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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 374.4 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
1550 UT Mar21
24-hr: C2
1252 UT Mar21
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2047 UT
Daily Sun: 21 Mar 12
All of these sunspots are quiet. No strong flares are in the offing. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 74
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 20 Mar 2012

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 821 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 20 Mar 2012


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 100 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 20 Mar 2012

Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.3 nT
Bz: 4.1 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2347 UT
Coronal Holes: 21 Mar 12
There are no large coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2012 Mar 21 2200 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: 2012 Mar 21 2200 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
15 %
15 %
MINOR
15 %
15 %
SEVERE
05 %
05 %
 
Wednesday, Mar. 21, 2012
What's up in space
 

They came from outer space--and you can have one! Genuine meteorites are now on sale in the Space Weather Store.

 
Own your own meteorite

FARSIDE CME: A coronal mass ejection (CME) blasted away from the farside of the sun on March 21st at 0740 UT. SOHO photographed the cloud expanding at 1550 km/s (3.5 million mph). The source of the CME is probably old sunspot AR1429, still active as it transits the farside.

FIRST AURORAS OF SPRING: It's a well-known scientific fact that equinoxes favor auroras. True to form, March 20th began with the vernal equinox and ended with this outburst of Spring-green over Tromsø, Norway:

"It was an absolutely magic moment in a magic place," says photographer Ole C. Salomonsen. "The temperature was -13 C and I was almost alone: The tracks in the snow are from a fox which was there just before me. The auroras were mostly moderate, but at times they burst into strong lightshows, as shown above. It was a beautiful display." Aurora alerts: text, phone.

more images: from Bernt Olsen of Simavika, Tromsø, Norway; from Frank Olsen of Sommarøy / Tromsø, Norway; from Arild Heitmann of Tennevik River, Troms, Norway; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla, Finnish-Lapland; from Einar Halvorsrud of Alta, Norway; from Nenne Åman of Arjeplog, northern Sweden

MARS AND THE SUPERNOVA: "On March 18th, I photographed the planet Mars among the galaxies of Leo," reports amateur astronomer Oscar Martín Mesonero of Salamanca, Spain. "The next morning, I learned that a supernova exploded in the galaxy M95. I quickly checked the photos and there it was!" (continued below)

"Unwittingly, using my ED80, I had photographed a supernova of magnitude +13.5 only two days after its discovery," says Mesonero. "I never expected the night to bring so many wonderful things."

The rapidly brightening supernova is an easy target for mid-sized backyard telescopes equipped with CCD cameras--and it's easy to find only a degree south of Mars. Astrophotographers, now is your chance to catch a supernova in the act.

more images: from Anthony Ayiomamitis of Athens, Greece; from Efrain Morales Rivera of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; from Zlatan Merakov of Smolyan, Bulgaria; from Jeff Donaldson of Enfield, NS Canada;


February 2012 Aurora Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002]

  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 21, 2012 there were 1287 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2012 EN5
Mar 15
1.4 LD
--
15 m
2012 EL8
Mar 16
7.3 LD
--
10 m
2011 YU62
Mar 16
73.4 LD
--
1.3 km
2012 FM
Mar 18
8.2 LD
--
26 m
2012 EO8
Mar 21
3.6 LD
--
58 m
2012 EK5
Mar 22
5.8 LD
--
34 m
2012 EG5
Apr 1
0.6 LD
--
62 m
1996 SK
Apr 18
67.2 LD
--
1.6 km
2007 HV4
Apr 19
4.8 LD
--
8 m
2011 WV134
Apr 28
38.6 LD
--
1.6 km
1992 JD
May 2
9.5 LD
--
43 m
2010 KK37
May 19
2.3 LD
--
31 m
4183 Cuno
May 20
47.4 LD
--
5.7 km
2002 VX94
May 26
72.8 LD
--
1.1 km
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 web 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 Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather
Trade Show Displays
   
  more links...
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