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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: 296.6 km/sec
density: 0.9 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2344 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A7
2300 UT Mar22
24-hr: B1
0300 UT Mar22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT
Daily Sun: 22 Mar. 10
Sunspot 1056 is growing but it does not yet pose a threat for strong flares. Credit: SOHO/MDI
Sunspot number: 25
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 21 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 21 Mar 2010


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 85 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 21 Mar 2010

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.0 nT
Bz: 0.3 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 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 22 2201 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
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 22 2201 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
05 %
05 %
MINOR
01 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
What's up in Space
March 22, 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.

 

3D SUN VERSION 2.2: Some users of the iPhone app 3D Sun have recently experienced slow downloads of solar data and network timeouts. Not anymore. A new version has just been released, which greatly improves the app's network performance. If you already have the 3D Sun on your iPhone or iPod Touch, please upgrade now. If you're not familiar with the 3D Sun, give it a try. It's free.

MOON AND STARS: On Saturday night, March 20th, the crescent Moon and the Pleiades star cluster gathered for a close encounter over North America. In Texas, the encounter was so close, the Moon actually covered some of the Seven Sisters. Anna Morris sends this picture from San Antonio:

"We threw a star party to observe the occultation," says Morris. "Despite poor weather we were treated to a fantastic scene through brief breaks in the fast-moving clouds. Using a Nikon D40 and an Orion EON80ED telescope, I made four bracketed exposures to capture the Pleiades, the Moon's brightly-lit crescent and the Earthshine. This image is a combination of the four."

Americans who missed the occultation can always catch the next one like it ... in the year 2023. Oops. Browse the links below for a 13-year preview.

more images: from Tavi Greiner of Coastal North Carolina; from Tim Printy of Manchester, NH; from Tara O'Leary north of Fairbanks, Alaska; from Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Veszprem, Hungary; from Tamas Ladanyi of Veszprem, Hungary; from Mustafa Erol of Antalya, Turkey; from Antonios Pantelidis of Florina, Greece; from Edmund E Kasaitis of Manchester, MD

ISS OVER TIMES SQUARE: It's not easy to see the stars from New York. Almost nothing in the heavens can compete with the busy glare of the great city's urban lights--emphasis on almost. Patrick G. McCourt sends this report: "We were in Times Square on March 19th when the International Space Station (ISS) passed overhead. The ambient light is so bright that no stars were visible, even though the skies were perfectly clear. Yet, we could easily spot the ISS as it slipped silently over the traffic's roar."

"I had to adjust the levels in Photoshop to make it visible in the photo, but this fairly accurately represents what we saw with the naked eye. Tell the astronauts we gave their regards to Broadway."

If you can see the ISS in Times Square, you can see it anywhere! Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flybys of your home town. And don't forget, there's an app for that, too.

more images: from Mark Marquette of Boones Creek, Tennessee; from George Tarsoudis of Alexandroupolis, Greece; from M. Raşid Tuğral of Ankara, Turkey;


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 22, 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 EF43
March 18
5.0 LD
19
23 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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