Solar wind
speed: 429.9 km/sec
density: 0.81 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1232 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C3
0708 UT May03
24-hr: C8
1838 UT May02
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 1235 UT
Daily Sun: 03 May 26
Expand: labels | no labels
All of these sunspots have stable magnetic fields unlikely to produce strong solar flares. Credit: NASA/SDO

Sunspot number: 133
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 03 May 2026
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.33
quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 4.15 nT
Bz: -3.36 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1231 UT
Coronal Holes: 03 May 26

Solar wind flowing from this northern coronal hole will mostly miss Earth, sailing high above our planet.
Credit: NASA/SDO | more data

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2026 total: 3 days (2%)
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 03 May 2026


Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 16.92x1010 W Neutral
Max: 49.4
x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05
x1010 W Cold (02/2009)
explanation | more data: gfx, txt
Updated 03 May 2026

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 143 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 03 May 2026

Cosmic Rays Solar Cycle 25 is near its peak, and this is reflected in the number of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth are slowly declining--a result of the yin-yang relationship between the solar cycle and cosmic rays.

Oulu Neutron Counts

Percentages of the Space Age average:
today: -7.2% Low
48-hr change: -0.2%
Max: +11.7% Very High
(12/2009)
Min: -32.1% Very Low (06/1991)
explanation | more data
Updated 24 Mar 2026 @ 0700 UT


SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2026 May 02 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
45 %
45 %
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: 2026 May 02 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
30 %
15 %
MINOR
10 %
05 %
SEVERE
01 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
15 %
20 %
MINOR
30 %
25 %
SEVERE
40 %
20 %
 
Sunday, May. 3, 2026
What's up in space
       
 

This is an AI Free Zone: AI is everywhere -- except here. Spaceweather.com is written 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.

 

QUIET WEEKEND: The solar disk is peppered with sunspot groups. All eight of them have stable magnetic fields unlikely to explode. Solar flare activity should therefore remain low this weekend. Free: Space Weather Newsletter

AIRGLOW DUNES: You may have heard of "aurora dunes" -- a recently identified form of Northern Lights named after their resemblence to ripples in desert sand. Researchers led by Minna Palmroth (University of Helsinki) first explained them in a paper published only a few years ago.

Now, let us introduce you to "airglow dunes":

Zdenek Bardon took this picture from the European Southern Observatory in Paranal, Chile, on April 17th. "I was photographing the Milky Way and caught some rippling green airglow at the same time."

The dunes are a "mesospheric bore," a type of atmospheric gravity wave that springs up from Earth's surface and gets caught in a thermal waveguide ~100 km high. Although auroras and airglow are formed in completely different ways (solar activity vs. terrestrial photochemistry) mesospheric bores can modulate them both.

Realtime Airglow Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

COMET PANSTARRS IS THRIVING: Following its late April close encounter with the sun, Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) is emerging from the glare in the evening twilight sky. The sun-heated comet is thriving:

Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger took the picture on May 1st using a remote-controlled telescope in Farm Tivoli, Namibia. "This is an LRGB exposure of 240/140/140/140 sec. through a 12.5-inch Astrograph," they explain.

The comet is currently shining like a 5th-to-6th magnitude star in the constellation Eridanus, best seen from the southern hemisphere. Point your optics here.

Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

MOTHER'S DAY IS ONLY ONE WEEK AWAY: Are you looking for an out-of-this world Mother's Day gift? Consider this: Every time the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launch a cosmic ray balloon, they include something extra in the payload--something Mom will love:

Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has flown to the edge of space and comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight. The interior of the card tells the story of the gift's journey from launch to landing. Mom-satisfaction guaranteed!

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education


Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

  All Sky Fireball Network
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 April 30, 2026, the network reported 2 fireballs.
(1 eta Aquariid, 1 sporadic)

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 May 3, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2026 HR
2026-Apr-27
16.6 LD
7.6
22
2026 HJ3
2026-Apr-27
16.2 LD
7.1
26
2026 GU1
2026-Apr-28
12.4 LD
6.4
75
2026 HW
2026-Apr-28
9.6 LD
11.8
35
2026 HR5
2026-Apr-28
0.7 LD
7
8
2026 HP3
2026-Apr-29
15.5 LD
11.3
29
2026 HL3
2026-Apr-29
6.7 LD
8.6
25
2026 HX3
2026-May-01
8.1 LD
11.4
21
2026 HY3
2026-May-01
7.2 LD
9
18
2026 HZ3
2026-May-01
4 LD
8.4
31
2026 GW3
2026-May-02
13.9 LD
5.8
21
2026 HM6
2026-May-02
3.8 LD
18.4
14
2026 HA3
2026-May-02
5.1 LD
12.1
48
2026 HD3
2026-May-02
8.4 LD
11.5
20
2026 HL6
2026-May-02
6.2 LD
20.5
24
2026 HE2
2026-May-03
15.5 LD
6.6
24
2026 GD1
2026-May-03
14.6 LD
6.6
48
2026 HK4
2026-May-05
11 LD
20.3
23
2026 HN1
2026-May-06
9.2 LD
14.2
65
2026 HA4
2026-May-07
4.1 LD
9
20
2026 HY2
2026-May-07
5 LD
9
34
2026 HD2
2026-May-08
17.7 LD
10.7
43
2020 GE3
2026-May-09
11.1 LD
5.9
21
2023 VR5
2026-May-16
7.5 LD
2.3
10
2026 HC5
2026-May-17
7.1 LD
6.7
21
2025 KR4
2026-May-18
15.2 LD
5.9
22
2023 KH4
2026-May-24
5.5 LD
7.9
14
2023 KZ1
2026-May-24
9 LD
13.4
20
2026 HW2
2026-May-29
17.7 LD
12.5
127
2023 BM4
2026-May-30
12.2 LD
5.7
64
2021 KN2
2026-Jun-03
8.9 LD
8.9
7
2018 GE
2026-Jun-07
16.4 LD
3.1
11
2016 VS
2026-Jun-12
20 LD
11.1
12
530520
2026-Jun-12
16.1 LD
14.6
152
2003 LN6
2026-Jun-18
3.7 LD
3.9
41
2025 WC4
2026-Jun-21
10.2 LD
19.2
304
2015 LM24
2026-Jun-22
18.2 LD
13.8
71
152637
2026-Jun-27
6.7 LD
8.9
947
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.

  Essential web links
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center
  The official U.S. government space weather bureau
Atmospheric Optics
  The first place to look for information about sundogs, pillars, rainbows and related phenomena.
Solar Dynamics Observatory
  Researchers call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO is the most advanced solar observatory ever.
STEREO
  3D views of the sun from NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
  Realtime and archival images of the Sun from SOHO.
SolarMonitor.org
  information about sunspots based on the latest NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary
Starlink Satellite Statistics
  current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page. See also, all satellite statistics.
The Aerospace Corporation
  Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries
Daily Sunspot Summaries
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
NOAA 27-Day Space Weather Forecasts
  fun to read, but should be taken with a grain of salt! Forecasts looking ahead more than a few days are often wrong.
Aurora 30 min forecast
  from the NOAA Space Environment Center
Live Aurora Webcam
  from Lights over Lapland
Heliophysics
  the underlying science of space weather

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T CrB NOVA WATCH
today: m=10.4 (May 3.1)
yesterday: m=10.4

AAVSO data: #1, #2.

Explanation: When the nova explodes, the visual magnitude of the star will jump from +10 (invisible to the naked eye) to +2 (about as bright as the North Star).


Starlink Statistics
Total Launched: 11,930
In orbit:
10,349
Updated: 02 May 2026

Starlink Re-entries (2026)
January: 24
February: 54
March: 48
April: 51
May: 2 so far
Updated: 02 May 2026

Starlink Re-entries (yearly)
2020 total:
46
2021 total:
78
2022 total:
100
2023 total: 88
2024 total: 308
2025 total: 657
2026 total: 178 so far

Updated: 02 May 2026


Data sources: #1, #2, #3; Histograms: launches, reentries



space weather alerts



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