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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PI DAY GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possiblecon March 14th (Pi Day) when a stream of solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a long narrow hole in the sun's atmosphere. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
COMET VS STARLINK: Last month, astronomer Gerald Rhemann attempted to photograph Comet Wierzchoś (C/2024 E1) during its closest approach to Earth. The comet was outnumbered 10:1 by satellites:
"The video is made from 19 files, each one was exposed for 120 seconds," says Rhemann. During that time 10 ±1 satellites criss-crossed the field of view. (The uncertainly is because two of the streaks are very faint.) Most if not all were Starlinks.
Much can be seen in this busy image. "The dynamic of the comets ion tail is visible, and the comet is moving along the Sculptor dwarf galaxy," notes Rhemann. "Nevertheless, satellite interference is a growing challenge."
It's about to worsen. Right now, Earth is surrounded by almost 10,000 Starlinks with future plans calling for 42,000. Amazon’s Project Kuiper has begun launching its own planned 3,200-satellite broadband fleet, while China is building two more megaconstellations: Guowang (13,000 satellites) and "Qianfan" ("Thousand Sails", 15,000-plus). Together, they could eventually rival Starlink or even surpass it.
Because satellite megaconstellations are an increasingly important aspect of space weather and amateur astronomy, we've decided to track them--starting with Starlink. Look here. Every day we will update Starlink Statistics, eventually adding other megaconstellations when they become important.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
EQUINOX AURORAS: During weeks around equinoxes, something happens that took scientists decades to understand: The magnetic field of Earth can link to the magnetic field of the sun. It's called the "Russell-McPherron effect," and it is responsible for these unexpected auroras over New York on Monday night:
"The equinox enhancement is working," says photographer Jessica Fridrich of Binghamton, NY. "During other times of the year, storms in the Kp=3 range are normally not within what I can capture from here at 42N. This substorm, which occurred at 22:45 pm EDST was an overachiever."
Auroras love equinoxes! Stay tuned for more as the northern vernal equinox approaches on March 20th. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
THE BLUE MOON PENDANT: There's Blue Moon coming in May. You can have the Blue Moon Pendant now. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew it to the edge of space on Oct 11, 20925, onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
It's yours for $99.95. The colors of the pendent depict subtle but real colors on the Moon. Blue denotes areas rich in titanium, while orange is titanium poor. Titanium-rich zones are particularly interesting because lunar titanium is bound to oxygen--a key ingredient for life support in lunar greenhouses and spacesuits. The "Mineral Moon" shown on the pendant is a scientifically accurate map of these elements.
The pendant comes with a greeting card showing the Blue Moon in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the top of Earth's atmosphere. It makes a great birthday, anniversary, or (coming soon!) Mother's Day gift.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather 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 09, 2026, the network reported 7 fireballs.
(7 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 11, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2026 EE |
2026-Mar-05 |
5.8 LD |
13.4 |
40 |
| 2026 EH |
2026-Mar-05 |
2.9 LD |
3.8 |
7 |
| 2026 DM15 |
2026-Mar-06 |
12.3 LD |
7.9 |
95 |
| 2021 ER |
2026-Mar-06 |
6.4 LD |
4 |
14 |
| 2026 EG |
2026-Mar-06 |
8.1 LD |
11.2 |
33 |
| 2017 BM123 |
2026-Mar-06 |
19.9 LD |
7.2 |
61 |
| 2026 DW14 |
2026-Mar-07 |
12.5 LD |
12 |
18 |
| 2026 DG7 |
2026-Mar-07 |
9.4 LD |
16 |
30 |
| 2026 EX |
2026-Mar-07 |
3.2 LD |
4.3 |
5 |
| 2026 EM |
2026-Mar-07 |
0.1 LD |
8.2 |
2 |
| 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 DY7 |
2026-Mar-08 |
9.1 LD |
7.7 |
21 |
| 2026 EK1 |
2026-Mar-08 |
1.5 LD |
10.7 |
19 |
| 2026 EK |
2026-Mar-09 |
3.1 LD |
14.5 |
17 |
| 2026 EL1 |
2026-Mar-09 |
0.8 LD |
15.9 |
9 |
| 2026 DH11 |
2026-Mar-09 |
3.3 LD |
12.7 |
18 |
| 2026 DQ11 |
2026-Mar-09 |
13 LD |
10.3 |
42 |
| 2020 GE |
2026-Mar-09 |
16.1 LD |
1.3 |
8 |
| 2026 EL |
2026-Mar-09 |
11.5 LD |
5.8 |
16 |
| 2026 DE7 |
2026-Mar-09 |
18.9 LD |
9.5 |
42 |
| 2025 EK4 |
2026-Mar-10 |
14.8 LD |
10 |
55 |
| 2021 BW1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
14.6 LD |
4.1 |
18 |
| 2026 EH1 |
2026-Mar-10 |
6.2 LD |
6.6 |
12 |
| 2026 ES |
2026-Mar-10 |
2.8 LD |
18.8 |
10 |
| 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 |
26 |
| 2025 DP3 |
2026-Mar-11 |
9.4 LD |
9.1 |
27 |
| 2026 EJ1 |
2026-Mar-11 |
2.1 LD |
10.1 |
10 |
| 2026 ET |
2026-Mar-12 |
5 LD |
22 |
58 |
| 2026 EG1 |
2026-Mar-13 |
0.8 LD |
9.6 |
13 |
| 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 |
73 |
| 2015 VO142 |
2026-Mar-17 |
2.7 LD |
3.1 |
6 |
| 2026 DP10 |
2026-Mar-17 |
10.4 LD |
10.8 |
50 |
| 2021 FS |
2026-Mar-18 |
18.2 LD |
7.2 |
9 |
| 2026 DP15 |
2026-Mar-19 |
5.1 LD |
7.5 |
23 |
| 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 |
50 |
| 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 |
162 |
| 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 |
21 |
| 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 |
212 |
| 2022 UU8 |
2026-Apr-25 |
8.7 LD |
4 |
9 |
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. |
| |
These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! |
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