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.
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Just released: The Full Lunar Flyby Photo Gallery (Thanks, NASA!)
A METEOR SHOWER ON THE MOON (UPDATED): The crew of Artemis II were giddy (their words!) on the evening of April 6th when they witnessed explosions on the lunar surface. Meteoroids were hitting the Moon. "We saw at least five," reported mission commander Reid Wiseman. In mission control, scientists were overheard shouting in delight.
The lunar meteors appeared in middle of a solar eclipse. About 90 minutes after the crew made their closest approach to the farside of the Moon, the sun disappeared behind the lunar disk. They witnessed the first solar eclipse ever seen by humans from behind the Moon.
The Artemis II crew – Christina Koch (top left), Jeremy Hansen (bottom left), Reid Wiseman (bottom right), and Victor Glover (top right).
During the hour-long eclipse, the sun's corona was visible "at least 10 solar diameters [beyond the lunar limb]," according to Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This allowed mission specialist Christina Koch to photograph mountains and other topography silhouetted by the sun's atmosphere along a wide arc of the Moon's edge.
The meteors were a complete surprise. "We're seeing them near the Moon's equator," reported Wiseman during the live webcast. Later, his crewmate Victor Glover spotted one near the Moon's South Pole. All of them appeared as bright flashes of light on the lunar surface.
Lunar meteors are different than Earth meteors. Here on Earth, meteoroids burn up in the atmosphere. On the airless Moon, they slam directly into the surface. NASA has been monitoring these impacts since 2006, logging about 20 per year on average. The crew of Artemis II saw 5 or 6 in about 30 minutes.
Earth rising over the edge of the Moon on April 6, 2026
The Moon was mostly but not completely dark during the meteor shower. The soft blue-tinged glow of Earth itself was cast across the lunar terrain. "The Earthshine is unreal," reported Glover. "Humans have not evolved to see what we are seeing. It's hard to describe"
The crew downloaded their photos to Earth overnight, and many of them will be released/discussed during NASA's April 7th press conference scheduled for 4:00 pm EDT. Prepare to be amazed.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
"BEST MOM EVER" TEA CUP FROM SPACE: Mother's Day is coming soon. Here's a gift she'll use every day: The Best Mom Ever Tea Cup. Last October it flew to the edge of space onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $134.95. The crystal glass cup is decorated with 3D pink and purple daisies, and comes with a matching teaspoon. Also included is a greeting card showing the cup in flight and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere. See also: The High Tea Cup.
Earth to Sky Mother's Day 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. And, best of all, all sales support student science projects and STEM education.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Comet 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 April 07, 2026, the network reported 1 fireballs.
(1 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 April 7, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
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Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2026 FQ8 |
2026-Apr-02 |
8.1 LD |
8.1 |
23 |
| 2026 GA |
2026-Apr-02 |
7.9 LD |
6.2 |
23 |
| 2026 FD4 |
2026-Apr-02 |
8 LD |
6 |
10 |
| 2026 FR6 |
2026-Apr-02 |
15.3 LD |
17.1 |
25 |
| 2026 FR4 |
2026-Apr-02 |
14 LD |
6.8 |
12 |
| 2025 GL |
2026-Apr-03 |
9.8 LD |
6.4 |
5 |
| 2019 FQ1 |
2026-Apr-03 |
9.6 LD |
10.1 |
13 |
| 2023 DZ2 |
2026-Apr-04 |
2.6 LD |
7.2 |
49 |
| 2026 FG5 |
2026-Apr-04 |
8.6 LD |
24.8 |
37 |
| 2026 FB6 |
2026-Apr-04 |
12.6 LD |
6.8 |
10 |
| 2026 FH6 |
2026-Apr-04 |
18.1 LD |
8.1 |
36 |
| 2026 FF7 |
2026-Apr-04 |
4.6 LD |
13.1 |
11 |
| 2026 FW6 |
2026-Apr-05 |
15.4 LD |
19.8 |
27 |
| 2021 GN6 |
2026-Apr-06 |
5.8 LD |
7 |
14 |
| 2011 FT9 |
2026-Apr-07 |
3.4 LD |
5.9 |
20 |
| 2024 TB7 |
2026-Apr-07 |
4.9 LD |
7.5 |
5 |
| 2002 TB70 |
2026-Apr-07 |
13.4 LD |
9.2 |
164 |
| 2026 GD |
2026-Apr-09 |
0.7 LD |
12.7 |
17 |
| 2022 GE2 |
2026-Apr-10 |
12 LD |
9.2 |
15 |
| 2026 FE7 |
2026-Apr-11 |
8.9 LD |
7.8 |
29 |
| 2026 GC |
2026-Apr-11 |
13.6 LD |
8.2 |
39 |
| 2023 HB4 |
2026-Apr-12 |
16.8 LD |
8.7 |
15 |
| 2026 FV6 |
2026-Apr-13 |
7.4 LD |
11.1 |
29 |
| 2013 GM3 |
2026-Apr-14 |
0.7 LD |
7.4 |
20 |
| 2026 FJ6 |
2026-Apr-18 |
15.8 LD |
9.8 |
95 |
| 2026 AC4 |
2026-Apr-20 |
10.7 LD |
1.2 |
22 |
| 2022 UG2 |
2026-Apr-20 |
16.3 LD |
10.3 |
13 |
| 2025 HQ4 |
2026-Apr-21 |
16.4 LD |
12.5 |
22 |
| 2026 BK2 |
2026-Apr-22 |
10 LD |
8.1 |
219 |
| 2022 UU8 |
2026-Apr-25 |
8.7 LD |
4 |
9 |
| 2020 GE3 |
2026-May-09 |
11.1 LD |
6 |
21 |
| 2023 VR5 |
2026-May-16 |
7.5 LD |
2.3 |
10 |
| 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 |
| 2023 BM4 |
2026-May-30 |
12.2 LD |
5.7 |
64 |
| 2021 KN2 |
2026-Jun-03 |
8.9 LD |
8.9 |
7 |
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 |
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current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page. See also, all satellite statistics. |
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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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These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! |
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