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SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
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Updated at: 2026 Mar 12 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
20
% |
20
% |
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 Mar 12 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
45
% |
45
% |
MINOR |
25
% |
25
% |
SEVERE |
05
% |
05
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
05
% |
05
% |
MINOR |
20
% |
20
% |
SEVERE |
65
% |
65
% |
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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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PHOTOS WANTED--CALIFORNIA STARLINK LAUNCH: This morning just before 7 am PDT, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 25 Starlink satellites. Did you see it? Please submit photos here.
FRIDAY THE 13TH GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A corotating interaction region (CIR) hit Earth's magnetic field on March 13th, sparking a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with auroras across northern-tier US states. Jessica Fridrich photographed the display from Binghamton, NY:
"These auroras appeared at ~00:30 EDT," says Fridrich. "It looks like we will have some nice conditions tonight as we are just getting into a CIR. I encourage those living perhaps as far as 38N to give it a shot."
CIRs are transition zones between fast- and slow-moving streams of solar wind. Often, they contain enhanced magnetic fields that connect to Earth's magnetic field, causing the kind of light show Fridrich witnessed. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
WHAT'S HAPPENING INSIDE THESE SUNSPOTS? If you stare at a sunspot long enough, you may start to see things you cannot explain. Here are two examples:
David Wilson of Inverness, Scotland, made these movies last week. "They are 'umbral flashers'," he says. "I inverted the video to better show the phenomenon."
Umbral flashes are ripples that emerge from the cores of some sunspots. You can see them most clearly in the sunspot on the left (AR4378). It looks like stones dropped in a pond of solar fire, producing rapid-fire concentric rings.
Researchers are not sure why this happens. One theory holds that gas from the sun's atmosphere falls into the umbra. When it reaches the "floor" of the sunspot, the gas rebounds, forming luminous shockwaves that ripple outwards from the center.
The sunspot on the right (AR4381) illustrates this idea beautifully with a clear plume of material falling into the sunspot. Yet a third sunspot not shown above has the clearest ripples of all--with no obvious infall. Thus, the mystery persists.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
"I NEED MY SPACE" SNOOPY CUP: Coffee tastes better in a cup that's been to space. On July 16th, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this Snoopy cup to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is floating more than 105,315 feet above Earth's surface:
You can have it for $119.95. It's Peanuts for a cup from space! The students are selling Snoopy cups to support their cosmic ray monitoring program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the cup in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Every item in the Earth to Sky Store has been to the edge of space--floating above 99.7% of Earth's atmosphere, experiencing space-like blasts of cosmic rays, extreme cold, and a wild ride parachuting back to Earth. 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 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 March 13, 2026, the network reported 4 fireballs.
(4 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 13, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2026 EU |
2026-Mar-08 |
1.3 LD |
15.5 |
12 |
| 2026 ER |
2026-Mar-08 |
9.1 LD |
9.8 |
21 |
| 2012 DF31 |
2026-Mar-08 |
13.4 LD |
16 |
43 |
| 2026 DM8 |
2026-Mar-08 |
15.7 LD |
15.8 |
34 |
| 2026 ES1 |
2026-Mar-08 |
0.6 LD |
10.6 |
3 |
| 2026 DY7 |
2026-Mar-08 |
9.1 LD |
7.7 |
21 |
| 2015 EX |
2026-Mar-08 |
1.5 LD |
10.7 |
22 |
| 2026 EX1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
5.2 LD |
10.6 |
11 |
| 2026 EK |
2026-Mar-09 |
3.1 LD |
14.5 |
17 |
| 2026 EQ1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
0.7 LD |
25.2 |
11 |
| 2026 EL1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
0.8 LD |
15.9 |
9 |
| 2026 DH11 |
2026-Mar-09 |
3.3 LD |
12.7 |
19 |
| 2026 DQ11 |
2026-Mar-09 |
13 LD |
10.3 |
42 |
| 2020 GE |
2026-Mar-09 |
16.1 LD |
1.3 |
8 |
| 2012 QD8 |
2026-Mar-09 |
7.8 LD |
21.3 |
90 |
| 2026 ER1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
3.7 LD |
21.7 |
22 |
| 2026 EL |
2026-Mar-09 |
11.5 LD |
5.8 |
16 |
| 2026 DE7 |
2026-Mar-09 |
18.9 LD |
9.5 |
42 |
| 2026 EP1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
2.7 LD |
7.9 |
14 |
| 2025 EK4 |
2026-Mar-10 |
14.8 LD |
10 |
56 |
| 2021 BW1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
14.6 LD |
4.1 |
18 |
| 2026 EH1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
6.2 LD |
6.6 |
12 |
| 2026 ET1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
9.9 LD |
6.6 |
13 |
| 2026 ES |
2026-Mar-10 |
2.8 LD |
18.7 |
10 |
| 2026 EW1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
4.6 LD |
7.9 |
8 |
| 2023 ET2 |
2026-Mar-11 |
7.8 LD |
12.7 |
3 |
| 2026 CC3 |
2026-Mar-11 |
4.1 LD |
1.7 |
10 |
| 2026 EO |
2026-Mar-11 |
10.2 LD |
9.7 |
25 |
| 2025 DP3 |
2026-Mar-11 |
9.4 LD |
9.1 |
28 |
| 2026 EJ1 |
2026-Mar-11 |
2.1 LD |
10.1 |
10 |
| 2014 EB4 |
2026-Mar-12 |
14.9 LD |
8.9 |
23 |
| 2026 ET |
2026-Mar-12 |
5 LD |
22 |
59 |
| 2026 EE2 |
2026-Mar-12 |
2.2 LD |
7.3 |
51 |
| 2026 EG1 |
2026-Mar-13 |
0.8 LD |
9.6 |
13 |
| 2026 EJ2 |
2026-Mar-13 |
12.8 LD |
17.1 |
36 |
| 2007 EG |
2026-Mar-15 |
4.5 LD |
7.8 |
44 |
| 2026 EC1 |
2026-Mar-15 |
4 LD |
12.5 |
15 |
| 2026 CR3 |
2026-Mar-16 |
19.5 LD |
9.1 |
75 |
| 2015 VO142 |
2026-Mar-17 |
2.7 LD |
3.1 |
6 |
| 2026 DU17 |
2026-Mar-17 |
18.7 LD |
9.3 |
23 |
| 2026 DP10 |
2026-Mar-17 |
10.4 LD |
10.8 |
53 |
| 2021 FS |
2026-Mar-18 |
18.2 LD |
7.2 |
9 |
| 2026 EF2 |
2026-Mar-19 |
4.6 LD |
5.9 |
12 |
| 2026 DP15 |
2026-Mar-19 |
5.2 LD |
7.7 |
23 |
| 2026 DV17 |
2026-Mar-19 |
2.3 LD |
4.9 |
15 |
| 2010 RA91 |
2026-Mar-22 |
4.7 LD |
9.9 |
68 |
| 2022 FY |
2026-Mar-24 |
10.1 LD |
6.5 |
9 |
| 2025 SP20 |
2026-Mar-25 |
18.8 LD |
11 |
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 |
| 2021 GN6 |
2026-Apr-06 |
5.8 LD |
7 |
14 |
| 2024 TB7 |
2026-Apr-07 |
4.9 LD |
7.5 |
5 |
| 2002 TB70 |
2026-Apr-07 |
13.4 LD |
9.2 |
164 |
| 2022 GE2 |
2026-Apr-10 |
12 LD |
9.2 |
15 |
| 2023 HB4 |
2026-Apr-12 |
16.8 LD |
8.7 |
15 |
| 2013 GM3 |
2026-Apr-14 |
0.7 LD |
7.4 |
20 |
| 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 |
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.
| |
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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These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! |
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©2021 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips. |
