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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: 294.0 km/sec
density: 2.1 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2343 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B1
1805 UT Mar24
24-hr: B1
0440 UT Mar24
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2345 UT
Daily Sun: 24 Mar. 10
A new sunspot is emerging over the sun's northeastern limb. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 26
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 23 Mar 2010

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2010 total: 6 days (7%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 776 days
Typical Solar Min: 485 days
explanation | more info
Updated 23 Mar 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 84 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 23 Mar 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 0 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.0 nT
Bz: 0.2 nT south
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2345 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: 2010 Mar 24 2216 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
10 %
10 %
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 24 2216 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
10 %
MINOR
05 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
March 24, 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.

 

MOON AND MARS: Looking for Mars? Tonight the Red Planet is easy to find. It's that orange-colored "star" right beside the Moon. Look south after sunset: sky map.

EMERGING SUNSPOT 1057: New sunspot 1057 is big and beautiful, and it has already unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME, movie). The cloud is not heading toward Earth but future CMEs could be as the sunspot turns to face our planet this week. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

SPRING SIGHTINGS: You know it's Spring when the International Space Station (ISS) streaks not only through the stars but also through the cherry blossoms:

Amir H. Abolfath sends this "Spring sighting" from Tehran, Iran. He took the picture on March 22nd using a Canon EOS 5D.

The ISS itself will blossom in April when the space shuttle pays a visit. Discovery is scheduled to leave Earth on April 5th for a two-week mission to deliver supplies and science experiments to the ISS. At the beginning and end of the mission, the shuttle and station will appear as double lights in the night sky; in the middle they will merge to form an ensemble of surpassing brightness. Monitor the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys of your hometown. And don't forget, there's an app for that, too.

FINNMARKSLOPET: You've heard of the Iditarod. But do you know about the Finnmarksløpet? "Finnmarksløpet is the world's northernmost sled dog race and the longest in Europe," explains Kerstin Langenberger of Finnmark, Norway. "It was held this year in mid-March. Every night auroras could be seen - it was awesome!

"Most of the time I was busy helping at the race, but at the Sirma checkpoint I managed to photograph some auroras dancing right above a few of the teams that were having a few hours of well-deserved rest," says Langenberger.

Indeed, March 2010 has been one of the busiest months in years for Arctic Lights. It's a sign that the sun is waking up from a long slumber. For the record, the 1019 km race was won on March 18th by Ralph Johannessen. He and his dogs crossed the finish line in only 5 days, 8 hours and 58 minutes ... under green skies, of course.

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 24, 2010 there were 1110 potentially hazardous asteroids.
March 2010 Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2001 PT9
March 3
11.1 LD
15
305 m
4486 Mithra
March 12
73.5 LD
15
3.3 km
2001 FM129
March 13
44.1 LD
16
1.5 km
2010 FU9
March 18
1.5 LD
17
19 m
2010 EF43
March 18
5.0 LD
19
23 m
2010 FT
March 27
5.5 LD
20
33 m
2002 TE66
March 28
48.0 LD
15
940 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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