Solar wind
speed: 556.8
km/sec
density: 5.3
protons/cm3 more data: ACE, SOLAR-1 Updated: Today at 1008 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: M1
0805 UT
Aug20
24-hr:
M1
0805 UT
Aug20
explanation
| more
data Updated: Today at: 1010 UT
Daily Sun: 20 Aug 26
Expand:labels | no labels
Sunspot 4507 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. New sunspot 4513 also poses a threat for flares. Credit: NASA/SDO
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
2.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.00 quiet explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.8
nT
Bz: 3.5
nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 1009 UT
Coronal Holes: 20 Aug 26
Solar wind flowing from these coronal holes should reach Earth on Aug. 21-22. Credit: NASA/SDO | more data
Spotless Days Current Stretch: 0 days
2026 total: 3 days (1%)
2025 total: 0 days (0%)
2024 total: 0 days (0%)
2023 total: 0 days (0%)
2022 total: 1 day (<1%)
2021 total: 64 days (18%)
2020 total: 208 days (57%)
2019 total: 281 days (77%)
2018 total: 221 days (61%)
2017 total: 104 days (28%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
2015 total: 0 days (0%)
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
2008 total: 268 days (73%)
2007 total: 152 days (42%)
2006 total: 70 days (19%)
Updated 19 Aug 2026
Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 15.23x1010W Neutral
Max: 49.4x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05x1010 W Cold (02/2009) explanation | more data:gfx, txt
Updated 18 Aug 2026
Geomagnetic Storms: Probabilities for significant
disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor
storm, severe
storm
Updated at: 2026 Aug 19 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24
hr
24-48
hr
ACTIVE
35
%
30
%
MINOR
15
%
10
%
SEVERE
01
%
01
%
High latitudes
0-24
hr
24-48
hr
ACTIVE
15
%
15
%
MINOR
30
%
30
%
SEVERE
40
%
35
%
Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026
What's up in space
This is an AI Free Zone: AI writing is everywhere -- except here. Spaceweather.com is written 100% by Dr. Tony Phillips, a carbon-based lifeform with 30 yrs of forecasting experience. If you find a mistake, rest assured it was made by a real human being.
ACTIVE SUNSPOT: A new sunspot (AR4513) is emerging over the sun's eastern limb. It appears to be relatively large and active. Yesterday, it emitted an M1-class solar flare, breaking a 1-week quiet spell on the sun. Solar flare alerts:SMS Text.
RED AURORAS OVER NEBRASKA: Storm chaser Dean Cosgrove was not looking for auroras when he drove across rural Nebraska on Aug. 17th. "I was after the lightning," he says. Instead, his camera revealed a beautiful display of Northern Lights:
Earlier the same day, a CME narrowly missed Earth. The near miss was enough to cause a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm.
"I didn't expect to see much because this was only a G1-class event," says Cosgrove. "My camera brought out incredible detail and vibrant colors even in very low-light conditions."
This is a reminder that even minor geomagnetic storms can cause auroras. You may not be able to see them with your unaided eye, but cameras are more sensitive. The next time there's a storm, point your phone toward the sky. You might be surprised by what it sees. Geomagnetic storm alerts:SMS Text.
A CRATER NAMED 'SPACEX': There's a new crater on the Moon. SpaceX made it, and NASA has just released the photos. This before-and-after sequence was captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO):
On Aug. 5th, an old Falcon 9 upper stage crashed into the lunar surface near crater Einstein. South Korea's Danuri orbiter saw the crater first and gave the coordinates to LRO for a closer look. It found a gouge 10ft deep and 60ft wide.
The rocket itself was obliterated, but there is debris: Dark streaks around the crater are lunar topsoil, dug up from only 1 or 2 feet below the surface. Eons of exposure to solar wind, cosmic rays, and micrometeorites darkened this material -- a process called "space weathering." The bright rays came from deeper down where the soil is still fresh.
CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE PENDANT: This meteorite came from space. We sent it back again. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, more than 109,620 feet above the Sierra Nevada near Bishop, CA:
You can have it for $249.95. Encased in a sterling silver cage, this is a genuine iron-nickel Campo del Cielo meteorite from Argentina. It landed on Earth 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, and made the return trip on Aug. 15, 2026. This pendant comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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 August 18, 2026, the network reported 81 fireballs.
(49 sporadics, 25 Perseids, 4 Northern delta Aquariids, 2 kappa Cygnids, 1 Southern iota 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]
Near
Earth Asteroids
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 August 20, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
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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