~Space Weather Update~ Growing quiet~ Wind speed at 564 [1]

GROWING QUIET: The chance of another strong flare is decreasing as big sunspot AR1429 decays and turns away from Earth. Our planet's magnetic field is still reverberating from the impact of a CME on March 12th. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for "aftershock auroras" as the storms subside. Aurora alerts: text [2], phone [3].

 

VENUS-JUPITER CONJUNCTION: This is a great week to admire the sunset. Venus and Jupiter are side-by-side only 3^o apart in the western sky, beaming through the twilight as soon as the sun goes down. Photographer Marek Nikodem of Szubin, Poland, recorded the scene at nightfall on March 12th:

 

[4]

"Venus and Jupiter are like two lanterns illuminating the darkness," says Nikodem. "It's a wonderful sight."

 

The two planets are closest together on March 12th [5] and March 13th [6]. Try to catch them before the sky fades completely black. Venus and Jupiter surrounded by twilight blue is a wonderful sight indeed.

more images: from Jimmy Westlake [7] of Stagecoach, Colorado; from Peter Wine [8] of Dayton, Ohio; from Laurent Laveder [9] of Pluguffan, Brittany, France; from Rhiannon Palframan [10] of Cookham Dean, Berkshire, UK; from John Cordiale [11] of Edgecomb Pond, Bolton NY; from Ulf Jonsson [12] of Luleå, Sweden; from Alexander Birkner [13] of Eppelborn, Germany; from Diana Bodea [14] of Ibiza, Spain; from Andrey A. Belkin [15] of Moscow, Russia; from Vesa Vauhkonen [16] of Rautalampi, Finland; from Mitchell Krog [17] of Magaliesburg, South Africa; from Sven [18]

 

Melchert [18] of Stuttgart, Germany; from Bob Northup [19] of Studio City CA

BROKEN RECORD? The recent sustained activity of sunspot AR1429 has kept the Arctic Circle alight with auroras for almost two weeks. "I have spent many thousands of hours watching and photographing the Northern Lights," says aurora tour guide Chad Blakely of Abisko Sweden, "and I can honestly say that I have never seen the auroras this strong for so many days in a row." In a movie he made last night, March 12th, a green tornado of light swirls across Venus and Jupiter:

[20]

"We were all absolutely stunned by the natural beauty of this display," says Blakeley. "I know I sound like a broken record, but sunspot 1429 just will not stop!"

 

The Antarctic Circle has been similarly active. Click on the links for recent shots of Southern Lights: from Dave Headland [21] of Oamaru, New Zealand; from Ian Stewart [22] of Tinderbox, Tasmania, Australia; from Nick Monk [23] of Mountain River, Tasmania, Australia; from John Golja [24] of Tooradin, Victoria, Australia; from Stephen Voss [25] of Invercargill, New Zealand; from Dave Headland [26] of Oamaru, Southern New Zealand

 

WEEKEND SOLAR FLARE: Sunspot AR1429 erupted again over the weekend. On Saturday, March 10th, it produced a powerful M8-class flare that almost crossed the threshold into X-territory [27]. During the flare, New Mexico amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft recorded a series of radio bursts at 21 and 28 MHz:

 

[28]
Dynamic spectrum courtesy Wes Greenman, Alachua County, Florida

 

The roaring sounds [28] you just heard are caused by shock waves plowing through the sun's atmosphere in the aftermath of the explosion. "There is incredible complexity in the waveforms," notes Ashcraft. "This is a recording of one of the most turbulent events in all of Nature!

 

Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/POES

Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4 unsettled
explanation [38] | more data [39]

Interplanetary Mag. Field
B_total: 4.6 nT
B_z: 0.0 nT
explanation [40] | more data [41]
Updated: Today at 1648 UT

Coronal Holes: 13 Mar 12

[42]

A solar wind stream flowing from this coronal hole could reach Earth on March 17-18. Credit: SDO/AIA.