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WHAT'S HITTING EARTH? Have you ever seen a fireball streak
through the night sky and gone to bed wondering,
"What was that?" NASA is deploying a network of smart
cameras that will have an answer waiting for you when
you wake up. Get the full story from Science@NASA.
MAGNETIC STORM IN PROGRESS: A solar wind stream hit
Earth's magnetic field during the early hours of March 1st.
The impact sparked a geomagnetic storm that was, at first,
minor, but the storm has been intensifying throughout the
day. Spotters are now reporting auroras over Northern Ireland,
Latvia, Norway, and Sweden. If trends continue, the display
could spread to the high latitudes of North America after
nightfall. Stay tuned! [Aurora alerts: phone, text]
NASA space physicist James Spann sends this picture
from Poker Flat, Alaska, where he is attending a
scientific conference to study auroras:
"This is the first time I have seen the aurora borealis in
person," says Spann who lives in Alabama. "It was
fantastic--the greatest light show on Earth.
It was cold (<-20 F) outside but worth every minute of exposure
and lost sleep. I am afraid now that I have been ruined for life
since my first personal viewing of the aurora was so amazing."
As a researcher he also appreciated the greater meaning
of the display: "This is the most obvious and accessible
evidence of the connectivity that Earth has with our star the
sun. Witnessing the connectivity first-hand was particularly
special to me."
more images: from Paul Evans of Larne, Northern Ireland;
from Janis Satrovskis of Burtnieki, Latvia; from Markus
Tingsnäs of Rättvik, Sweden; from Greger Lissollas of Rättvik,
Sweden; from B.Art Braafhart of Salla in the Finnish
Lapland; from Michael Jones of Anchorage Alaska;
GOOD WAY TO BEGIN A MONTH: When dawn broke on
March 1st, early risers witnessed a spectacular sight in the
eastern sky. Venus and the cresent Moon were in conjunction:
"What a great way to begin the day--and the month,
" says Piotr Majewski, who sends this picture from the
Nicolas Copernicus Astronomy Centre near Torun, Poland.
If you overslept and missed the show, there's good
news. A similar meetup between the crescent Moon and
Jupiter (nearly as bright as Venus) will occur in the
evening sky on March 6th. Sign up for
backyard astronomy alerts, and we'll remind you too look.
more images: from KamilaM of Pulawy, Poland;
from Adrian New of San Antonio, Texas;
from Louis Suarato of Albany, NY; from Tomasz Adam
of Kraków, Poland
NanoSail-D Photo Gallery
[NASA: Solar Sail Stunner] [Photo Contest]
February 2011 Aurora Photo Gallery
[previous Februaries: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004
, 2003, 2002]
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 1, 2011 there were 1201 potentially hazardous asteroids. Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Mag. | Size |
| 2011 DU9 | Feb 23 | 0.8 LD | -- | 21 m |
| 2011 DQ | Feb 26 | 9.7 LD | -- | 26 m |
| 2011 DT9 | Feb 27 | 9 LD | -- | 40 m |
| 2011 DE5 | Mar 1 | 4.9 LD | -- | 23 m |
| 2011 DW4 | Mar 3 | 6.9 LD | -- | 15 m |
| 2000 PN9 | Mar 10 | 45.5 LD | -- | 2.6 km |
| 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 |
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.
| | 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. |
| | from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| | the underlying science of space weather |
| | for out-of-this-world printing and graphics |
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