NOT A ROCKET: News reports that a Russian rocket fell over the US mid-Atlantic coast on Sunday evening, March 29th, are probably incorrect. A spent Russian rocket booster did reenter Earth's atmosphere on March 29th, but apparently not over the USA. According to data published by US Strategic Command, the reentry occurred near Taiwan (24° N, 125° E) at 11:57 p.m. EDT. So what were those lights in the sky over Maryland and Virginia two hours earlier? Eyewitness accounts of the Atlantic Coast fireball are consistent with a meteoritic bolide--a random asteroid hitting Earth's atmosphere and exploding in flight.
 

ATLANTIC COAST FIREBALL: Last night, March 29th around 9:45 pm EDT, people along the Atlantic coast of the USA from Maryland to North Carolina witnessed bright lights in the sky and heard thunderous booms. It was almost certainly a meteoritic bolide--a random asteroid hitting Earth's atmosphere and exploding in flight. Another possibility is being discussed: A spent Russian rocket body reentered the atmosphere on March 29th. According to data published by US Strategic Command, however, the rocket reentered near Taiwan (24° N, 125° E) more than two hours after the Atlantic Coast event. A natural meteor remains the most likely explanation. Stay tuned for updates and more eyewitness reports.
 

more images: from Pete Lawrence of Selsey, West Sussex, UK; from Franck Charlier of Marines, Val d'Oise - France; from Mike Strieber of Las Vegas, Nevada; from Robert Arnold of Isle of Skye, Scotland; from Monty Leventhal of Sydney Australia; from Sylvain Weiller of Saint Rémy lès Chevreuse, France; from Cai-Uso Wohler of Bispingen, Germany

A "proto-sunspot" is struggling to emerge at the circled location. If it coelesces, its high latitude would make it a member of new Solar Cycle 24. Credit: SOHO/MDI

AROUND THE BEND: The sun has been without spots for nearly a month, but the blank spell could be coming to an end. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is monitoring intense activity on the sun's northeastern limb:

Venus makes its closest approach to the sun (just 8 degrees away) on Friday, March 27th. On that date, the luminous crescent will almost completely circumscribe the planet. The best time to look is during the day while the sun and Venus are high in the sky--but be careful! Do not let your telescope stray across the sun. Venus is beautiful, but you wouldn't want it to be the last thing you ever see.

more images: from Elias Chasiotis of Markopoulo, Greece; from Günther Strauch of Borken, NRW, Germany; from Peter von Bagh of Porvoo, Finland; from Jimmy Westlake of Mauna Kea, Hawaii; from Gary A. Becker of Coopersburg, PA; from Denis Joye of Boulogne, France; from Mohammad Soltanolkottabi of Esfahan, Iran; from Doug Zubenel of Cedar Creek, Kansas; from Becky Ramotowski of Tijeras, New Mexico; from Josef Laufer of Wuerzburg, Germany;
 

Photo details: Canon EOS 450D + EF 50/2.5 Macro lens

"This photo is one of two I shot on March 20th showing Iridium 33 flashing at magnitude +2 with a period of 4.6 to 4.7 seconds," says Langbroek. "Simone Corbellini in Italy and I have independently observed it occasionally giving off much brighter flashes of magnitude -2. Simone thinks that the main mission antennas are still intact and glinting in the orbital sunlight."

"It seems that Iridium 33 received a glancing blow," he suggests. "Pieces scattered off, but there is still a considerable body left."

Readers, if you would like to try to observe the wreckage, check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times. You might see nothing when Iridium 33 passes overhead, but the possibility of a bright flash makes it worth a try.

SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS IN THE STATE OF DENMARK: On March 20th, Danish photographer Jesper Gronne looked up at the clouds and saw not just one or two but three concentric halos around the sun. Before the rare display could fade, he grabbed his camera (a Canon 5D) and snapped more than 20 pictures. Stacking the images on his computer yielded a pin-up quality record of the event:

"I never expected to see such a rich variety of ice halos here in lowland Denmark--and it's not even winter anymore!" he marveled.

What could cause such an apparition? Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains: "We can work outwards from the sun to explore the mysteries of this display. The first ring is an exceptionally bright and rare 9-degree halo made by tumbling pyramidal ice crystals in the clouds. The same crystals also produced displays on the other side of the North Sea the night before. The inner halo's bright upper and lower patches could be something very rare indeed, plate arcs from aligned pyramids. But we must be cautious, they could just be spots of thicker cloud!"

"The next bright ring is at first sight the common 22-degree halo but with so many pyramidal crystals about it could also be a combination of other pyramidal halo rings. There are hints too of 18 degree pyramidal halos inside it. At least the two sundogs are familiar sights!"

"Farther from the sun at top is another familiar halo, the ‘smile-in the-sky'

5 MB Quicktime movie | labeled still frame | Zoom in on Jupiter

During the 30-hour movie, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto circle Jupiter as a massive CME billows overhead. STEREO-B recorded the action on March 15th and 16th using an occulting disk to block the solar glare. This arrangment allowed STEREO's cameras to photograph moons of Jupiter eight thousand billion (8x10¹²) times dimmer than the adjacent sun.

STEREO's coronagraph (occulting disk+camera) is designed to monitor faint but powerful activity in the sun's outer atmosphere. The CME is a good example. With a limiting magnitude of +6.5, it can also see stars, planets, moons and comets so close to the edge of the sun, it seems impossible. In fact, it happens all the time. Browse the STEREO gallery for examples

Solar wind
speed: 428.0 km/sec
density: 0.5 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 2346 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: A0 2340 UT Mar22
24-hr: A0 2340 UT Mar22
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2340 UT

DEEP SOLAR MINIMUM: Where have all the sunspots gone? As of yesterday, March 21st, the sun has been blank on 85% of the days of 2009. If this rate of spotlessness continues through the end of the year, 2009 will match 1913 as the blankest year of the past century. A flurry of new-cycle sunspots in Oct. 2008 prompted some observers to declare that solar minimum was ending, but since then the calm has returned. We are still in the pits of a deep solar minimum.

Explanation: The Sun destroyed this comet. Arcing toward a fiery fate, this Sungrazer comet was recorded by the SOHO spacecraft's Large Angle Spectrometric COronagraph(LASCO) on 1996 Dec. 23. LASCO uses an occulting disk, partially visible at the lower right, to block out the otherwise overwhelming solar disk allowing it to image the inner 5 million miles of the relatively faint corona. The comet is seen as its coma enters the bright equatorial solar wind region (oriented vertically). Spots and blemishes on the image are background stars and camera streaks caused by charged particles. Positioned in space to continuously observe the Sun, SOHO has now been used to discover over 1,500 comets, including numerous sungrazers. Based on their orbits, they are believed to belong to a family of comets created by successive break ups from a single large parent comet which passed very near the Sun in the twelfth century. The Great Comet of 1965, Ikeya-Seki, was also a member of the Sungrazer family, coming within about 650,000 kilometers of the Sun's surface. Passing so close to the Sun, Sungrazers are subjected to destructive tidal forces along with intense solar heat. This comet, known as SOHO 6, did not survive.

images: from David Strange of Branscombe, Devon, UK; from Mathew Marulla of Nashua, New Hampshire; from Ernesto Guido & Giovanni Sostero of Italy;

ASTEROID FLYBY TONIGHT: Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 FH is flying past Earth tonight only 85,000 km away. That's about twice the altitude of a geosynchronous communications satellite. Advanced amateur astronomers in North America can photograph the 20-meter-wide space rock racing through the constellation Gemini after sunset on March 17th. It should be about as bright as a 14th magnitude star. [ephemeris] [3D orbit]

By PAUL SUTHERLAND
Sun Spaceman

3-18-09

EARTH dodged a cosmic bullet today when a newly discovered asteroid skimmed past at a distance of just over 50,000 miles – around a fifth of the distance to the Moon.

The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in almost 100 years. At such a calm time, even a little solar activity is remarkable. Here it is. SOHO recorded the movie on March 16th; it shows a minor CME billowing away from the sun's eastern limb. When the sun is active, we see several such CMEs on a daily basis. Now, the rate is about one per month. That's very little solar activity.

A solar wind stream flowing from
the indicated coronal hole should
reach Earth on or about March 20th.
 Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope
 

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should reach Earth on or about March 20th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

UPDATED: Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter Telescope: review] [Comet Lulin finder chart]

"I was simply astounded!" says photographer Steven Benatar. "The amazing halo lasted for about 45 minutes. Thankfully I had my handy Canon SD780 to snap some quick pics as evidence."

Benatar says he's seen pictures of sun halos before on the internet, but "they are much better in person!"

more images: from Alex Conu of Clinceni, Romania; from Jim Saueressig of Emporia, Kansas; from Lois Reinert of Tracy, Minnesota

March 2009 Aurora Gallery
[previous Marches: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002]

Explore the Sunspot Cycle

"The Northern Lights were bright and quick-shifting," he says. "I photographed the display using my Canon 5D."

High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for more auroras tonight as the solar wind continues to blow. NOAA forecasters estimate a 30% chance of geomagnetic activity during the next 24 hours.

Cosmos 2251 was shattered on Feb. 10th when it collided with Iridium 33. Cosmos 2251 possessed almost twice the mass of Iridium 33 and to date appears to have produced more than twice the number of fragments.

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should arrive on March 12th or 13th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

"The Safir exhibited a gradual brightness variation, slowly going between magnitude +3 and near-invisibility (magnitude > +4)," he says. "Around the moment of peak brightness, it gives a short bright glint." Langbroek measured the interval between glints: 33.25 seconds. That could be the tumble-period of the rocket body.

Readers, you may be able to see Safir 2 with your own eyes. Check Spaceweather's Simple Satellite Tracker for possible flybys of your hometown. If you don't immediately see the rocket, wait 33 seconds for a glint. It's the best part.

SATELLITE DEBRIS UPDATE: The first catalogued fragments of shattered satellite Cosmos 2251 are about to reenter Earth's atmosphere. According to US Strategic Command tracking data, reentries will occur on March 12th, 28th and 30th, followed by more in April.  Radar cross sections are not available for all of the reentering pieces; they are probably centimeter-class fragments that pose no threat to people on the ground.  Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.

WORM MOON: Tonight's full Moon has a special name--the Worm Moon. It signals the coming of northern spring, a thawing of the soil, and the first stirrings of earthworms in long-dormant gardens. Step outside tonight and behold the wakening landscape. "Worm moonlight" is prettier than it sounds

A solar wind stream flowing from the indicated coronal hole should arrive on March 11th or 12th. Credit: SOHO Extreme UV Telescope

UPDATED: Comet Lulin Photo Gallery
[Comet Hunter Telescope] [Sky maps: March 5, 6, 7]

"[The object that emitted the cloud] can be seen in my animation heading in an easterly direction toward the right side of the photo. Satellite expert Tony Beresford has identified it as a new Russian military comsat launched from Baykonur on Feb 28th."

The name of the comsat is Raduga-1; it is an improved version of the Soviet-era old Gran' (Raduga) satellite first launched in 1975. Two burns were required to place Raduga-1 into geosynchronous orbit and purely by chance Mattiazzo saw one of them. It just goes to show ... you never know what you might see if you keep looking up.

ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2009 DD45 is about to fly past Earth only 72,000 km (0.000482 AU) away. That's about twice the height of a typical geostationary communications satellite. The 30- to 40-meter wide space rock is similar in size to the Tunguska impactor of 1908, but this time there is no danger of a collision. At closest approach on March 2nd, around 1340 UT (5:40 am PST), 2009 DD45 will speed through the constellation Virgo shining as brightly as an 11th magnitude star. Experienced amateur astronomers can track the asteroid using this ephemeris.

UPDATE: Using a 14-inch telescope at the University of Nariño Observatory in Colombia, Alberto Quijano Vodniza has photographed the asteroid streaking toward Earth thirteen hours before closest approach: 1 MB movie.

Tunguska-sized asteroid to skim Earth on 3-2-09 closer than the moon, some satellites

The new asteroid, 2009 DD45,  was spotted by prolific comet-hunter Rob McNaught  about two days ago at Australia"s Siding Spring Observatory. DD45 is estimated to have a diameter of about 115 feet, or roughly the size of the asteroid (120 feet) that slammed into Tunguska in Siberia  in 1908.

That disastrous impact slammed the energy of about 150 Hiroshima-sized bombs into the Siberian countryside. NASA's Near-Earth Object office has details:

...Eight hundred square miles of remote forest had been ripped asunder. Eighty million trees were on their sides, lying in a radial pattern.The massive explosion packed a wallop.

...The resulting seismic shockwave registered with sensitive barometers as far away as England. Dense clouds formed over the region at high altitudes which reflected sunlight from beyond the horizon. Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight. Locally, hundreds of reindeer, the livelihood of local herders, were killed, but there was no direct evidence that any person perished in the blast.

DD45 is expected to speed past Earth somwehere over the Pacific Ocean near Tahiti at about 6 a.m. PST March 2. Racing at about half a degree per minute, the asteroid will be in the constellation of Virgo, with a magnitude of slightly more than 10.

NASA has provided a plot of DD45's path here. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2009%20DD45;orb=1