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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
1.33 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.00 quiet
explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.88 nT
Bz: 5.51 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0111 UT
Coronal Holes: 23 Apr 25
Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from this large southern coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO | more data
Polar Stratospheric Clouds
Colorful Type II polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) form when the temperature in the stratosphere drops to a staggeringly low -85C. NASA's MERRA-2 climate model predicts when the air up there is cold enough:
On April 21, 2025, the Arctic stratosphere is much too hot for Type II clouds. | more data.
Noctilucent Clouds
The southern season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) is finished. The first clouds were detected over Antarctica on Nov. 19, 2024, and they vanished again on Feb. 21, 2025. The action will shift to the north pole in late May 2025. Until then, the map will remain blank.
Updated: Feb. 21, 2025
An instrument onboard NOAA 21 (OMPS LP) is able to detect NLCs (also known as "polar mesospheric clouds" or PMCs). In the daily map, above, each dot is a detected cloud. As the season progresses, these dots will multiply in number and shift in hue from blue to red as the brightness of the clouds intensifies.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
|
Updated at: 2025 Apr 23 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
40
% |
40
% |
CLASS X |
01
% |
01
% |
Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant
disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor
storm, severe
storm
Updated at: 2025 Apr 23 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
30
% |
30
% |
MINOR |
15
% |
15
% |
SEVERE |
01
% |
01
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
15
% |
15
% |
MINOR |
30
% |
30
% |
SEVERE |
45
% |
45
% |
|
|
|
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This is an AI Free Zone: Text created by Large Language Models is spreading across the Internet. It's well-written, but frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being.
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FARMERS, DID YOUR TRACTORS JUST GO CRAZY? Many modern farmers use GPS-guided tractors to plant and tend their crops. Last weekend, some of them veered off course. We've received a report of "dancing tractors" on Easter Sunday (April 20, 2025) apparently due to unusual GPS errors. The same thing happened on hundreds of farms last May during a severe geomagnetic storm. However, there was no geomagnetic storm on April 20, 2025, so we're looking for confirmaton. If you're a farmer or GPS operator and know of unusual disturbances in the past week, please let us know.
A NIGHT IN ANTARCTICA: The next time a Cannibal CME strikes Earth, try to be in Antarctica. You might see something like this:
"The sky was filled with dancing auroras and a magnificent lunar halo," reports Dr. Anand Singh of India's National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research. Singh is the principal investigator for space weather observations at the Maitri research station in Antarctica, and he arranged for his colleague Mohit Sharma to record the auroras on the night of April 19, 2025.
"A Cannibal CME had struck Earth on April 15th, and we were still seeing auroras fours days later," says Singh.
Cannibal CMEs are pile-ups of two or more CMEs, formed when a fast CME overtakes a slower one. They contain shock waves and intense magnetic fields that do a good job sparking geomagnetic storms . The Cannibal CME that struck on April 15th was a combination of two closely-spaced eruptions on the sun. It caused a severe geomagnetic storm on April 16th with a persistent afterglow days after the storm subsided. No place had a better view than the frozen continent.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
CONSTELLATION CAT CRYSTAL NIGHT LIGHT: It's the most far-out feline night light ever--the Constellation Cat. On March 21, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a giant helium balloon.
You can have it for $129.95. Outlined by stars in the style of an astronomical constellation, the laser-etched cat comes with an LED stand that produces a soothing glow for your bedside table. Also included: A unique greeting card shows the cat in flight and tells the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Every night, a network
of NASA
all-sky cameras scans the skies above the United
States for meteoritic fireballs. Automated software
maintained by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office
calculates their orbits, velocity, penetration depth
in Earth's atmosphere and many other characteristics.
Daily results are presented here on Spaceweather.com.
On Apr 22, 2025, the network reported 26 fireballs.
(16 Lyrids, 10 sporadics)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue).
[Larger image] [movies]
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 April 24, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2025 HQ1 |
2025-Apr-18 |
5.6 LD |
6.8 |
26 |
| 2025 HR |
2025-Apr-18 |
5.9 LD |
12.5 |
18 |
| 2025 GL1 |
2025-Apr-18 |
17.4 LD |
16.3 |
72 |
| 2025 HB |
2025-Apr-19 |
1.5 LD |
6.1 |
10 |
| 2025 HG |
2025-Apr-19 |
1.7 LD |
12.5 |
17 |
| 2025 HO |
2025-Apr-19 |
0.5 LD |
11.5 |
5 |
| 2025 FY22 |
2025-Apr-19 |
9.4 LD |
9.2 |
33 |
| 2025 HB1 |
2025-Apr-19 |
14.3 LD |
11 |
52 |
| 2025 HZ |
2025-Apr-20 |
1.2 LD |
9.5 |
5 |
| 2025 HA1 |
2025-Apr-20 |
0.3 LD |
17.8 |
26 |
| 2025 FK12 |
2025-Apr-20 |
9.5 LD |
7.4 |
22 |
| 2025 HC |
2025-Apr-20 |
1.2 LD |
15.4 |
18 |
| 2025 HE |
2025-Apr-20 |
1.9 LD |
10.9 |
12 |
| 2025 HK |
2025-Apr-20 |
12.2 LD |
16.5 |
24 |
| 2025 HD1 |
2025-Apr-21 |
13.1 LD |
16.6 |
25 |
| 2025 HG1 |
2025-Apr-21 |
1.2 LD |
10.6 |
10 |
| 2025 HS |
2025-Apr-21 |
9.8 LD |
11.3 |
21 |
| 2025 HP |
2025-Apr-21 |
7.2 LD |
13.4 |
22 |
| 2025 HU |
2025-Apr-22 |
3.3 LD |
8.6 |
12 |
| 2014 HS124 |
2025-Apr-22 |
10.9 LD |
8.9 |
85 |
| 2025 GD1 |
2025-Apr-22 |
4.2 LD |
5.9 |
28 |
| 2025 HF |
2025-Apr-23 |
2.3 LD |
9.1 |
27 |
| 2025 HN |
2025-Apr-23 |
5.2 LD |
11.5 |
15 |
| 2025 HH1 |
2025-Apr-23 |
13.8 LD |
17.9 |
32 |
| 2025 HM |
2025-Apr-24 |
15.1 LD |
11.6 |
101 |
| 2025 HF1 |
2025-Apr-24 |
1 LD |
14.7 |
19 |
| 2019 FY2 |
2025-Apr-24 |
12.8 LD |
5.3 |
12 |
| 2025 HX |
2025-Apr-24 |
3.5 LD |
12.6 |
11 |
| 2025 HT |
2025-Apr-25 |
3.3 LD |
6.8 |
19 |
| 462959 |
2025-Apr-25 |
12.9 LD |
9.5 |
217 |
| 2025 FK28 |
2025-Apr-25 |
16.6 LD |
11.9 |
64 |
| 2025 HP1 |
2025-Apr-26 |
9.3 LD |
8.5 |
14 |
| 2025 HV |
2025-Apr-27 |
14.6 LD |
16.5 |
50 |
| 2025 HY |
2025-Apr-27 |
10.7 LD |
10.7 |
17 |
| 2025 GT1 |
2025-May-01 |
11.3 LD |
11.1 |
38 |
| 2024 BF |
2025-May-01 |
9.5 LD |
4.6 |
46 |
| 2024 JM2 |
2025-May-03 |
7.2 LD |
11.3 |
62 |
| 2021 JN1 |
2025-May-06 |
18.3 LD |
16.3 |
39 |
| 2021 HZ |
2025-May-08 |
20 LD |
10.2 |
30 |
| 612356 |
2025-May-09 |
11 LD |
5.1 |
305 |
| 2021 KH |
2025-May-10 |
18.3 LD |
7.2 |
19 |
| 2011 HJ7 |
2025-May-12 |
6.6 LD |
15.8 |
118 |
| 2011 YU74 |
2025-May-13 |
11.4 LD |
5 |
90 |
| 2025 DT50 |
2025-May-14 |
16 LD |
6.4 |
105 |
| 2008 ST |
2025-May-20 |
13.5 LD |
2.5 |
14 |
| 387746 |
2025-May-24 |
17.4 LD |
8.3 |
339 |
| 2014 KF22 |
2025-May-25 |
9.1 LD |
11.5 |
19 |
| 390725 |
2025-May-25 |
18.4 LD |
13.5 |
410 |
| 2025 FU5 |
2025-May-28 |
13.4 LD |
7.3 |
92 |
| 2022 KP3 |
2025-May-30 |
10.2 LD |
7.7 |
7 |
| 424482 |
2025-Jun-05 |
9.1 LD |
6.2 |
421 |
| 2020 LQ |
2025-Jun-06 |
17.3 LD |
11.8 |
34 |
| 2018 LE4 |
2025-Jun-07 |
12.2 LD |
13.3 |
62 |
| 2014 LL26 |
2025-Jun-08 |
8 LD |
5.2 |
31 |
| 2022 KQ5 |
2025-Jun-12 |
13.6 LD |
5.1 |
5 |
| 2023 XO15 |
2025-Jun-15 |
17.8 LD |
3.4 |
24 |
| 2000 LF3 |
2025-Jun-17 |
18.9 LD |
14.5 |
169 |
| 2023 XU2 |
2025-Jun-18 |
11.1 LD |
15.6 |
32 |
|
Notes: LD means
"Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance
between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256
AU.
| |
Cosmic Rays in the Atmosphere |
SPACE WEATHER BALLOON DATA: Almost once a week, Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus fly space weather balloons to the stratosphere over California. These balloons are equipped with sensors that detect secondary cosmic rays, a form of radiation from space that can penetrate all the way down to Earth's surface. Our monitoring program has been underway without interruption for 10 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (Nov. 2024): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2024. Our latest measurements in November registered a 10-year low:
What's going on? Ironically, the radiation drop is caused by increasing solar activity. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected. The sun's strengthening and increasingly tangled magnetic field repels cosmic rays from deep space. In addition, solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) sweep aside cosmic rays, causing sharp reductions called "Forbush Decreases." The two effects blend together to bring daily radiation levels down.
.Who cares? Cosmic rays are a surprisingly "down to Earth" form of space weather. They can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere, trigger lightning, and penetrate commercial airplanes. According to a study from the Harvard T.H. Chan school of public health, crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. The researchers listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as leading risk factors. A number of controversial studies (#1, #2, #3, #4) go even further, linking cosmic rays with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Technical notes: The radiation sensors onboard our helium balloons detect X-rays and gamma-rays in the energy range 10 keV to 20 MeV. These energies span the range of medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners.
Data points in the graph labeled "Stratospheric Radiation" correspond to the peak of the Regener-Pfotzer maximum, which lies about 67,000 feet above central California. When cosmic rays crash into Earth's atmosphere, they produce a spray of secondary particles that is most intense at the entrance to the stratosphere. Physicists Eric Regener and Georg Pfotzer discovered the maximum using balloons in the 1930s and it is what we are measuring today.
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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. |
| |
information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary |
| |
current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page. See also, all satellite statistics. |
| |
Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| |
from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| |
fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong. |
| |
from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
| |
the
underlying science of space weather |
 |
Got a chipped or cracked windshield that prevents you from seeing space weather events while driving? Get windshield replacement from SR Windows & Glass with free mobile auto glass service anywhere in the Phoenix area. |
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BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web |
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