SPACE WEATHER Current Conditions Solar Wind velocity: 550.6 km/s density:0.9 protons/cm3 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2248 UT X-ray Solar Flares 6-hr max: M1 2245 UT Mar28 24-hr: M4 1240 UT Mar28 explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2250 UT Daily Sun: 28 Mar '01 The large sunspot group 9393 exhibits a delta magnetic field that likely harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Sunspot group 9396, with a beta-gamma magnetic field, is also a threat for M-class flares. Sunspot Number: 291 More about sunspots Updated: 27 Mar 2001 Radio Meteor Rate 24 hr max: 27 per hr Listen to the Meteor Radar! Updated: 28 Mar 2001 Interplanetary Mag. Field Btotal: 4.8 nT Bz: 3.6 nT south explanation | more data Updated: Today at 2248 UT Coronal Holes: The only coronal hole on the Sun today is near the south pole; it is not favorably positioned to send solar wind streams toward Earth. Image credit: Yohkoh Soft X-ray 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 28 2200 UT FLARE | 24 hr | 48 hr | CLASS M | 75 % | 75 % | CLASS X | 20 % | 20 % | 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 28 2200 UT Mid-latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 25 % | 30 % | MINOR | 10 % | 40 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 15 % | High latitudes | 24 hr | 48 hr | ACTIVE | 30 % | 20 % | MINOR | 15 % | 45 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 25 % | | What's Up in Space -- 28 Mar 2001 Subscribe to Space Weather News! HERE COMES THE SUN: An eruption near the giant sunspot 9393 hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth on Wednesday at 1240 UT. The faint expanding cloud (pictured right in a SOHO coronagraph animation) could arrive by Friday and trigger a new round of geomagnetic disturbances. AURORA WATCH: Earth's magnetic field is still unsettled after two solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) passed our planet on Tuesday. Sky watchers at geomagnetic latitudes greater than ~55 degrees could spot auroras after local nightfall. [NOAA geomagnetic latitude maps: North America, Eurasia, South Africa & Australia, South America] Above: The planetary K-index, an indicator of global geomagnetic activity, reached storm levels on Tuesday and Wednesday. HIGH SOLAR ACTIVITY: The Sun has entered a highly-active period with energetic sunspot growth all over the solar disk. Active region 9393 --one of the largest sunspots in years-- has a complex delta magnetic field that likely harbors energy for major X-class solar flares. You can see this huge sunspot for yourself, but be careful. Use a pinhole projector! Looking directly at the Sun can cause permanent eye damage. Click here to learn how to view the Sun safely. NORTHERN LIGHTS: The past ten days have been a good time for aurora-watchers. "The past two nights were absolutely incredible; beyond words," said veteran photographer Jan Curtis from Fairbanks on March 24th. To view recent photos of Northern Lights from Alaska and other parts of the world, 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 28 Mar 2001 there were 296 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids NEW DISCOVERIES: Harvard's Minor Planet Center has announced a small flurry of new asteroid discoveries in recent days. Since March 23rd, astronomers have spotted four Earth-approaching space rocks: 2001 FD58, 2001 FC58, 2001 FA58 and 2001 FO32. There is no danger of a collision with any of these asteroids. Earth-asteroid encounters (Mar 1 - Apr 30) - 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 |