more]  NORTHERN LIGHTS: Two coronal mass ejections from the Sun hit Earth's magnetosphere last week. The impacts triggered a dazzling display of auroras seen as far south in the USA as New York and Wisconsin. To view images from the geomagnetic storm, please visit the SpaceWeather.com AURORA GALLERY.
WEB LINKS: NOAA FORECAST | GLOSSARY | SPACE WEATHER TUTORIAL | LESSON PLANS | BECOME A SUBSCRIBER | 
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 are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time. [more]
On 24 Mar 2001 there were 292 known Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids NEW DISCOVERY: On March 15, 2001, JPL's NEAT 1.2-meter asteroid survey telescope detected 2001 EC16, a ~100m-wide space rock heading for a close encounter with Earth. 2001 EC16 passed approximately four and a half lunar distances from our planet on March 23rd. There was no danger of a collision, but the asteroid was close enough for amateur astronomers to see through mid-sized telescopes (with CCD cameras) as it brightened to 14th magnitude. [3D orbit][ephemeris] Other upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters (Mar 1 - Apr 30) | Object | Date (UTC) | Miss Distance | | 2001 EC16 | 2001-Mar-23 16:00 | 0.0113 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 |
