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SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids
 
Solar wind
speed: 336.8 km/sec
density: 2.3 protons/cm3
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2341 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C1
2221 UT Mar31
24-hr: C2
1535 UT Mar31
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2300 UT
Daily Sun: 31 Mar 11
Sunspot 1183 poses a slight threat for M-class solar flares. Overall, solar activity is low. Credit: SDO/HMI
Sunspot number: 91
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 30 Mar 2011

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2011 total: 1 day (1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
Since 2004: 820 days
Typical Solar Min: 486 days

Updated 30 Mar 2011


The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 118 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 30 Mar 2011

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: 11.3 nT
Bz: 6.3 nT north
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2343 UT
Coronal Holes: 31 Mar 11
There are no large coronal holes on the Earth-side of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2011 Mar 31 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
30 %
30 %
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: 2011 Mar 31 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
20 %
10 %
MINOR
05 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
25 %
15 %
MINOR
10 %
01 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
 
Thursday, Mar. 31, 2011
What's up in space
 

Metallic photos of the sun by renowned photographer Greg Piepol bring together the best of art and science. Buy one or a whole set. They make a stellar gift.

 
Metallic pictures of the Sun

SPRING IS FIREBALL SEASON: For reasons researchers do not understand, the rate of midnight fireballs increases during the weeks around the vernal equinox. It's a beautiful display, but where do they come from? NASA's growing network of fireball cameras is scanning the heavens for answers: full story.

MORNING SKY SHOW: Dawn is a beautiful time to be awake. It was extra-beautiful this morning thanks to a sunrise conjunction between Venus and the crescent Moon. Azhy Hasan sends this picture from Arbil city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq:

"It was wonderful!" says Hasan. "Seeing these two bright lights in the dawn sky was a great way to start the day."

more images: from Stefano De Rosa of La Morra, Italy; from Monika Landy-Gyebnar of Veszprem, Hungary; from Jim Werle of Las Vegas, Nevada; from Kevin Jung of Lowell Township, Michigan; from Michael Boschat of Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada

UNDER THE WILD GRASS: Yesterday in Michigan, Kevin Jung laid down among the wild spring grass, pointed his camera toward the sky, and--snap!--recorded a luminous ring around the sun:

"It was a really nice sun halo," he says. "The grass blocked the glare so I could photograph it using my Canon DLSR."

Sun haloes are caused by ice crystals in high cirrus clouds, and they can be very photogenic. So, photographers, when wispy clouds drift across the sun, you know what to do: grab your camera and dive into the wild grass.

  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 31, 2011 there were 1215 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Mag.
Size
2011 FA23
Apr 1
2.1 LD
--
7 m
2011 FT9
Apr 1
7.5 LD
--
25 m
2002 DB4
Apr 15
62.5 LD
--
2.2 km
2008 UC202
Apr 27
8.9 LD
--
10 m
2009 UK20
May 2
8.6 LD
--
23 m
2008 FU6
May 5
75.5 LD
--
1.2 km
2003 YT1
May 5
65.3 LD
--
2.5 km
2002 JC
Jun 1
57.5 LD
--
1.6 km
2009 BD
Jun 2
0.9 LD
--
9 m
2002 JB9
Jun 11
71.5 LD
--
3.2 km
2001 VH75
Jun 12
42.2 LD
--
1.1 km
2004 LO2
Jun 15
9.9 LD
--
48 m
2001 QP181
Jul 2
35.1 LD
--
1.1 km
2003 YS117
Jul 14
73.9 LD
--
1.0 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
Conquest Graphics
  for out-of-this-world printing and graphics
Science Central
   
  more links...
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