POSSIBLE GLANCING-BLOW CME TODAY: NOAA forecasters say that a CME might deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field today, March 12th. It left the sun on March 8th, taking at least 4 days to cross the sun-Earth divide. This makes it a slow-mover. Even slow, off-target CMEs, however, can spark bright auroras around the Arctic Circle; sky watchers at high latitudes should be alert for Northern Lights. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
DARK PLASMA PROMINENCE ERUPTION (UPDATED): Yesterday, a huge tube of magnetism filled with dark plasma erupted from the southwestern limb of the sun. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the prominence hurling itself into space:
"Dark plasma" is not a special kind of plasma; it's just cooler and less luminous than the background sun. It is also denser than gas in the surrounding solar atmosphere.
This relatively dark material formed the core of a CME, which was seen flying away from the sun by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). NOAA analysts have modeled the CME and determined that it could graze Earth's magnetic field on March 15th, producing a G1-class geomagnetic storm. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
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.
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