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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
2.67 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4.67 unsettled
explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.42 nT
Bz: 2.88 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0827 UT
Coronal Holes: 24 Jul 25
Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from this 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 Jul 22, 2025, the Arctic stratosphere is much too hot for polar stratospheric clouds. | more data.
Noctilucent Clouds
The northern season for noctilucent clouds is underway. First reports of the electric-blue clouds came from Russia on May 28, 2025. Since then, the clouds have spread to lower latitudes, reaching Paris, France, during a major outbreak on June 23, 2025.
Above: July 20, 2025, in Germany
"Mega-outbreak of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) this morning… Well… I thought the NLC season was over… and then this morning the mesosphere comes back with a display like this. It was a great sight The azimuthal extent was enormous. Was that the last one?" wonders photographer Heiko Ulbricht of Saxony, Germany.
See the complete NLC Photo Gallery
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
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Updated at: 2025 Jul 23 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
30
% |
30
% |
CLASS X |
05
% |
05
% |
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 Jul 23 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
40
% |
25
% |
MINOR |
25
% |
05
% |
SEVERE |
05
% |
01
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
10
% |
15
% |
MINOR |
20
% |
25
% |
SEVERE |
60
% |
30
% |
|
|
|
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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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A CME IS COMING: But it's not a big one. The sun launched the CME toward Earth on July 23rd, propelled by an erupting filament of magnetism near disk center. Although it is faint, the CME could still cause a G1-class geomagnetic storm when it arrives on July 27th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
SOLAR WIND SPARKS AURORAS: Earth is inside a stream of high-speed solar wind flowing from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere. First contact on July 22nd sparked a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with red auroras across northern-tier US states. Marybeth Kiczenski sends ths picture from Bar Harbor, Maine:
"This was my first time aurora hunting in Maine, and right away I got some at Jordon Pond!" says Kiczenski. "It was super exciting to catch them at this iconic location."
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
INTERSTELLAR COMET ATLAS: Three weeks after it was discovered, interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS is still eluding many amateur astronomers. This video from astrophotographer Michael Jaeger shows why finding it is tricky:
"It's surrounded by so many stars," explains Jaeger. The comet is gliding through the crowded Milky Way in Ophiuchus, where finding it is like playing a game of Where's Waldo. "The comet itself appears almost stellar and the brightness is only 17th magnitude."
The situation will approve in the months ahead as the comet exits the Milky Way and approaches Earth for a better view. Stay tuned!
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
CHRISTMAS IN JULY: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Check out the Earth to Sky Store. It's filled with unique items that have flown to the edge of space onboard cosmic ray research balloons.
Carried aloft by giant helium balloons, these unique gifts have flown above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth after the balloon explodes. Even Amazon doesn't carry items this far out.
Enter coupon code "JULY" at checkout for a 10% Christmas-in-July discount.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud 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 Jul 23, 2025, the network reported 11 fireballs.
(10 sporadics, 1 Southern Delta Aquariid)
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 July 24, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2025 OB |
2025-Jul-18 |
3.3 LD |
14.1 |
21 |
| 2025 OV |
2025-Jul-18 |
11 LD |
11.3 |
46 |
| 2025 OS |
2025-Jul-19 |
0 LD |
12.7 |
4 |
| 2018 BY6 |
2025-Jul-19 |
13.7 LD |
7.4 |
68 |
| 2025 ME92 |
2025-Jul-20 |
13.4 LD |
5.3 |
31 |
| 2025 OP1 |
2025-Jul-21 |
3.1 LD |
7.8 |
7 |
| 2025 OR1 |
2025-Jul-21 |
12.1 LD |
12.3 |
20 |
| 2025 OA1 |
2025-Jul-22 |
13.7 LD |
7.2 |
26 |
| 2025 OZ |
2025-Jul-24 |
14 LD |
13.9 |
58 |
| 2025 OK1 |
2025-Jul-24 |
5.7 LD |
6.7 |
32 |
| 2025 OX |
2025-Jul-26 |
11.8 LD |
10.4 |
34 |
| 2025 OU1 |
2025-Jul-26 |
7 LD |
18.4 |
43 |
| 2018 BE5 |
2025-Jul-28 |
10.8 LD |
13.9 |
45 |
| 2025 OW |
2025-Jul-28 |
1.7 LD |
21 |
69 |
| 2025 ON1 |
2025-Jul-30 |
16.1 LD |
3.1 |
30 |
| 2025 OL1 |
2025-Jul-30 |
5.4 LD |
7.6 |
36 |
| 2025 OD1 |
2025-Jul-31 |
9.8 LD |
12.3 |
43 |
| 2025 OR |
2025-Jul-31 |
12.8 LD |
8 |
30 |
| 2025 OJ1 |
2025-Aug-08 |
13.4 LD |
14.2 |
91 |
| 2019 CO1 |
2025-Aug-08 |
17.8 LD |
10.5 |
65 |
| 2022 QB1 |
2025-Aug-10 |
8.9 LD |
3.9 |
6 |
| 2021 PJ1 |
2025-Aug-15 |
4.4 LD |
9.3 |
24 |
| 2025 CO3 |
2025-Aug-16 |
19.8 LD |
8.4 |
90 |
| 1997 QK1 |
2025-Aug-20 |
7.9 LD |
9.8 |
315 |
| 2022 QD3 |
2025-Aug-21 |
15 LD |
6.9 |
35 |
| 2023 PX |
2025-Aug-22 |
2.4 LD |
8.3 |
23 |
| 2019 QQ6 |
2025-Aug-24 |
9.4 LD |
17.2 |
31 |
| 2017 RK15 |
2025-Aug-29 |
15.8 LD |
13.2 |
26 |
| 2020 TS1 |
2025-Aug-29 |
17.8 LD |
3.3 |
5 |
| 1998 SH2 |
2025-Aug-30 |
8.1 LD |
17.3 |
246 |
| 2025 OG1 |
2025-Sep-05 |
14.4 LD |
4.2 |
34 |
| 2019 JG1 |
2025-Sep-09 |
18.8 LD |
7.9 |
17 |
| 2009 FF |
2025-Sep-11 |
6.8 LD |
12.9 |
155 |
| 2015 SA |
2025-Sep-13 |
10.3 LD |
9.1 |
31 |
| 2022 SS2 |
2025-Sep-13 |
2.4 LD |
7.2 |
13 |
| 2025 FA22 |
2025-Sep-18 |
2.2 LD |
10.8 |
164 |
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 sharply 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 |
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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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