Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when magnetic storms erupt. Aurora tour guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | |
NOTE TO READERS: Please be patient with slower-than-usual updates on Spaceweather.com for the next two to three days. Author Dr. Tony Phillips, his family, and team of sled dogs are being evacuated due to an extreme avalanche hazard in the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California where the site is produced. If you see any typos or other errors, please let us know, and they will be tended to as soon as possible.
THIS IS PROBABLY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT: On Valentine's Day 2046, almost every telescope in the world will be doing the same thing: Watching asteroid 2023 DW streak past Earth. The newly-discovered space rock will come perilously close to our planet with an approximately 1/560 chance of actually hitting, according to NASA. Red dots in this map show possible impact sites on Feb. 14, 2046:
Above: The impact zone of asteroid 2023 DW and (inset) an image of the space rock from the Sormano Observatory in Italy
Now for the good news: This is probably nothing to worry about. The odds of a collision are only 0.18%, which means there is a 99.82% of a miss. These odds will probably tilt further in our favor as the asteroid's orbit is refined by additional observations.
"I have worked out almost 65,000 different possible orbits of 2023 DW and
only 150 of these indicate an impact," says astronomer Enrico Colzani of the Sormano Observatory in Italy, who made the map shown above. "New observations in the coming days will probably eliminate even this small possibility."
Discovered by Georges Attard and Alain Maury in San Pedro de Atacama on Feb. 26th, asteroid 2023 DW is approximately 50 meters in diameter, roughly the size of the object that caused the Tunguska event in 1908. So if it *did* hit, people in the impact zone would notice. Stay tuned for updates.
PLASMA FALLS: Imagine a waterfall made of hot plasma falling from a precipice tall enough to swallow Earth 10 times. Here it is:
"I had the privilege of observing and photographing this magnificent wall of plasma on March 9th," says photographer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau of Rafaela, Argentina. "It rose some 100,000 km above the solar surface. On my computer screen it looked like hundreds of threads of plasma were dripping down a wall. It really was a spectacle that left me speechless."
These structures have been seen on the sun many times before. They frequently appear in rings around the sun's poles, and are called "polar crown prominences." Researchers still don't fully understand them.
Mysteriously, the "plasma threads" Poupeau sawplummet faster than ambient magnetic forces seem to allow. Nuclear engineers would like to figure out how this happens, because it also happens on a smaller scale in fusion reactors on Earth, frustrating their efforts to sustain an energy-producing reaction. Studies of these prominences could lead to practical breakthroughs.
The plasma is still falling today. Amateur astronomers with solar telescopes can see the structure on the sun's southeastern limb, right here. Take a look!
more images: from David Leong of Hong Kong; from Rossana Miani of Padova, Italy; from David Wilson of Inverness, Scotland; from Martin Wise of Trenton, Florida; from Selín Alejandro of Toluca, Mexico;
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
18K GOLD CUPID'S COMPASS: Are you looking for a romantic gift? Consider Cupid's Compass. This premuim 18K gold-filled pendant flew to the stratosphere on Jan. 6th onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $259.95. Engraved with the words "I'd be lost without you", the hypoallergenic pendant has a 5-star cubic zirconia crystal in the middle surrounded by a ring of equally high-grade 5A cubic zirconia nuggets. It is a visually striking pendant that makes a once-in-a-lifetime Valentine's, anniversary or birthday gift.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Every night, a network of
NASA all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics. Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On Mar 11 2023, the network reported 8 fireballs.
(8 sporadics)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). [Larger image] [movies]
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 11, 2023 there were 2325 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2023 EM | 2023-Mar-06 | 8.2 LD | 7.6 | 27 |
| 535844 | 2023-Mar-07 | 10.5 LD | 7.7 | 149 |
| 2023 DQ | 2023-Mar-08 | 6.2 LD | 22.8 | 160 |
| 2020 FQ | 2023-Mar-09 | 14 LD | 6.3 | 13 |
| 2023 EN | 2023-Mar-09 | 0.4 LD | 12.8 | 9 |
| 2020 FV4 | 2023-Mar-13 | 17.6 LD | 8.2 | 30 |
| 2023 CM | 2023-Mar-14 | 10.3 LD | 14 | 190 |
| 2023 DM | 2023-Mar-15 | 8.5 LD | 7.3 | 65 |
| 2018 UQ1 | 2023-Mar-17 | 10.7 LD | 11.7 | 143 |
| 2016 WH | 2023-Mar-19 | 18.1 LD | 11.8 | 14 |
| 2018 FE3 | 2023-Mar-21 | 10.1 LD | 5.4 | 13 |
| 2022 YK4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 11.9 LD | 2.3 | 25 |
| 2017 SE12 | 2023-Mar-30 | 5.2 LD | 8.4 | 15 |
| 2016 GH1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 7.7 LD | 5.8 | 11 |
| 2022 GO3 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17 LD | 11.6 | 15 |
| 2021 GN1 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17.7 LD | 14.2 | 18 |
| 2018 FD | 2023-Apr-07 | 17.9 LD | 8.2 | 47 |
| 2019 GK21 | 2023-Apr-13 | 15.2 LD | 8.1 | 27 |
| 2022 YK9 | 2023-Apr-13 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 175 |
| 436774 | 2023-Apr-13 | 12.5 LD | 17.6 | 719 |
| 2006 HV5 | 2023-Apr-26 | 6.3 LD | 17.4 | 400 |
| 2021 JF2 | 2023-Apr-28 | 16.6 LD | 8 | 19 |
| 2018 VS6 | 2023-May-01 | 5.2 LD | 11.6 | 14 |
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. | | Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
| | The official U.S. government space weather bureau |
| | The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
| | Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
| | 3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory |
| | Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO. |
| | information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary |
| | current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page |
| | Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| | from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| | fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| | from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| | the underlying science of space weather |
 | Getting YouTube comments is essential if you want to beat the algorithm! That’s why you need to buy YouTube comments from RealSocialz.com because they offer real USA comments you can customize. |
| BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web |
| To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings. Alternatively, Online-Casinos.xyz is another massive directory of online casinos listing sites for the UK and Worldwide. Casinos that offer Rupees for bonuses are very generous to Indian players. Find the best online casinos in India at AllCasinos.in Looking for a new online casino? Try Casimpo the new site dedicated to making online casino simple, or check out the new Avenger Slots Casino and Ace Online Casino with over 500 online slots and casino games. |
| When looking for casinos to play online when the weather is bad, you can try casino online trucchi for Italian games. If you are not from Finland you can try the Swedish page Svenska casino online to find suitable games, check out svenskacasinoonline.net. Always check your local laws before playing with real money. |
| Looking for sports betting companies not registered on GamStop? CasinoGap has presented a list of sites not on GamStop available for UK players. Check and bet online! Would you like to bet at sites not using GamStop? Look at a list of NonStopCasino sites for online betting that aren't on GamStop. Top-rated bookmakers ever! |
| | These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! |
| | | | | | |
