[meteorite-list] Space Weather News - March 3, 2003

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:23:44 2004
Message-ID: <200303031926.LAA23455_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Space Weather News
March 3, 2003

METEOR UPDATE: A rare Antarctic meteor shower due on March 1st was
unimpressive. "We had all eyes out last night for the shower but saw only
one meteor," reports astronaut Don Pettit from the International Space
Station. Ham radio operators in Australia listened for 144 MHz echoes from
the shower; they heard nothing out of the ordinary. "In fact, signals were
poorer than usual," notes Rob Quick of Canberra. Stay tuned for further
updates.

ASTEROID FLYBY: A small 25-meter wide asteroid, 2003 DW10, is flying past
Earth today only 1.4 times farther from our planet than the Moon. John
Rogers of the Camarillo Observatory captured this image of the 17th
magnitude space rock on March 2nd. Rogers tracked the asteroid, not the
stars, so 2003 DW10 appears as a pointlike speck in the middle of the image.
The surrounding stars are streaked.

BIG SUNSPOT: The face of the Sun has been mostly blank for some weeks, but
now a large sunspot has appeared. Active region 296 stretches eight
Earth-diameters from end to end. It's easy to see, but never stare directly
at the Sun. Use safe solar observing techniques instead.

COMET NEAT: Last month Comet NEAT swung perilously close to the Sun--a
lovely event recorded by SOHO coronagraphs. Contrary to some internet
rumors, the comet's orbit was not altered by its apparent encounter with a
coronal mass ejection. Comet NEAT is not on a collision course with Earth.
The comet is now emerging from the Sun's glare into southern-hemisphere
skies. Ian Cooper of New Zealand took this picture of Comet NEAT at sunset
on Feb. 28th. "The tail was 5 degrees long in 10 x 50 binoculars," says Ian.
"The coma was about as bright as a 2nd or 3rd magnitude star." Photo
details: 50mm lens _at_ f/1.4, 12 sec. exp. on Fuji XTRA 400 film. Glen Oroua,
Manawatu, North Island, New Zealand.
Received on Mon 03 Mar 2003 02:26:36 PM PST