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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
1.67 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.67 quiet
explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.53 nT
Bz: 2.00 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0610 UT
Coronal Holes: 29 Mar 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 Mar 29, 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 Mar 28 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
50
% |
50
% |
CLASS X |
20
% |
20
% |
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 Mar 28 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
20
% |
10
% |
MINOR |
05
% |
01
% |
SEVERE |
01
% |
01
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
15
% |
15
% |
MINOR |
25
% |
20
% |
SEVERE |
25
% |
20
% |
|
|
|
 |
|
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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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X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Yesterday, the sun surprised forecasters with a dramatic X1.1-class solar flare (March 28th @ 1520 UTC). The explosion caused a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas, and it hurled a massive CME into space. That CME will narrowly miss Earth. The sunspot that caused the flare (AR4046) is now turning toward Earth, so future explosions may be more effective. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
"HORNS OF FIRE" SOLAR ECLIPSE: When the sun rose over Maine this morning, something was issing--about 85% of the sun. A solar eclipse was underway. "We witnessed an amazing 'horns of fire' eclipse," reports Fabrizio Melandri, who sends this picture from Monticello:
I had to withstand an air temperature of -10°C (14°F), but it was worth it," says Melandri. "Although the sun was covered for 85%, the sunrise was dazzling. After a few minutes, it was necessary to use a solar filter to protect my eyes from the glare."
In New York, the eclipse was not as deep, but the sunrise was equally beautiful. Bob Kelly watched the show from Rye Beach, NY:
"The eclipsed sun beamed through some gaps in the cloud cover," says Kelly. "What a morning!"
We are receiving lots of photos from around the eclipse zone. Browse the gallery for the latest:
Realtime Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
THE VULCAN EASTER BUNNY: It's the weirdest/coolest Easter gift ever: The Vulcan Easter Bunny. On March 14, 2025, this flop-eared explorer traveled to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $99.95. This is a plush bunny riding inside a Mr. Spock koozie, which displays a "Live Long and Prosper" salute and a Star Trek tricorder. It flew to the edge of space on Pi Day and Einstein's birthday--the logical launch date for any Vulcan Bunny.
The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling far-out gifts to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. 100% of the items in the Earth to Sky Store have been to the stratosphere, touching the edge of space for at least 2 hours. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the gift in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Venus Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Aurora 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 Mar 28, 2025, the network reported 8 fireballs.
(8 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 March 29, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2025 FQ12 |
2025-Mar-23 |
1.3 LD |
11.6 |
6 |
| 2025 DA15 |
2025-Mar-23 |
16.9 LD |
7.8 |
36 |
| 2025 FY6 |
2025-Mar-23 |
0.1 LD |
23.4 |
2 |
| 2025 FY1 |
2025-Mar-23 |
1.8 LD |
14.3 |
15 |
| 2025 FC2 |
2025-Mar-23 |
0.7 LD |
13.4 |
7 |
| 2025 FK3 |
2025-Mar-24 |
0.3 LD |
20.5 |
5 |
| 2025 FQ2 |
2025-Mar-24 |
7.1 LD |
6.9 |
10 |
| 2025 FS |
2025-Mar-24 |
3.1 LD |
13.7 |
22 |
| 2025 FZ6 |
2025-Mar-24 |
0.9 LD |
21.2 |
8 |
| 2025 FX2 |
2025-Mar-24 |
0.7 LD |
25.1 |
11 |
| 2025 FN2 |
2025-Mar-25 |
9.6 LD |
11.8 |
25 |
| 2025 FP11 |
2025-Mar-25 |
14.2 LD |
8.7 |
21 |
| 2025 FT |
2025-Mar-25 |
5.1 LD |
9 |
13 |
| 2025 FK2 |
2025-Mar-25 |
11.8 LD |
3.5 |
15 |
| 2025 FR2 |
2025-Mar-26 |
7.1 LD |
10.5 |
16 |
| 2014 TN17 |
2025-Mar-26 |
13.3 LD |
21.5 |
174 |
| 2025 FD2 |
2025-Mar-26 |
5.5 LD |
8.9 |
11 |
| 2025 FY11 |
2025-Mar-26 |
1.3 LD |
4.1 |
6 |
| 2025 FS5 |
2025-Mar-26 |
19.3 LD |
21.1 |
52 |
| 2025 DW5 |
2025-Mar-26 |
16.5 LD |
5.6 |
41 |
| 2025 FT12 |
2025-Mar-27 |
7.5 LD |
8.8 |
38 |
| 2007 EJ88 |
2025-Mar-27 |
19 LD |
25.9 |
74 |
| 2025 FC4 |
2025-Mar-27 |
11.2 LD |
11.4 |
25 |
| 2025 DV22 |
2025-Mar-27 |
16.5 LD |
12.2 |
58 |
| 2025 FO6 |
2025-Mar-27 |
2.1 LD |
12.5 |
11 |
| 2025 FA7 |
2025-Mar-27 |
5.1 LD |
20 |
20 |
| 2025 FV12 |
2025-Mar-28 |
0.3 LD |
10.9 |
3 |
| 2025 FB8 |
2025-Mar-28 |
0.3 LD |
5.2 |
7 |
| 2025 FY7 |
2025-Mar-28 |
1 LD |
7.3 |
17 |
| 2025 FG6 |
2025-Mar-28 |
3 LD |
6 |
7 |
| 2025 FM6 |
2025-Mar-28 |
16.6 LD |
13.8 |
46 |
| 2025 FS7 |
2025-Mar-28 |
16 LD |
6 |
19 |
| 2025 FZ1 |
2025-Mar-29 |
6.4 LD |
9.5 |
15 |
| 2025 FW11 |
2025-Mar-30 |
5.9 LD |
12 |
24 |
| 2025 FR13 |
2025-Mar-30 |
3.5 LD |
16.3 |
56 |
| 2020 VA4 |
2025-Mar-30 |
11.6 LD |
5.6 |
12 |
| 2025 FQ7 |
2025-Mar-31 |
7.5 LD |
14.6 |
14 |
| 2025 FS11 |
2025-Mar-31 |
18.1 LD |
12.5 |
34 |
| 2025 FZ3 |
2025-Mar-31 |
8.5 LD |
7.1 |
19 |
| 2025 FC8 |
2025-Apr-01 |
19.9 LD |
7.6 |
16 |
| 2025 FC6 |
2025-Apr-01 |
11.8 LD |
11.4 |
21 |
| 2025 FL7 |
2025-Apr-01 |
12.7 LD |
8.7 |
20 |
| 2022 FR3 |
2025-Apr-01 |
6.6 LD |
7.4 |
105 |
| 2025 FP6 |
2025-Apr-02 |
19.3 LD |
10.1 |
24 |
| 2004 FC18 |
2025-Apr-04 |
18.4 LD |
18.5 |
47 |
| 2025 FW5 |
2025-Apr-04 |
13.3 LD |
20.3 |
59 |
| 2020 XT2 |
2025-Apr-04 |
13.6 LD |
6.2 |
41 |
| 2023 GC2 |
2025-Apr-04 |
17.3 LD |
6.3 |
12 |
| 2020 FH4 |
2025-Apr-04 |
12.8 LD |
3 |
7 |
| 2025 FU7 |
2025-Apr-05 |
19.8 LD |
7.9 |
22 |
| 2025 BC10 |
2025-Apr-05 |
9.7 LD |
22.9 |
479 |
| 2007 SQ6 |
2025-Apr-05 |
10.9 LD |
6.6 |
129 |
| 2025 FM12 |
2025-Apr-05 |
11 LD |
7 |
15 |
| 2025 DV40 |
2025-Apr-06 |
16.8 LD |
13.1 |
107 |
| 2003 GQ22 |
2025-Apr-07 |
19.6 LD |
8.9 |
180 |
| 2025 DL28 |
2025-Apr-08 |
16.2 LD |
5.6 |
38 |
| 2023 HG |
2025-Apr-11 |
3.7 LD |
8.6 |
14 |
| 2023 KU |
2025-Apr-11 |
2.8 LD |
18 |
119 |
| 2015 FS33 |
2025-Apr-12 |
14.6 LD |
20.7 |
129 |
| 2025 FP10 |
2025-Apr-12 |
11 LD |
14.1 |
573 |
| 2023 RX1 |
2025-Apr-13 |
18.1 LD |
1.4 |
3 |
| 2023 UH |
2025-Apr-15 |
8.8 LD |
11 |
21 |
| 2022 UO |
2025-Apr-15 |
19.8 LD |
16.2 |
18 |
| 2025 DC36 |
2025-Apr-15 |
14.2 LD |
4.9 |
59 |
| 2017 RN16 |
2025-Apr-17 |
10.9 LD |
8.7 |
6 |
| 2025 FK12 |
2025-Apr-20 |
9.5 LD |
7.4 |
22 |
| 2014 HS124 |
2025-Apr-22 |
10.9 LD |
8.9 |
93 |
| 2019 FY2 |
2025-Apr-24 |
12.8 LD |
5.3 |
12 |
| 462959 |
2025-Apr-25 |
12.9 LD |
9.5 |
213 |
| 2024 BF |
2025-May-01 |
9.5 LD |
4.6 |
47 |
| 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 |
98 |
| 2008 ST |
2025-May-20 |
13.5 LD |
2.5 |
14 |
| 387746 |
2025-May-24 |
17.4 LD |
8.3 |
338 |
| 2014 KF22 |
2025-May-25 |
9.1 LD |
11.5 |
19 |
| 390725 |
2025-May-25 |
18.4 LD |
13.5 |
408 |
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.
| |
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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