Topic: Astronomy alerts

[Clive]

ASTEROID FLYBY: Newly-discovered asteroid 2011 MD will pass only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) above Earth's surface on Monday, June 27th. NASA analysts say there is no chance the space rock will strike Earth. Nevertheless, the encounter is so close that Earth's gravity will sharply perturb the asteroid's trajectory.  Details at http://spaceweather.com .

GEOMAGNETIC OUTLOOK: A fast-moving stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field. The combined effect of this stream plus a CME expected to arrive on June 24th has prompted NOAA forecasters to declare a ~30% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours. Storm alerts are available from Spaceweather.com in two forms: voice (http://spaceweatherphone.com) or text (http://spaceweathertext.com).