Solar wind
speed: 483.4 km/sec
density: 2.4 protons/cm3
more data: ACE, SOLAR-1
Updated: Today at 0720 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: B3
0559 UT Nov1
24-hr: B6
0914 UT Oct31
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 0721 UT
Daily Sun: 01 Nov 26
Expand: labels | no labels
Both of these sunspots have simple magnetic fields that pose no threat for strong solar flares. Credit: NASA/SDO

Sunspot number: 24
What is the sunspot number?
Updated 01 Nov 2026
Current Auroral Oval:
Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4.33 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 6.00
storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.4 nT
Bz: 3.7 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 0720 UT
Coronal Holes: 01 Nov 26

A minor stream of solar wind flowing form this coronal hole should reach Earth on Nov. 4th.
Credit: NASA/SDO | more data

Spotless Days
Current Stretch: 0 days
2026 total: 4 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 31 Oct 2026


Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 11.56
x1010 W Cool
Max: 49.4
x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05
x1010 W Cold (02/2009)
explanation | more data: gfx, txt
Updated 29 Oct 2026

The Radio Sun
10.7 cm flux: 90 sfu
explanation | more data
Updated 31 Oct 2026


SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2026 Oct 31 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
CLASS M
01 %
01 %
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: 2026 Oct 31 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
35 %
20 %
MINOR
30 %
05 %
SEVERE
10 %
01 %
High latitudes
0-24 hr
24-48 hr
ACTIVE
10 %
20 %
MINOR
25 %
30 %
SEVERE
60 %
20 %
 
Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026
What's up in space
       
 

AI writing is everywhere -- except here. This website is written by Dr. Tony Phillips, a carbon-based lifeform with 30 yrs of forecasting experience. Our guarantee: If you find a mistake, it was made by a real human being.

 

WEEKEND GEOMAGNETIC STORMS: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are underway on Nov. 1st as Earth moves through a stream of fast-moving solar wind. First contact with the stream on Oct. 31st produced a G2-class storm with intense auroras over Scandinavia and Iceland. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

AURORA BOO-REALIS: Halloween was only an hour old when Todd Salat saw the first "aurora BOO-realis" over Anchorage, Alaska:

"At 1 am on October 31, 2026, I watched the aurora BOO-realis from our back deck as it danced over our trick-or-treater greeter, 'Marty,'" says Salat. " I think the light show blew Marty’s mind."

The geomagnetic glow could intensify tonight as Earth moves deeper into a stream of high-speed solar wind. Trick-or-treaters in Canada and northern-tier US states should be alert for green skies. Aurora alerts: SMS Text

Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free:
Spaceweather.com Newsletter

EARTHGRAZING METEORITE RING: The iron in this meteorite ring has an interesting history. Thousands of years ago, an asteroid skipped across the top of Earth's atmosphere, creating a field of debris in China almost 500 km long. This ring was fashioned from one of the earthgrazing fragments:

On Aug. 3, 2026, we sent it back. The ring flew to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon, above 99.4% of the atmosphere.

You can have it for $279.95. The iron fragment comes from the Altai Mountains in China, and is known as an "Aletai meteorite." Widmanstätten patterns on the ring confirm its celestial origin, and an accompanying full-color greeting card shows the ring in flight.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
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Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free:
Space Weather 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 October 29, 2026, the network reported 8 fireballs.
(6 sporadics, 1 chi Taurid, 1 Orionid)

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 November 1, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2026 UP3
2026-Oct-26
5.7 LD
7.6
27
2026 TB94
2026-Oct-27
5.1 LD
11.6
26
2026 UN3
2026-Oct-27
1 LD
21.8
11
2026 UD2
2026-Oct-27
2.9 LD
10.8
12
2026 UO3
2026-Oct-27
11.3 LD
9.3
18
2026 UQ3
2026-Oct-27
1.8 LD
12
15
2026 UF2
2026-Oct-28
5.3 LD
16
59
2018 GS1
2026-Oct-28
11.1 LD
9.3
108
2026 UB1
2026-Oct-28
9.6 LD
18.7
40
2026 UE2
2026-Oct-29
0.3 LD
7.7
5
2022 UV21
2026-Oct-29
14.8 LD
9.6
13
2026 UC2
2026-Oct-29
2.7 LD
13.9
23
2026 UB2
2026-Oct-29
1.2 LD
7.5
15
2026 UD
2026-Oct-30
11.6 LD
7.7
25
2025 UK9
2026-Oct-31
0.8 LD
7.8
4
524522
2026-Nov-02
15.7 LD
8.7
277
2021 VC4
2026-Nov-03
6 LD
11.2
15
2017 WJ2
2026-Nov-05
14.7 LD
12
118
2016 VZ1
2026-Nov-05
20 LD
13.5
21
2001 KF54
2026-Nov-06
18.9 LD
16.4
391
2026 UX
2026-Nov-07
19.6 LD
9.7
38
2025 UF5
2026-Nov-09
18.9 LD
1.9
10
2015 VH65
2026-Nov-10
9.7 LD
8
10
2012 YD7
2026-Nov-10
18.6 LD
7.5
49
2023 VF3
2026-Nov-11
8.5 LD
8.8
19
2022 MP2
2026-Nov-13
19.8 LD
3.8
23
2025 VG5
2026-Nov-13
18.2 LD
4.9
16
2026 UY
2026-Nov-14
19.7 LD
4.3
64
2023 VE6
2026-Nov-17
18.4 LD
10.1
13
2019 WT1
2026-Nov-18
19.7 LD
9.7
16
2018 NE1
2026-Nov-19
16.7 LD
13.3
74
2026 TB84
2026-Nov-19
12.1 LD
9.9
68
2025 CP1
2026-Nov-30
12.9 LD
10.8
6
2019 XF2
2026-Dec-04
3.1 LD
10.2
14
2023 XH3
2026-Dec-06
18.7 LD
16.5
14
2020 XC3
2026-Dec-08
14.5 LD
14.3
110
2016 NV
2026-Dec-08
14.3 LD
10.4
379
2010 VQ
2026-Dec-12
4.6 LD
4.3
10
2025 XN6
2026-Dec-12
6.9 LD
12.2
5
2026 QQ8
2026-Dec-13
3.5 LD
0.8
2
2026 LZ1
2026-Dec-14
14.4 LD
11.2
36
2025 YN
2026-Dec-18
18.3 LD
13.1
21
2018 FQ4
2026-Dec-19
16.7 LD
10.4
14
2021 PF7
2026-Dec-26
15.5 LD
7.7
10
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

To get the best views of the cosmos, check out the Phoenix Window Glass Replacement experts for all your window and glass needs

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SATELLITE DRAG
today: 54.0 m/day ↓ JanOct 2026 max: 127.6 (Jan 20)
2026 min: 19.7 (Aug 10)

Explanation: This is how fast a typical Starlink at 480 km is sinking due to aerodynamic drag: more information.
Updated: 31 Oct 2026

Starlink Statistics
Total Launched: 13,069
In orbit:
11,217
Updated: 31 Oct 2026

Starlink Re-entries (2026)
January: 24
February: 54
March: 48
April: 51
May: 60
June: 35
July: 52
August: 32
September: 47
October: 46
Updated: 31 Oct 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: 438 so far

Updated: 31 Oct 2026


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






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