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SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
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Updated at: 2025 Oct 23 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
10
% |
10
% |
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: 2025 Oct 23 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
10
% |
20
% |
MINOR |
01
% |
05
% |
SEVERE |
01
% |
01
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
20
% |
15
% |
MINOR |
20
% |
30
% |
SEVERE |
10
% |
25
% |
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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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INTERSTELLAR COMET ATLAS *IS* VISIBLE FROM EARTH: Supposedly, Comet 3I/ATLAS cannot be seen from Earth as it passes behind the sun this month. However, Thai amateur astronomer Worachate Boonplod realized that it is visible, after all. Boonplod found it in daily images from NOAA's CCOR-1 coronagraph. The Earth-orbiting instrument will be able to track the comet and monitor its brightness as it approaches perihelion.
DID YOU CATCH COMET LEMMON? On Oct. 21st, Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) made its closest approach to Earth. Did you catch it? Wioleta Gorecka did:
"This photo was taken in Iceland near Reykjavik," says Gorecka. "I like to tell short stories through photos. This time it was a fisher(wo)man's attempt to catch a comet."
The comet is receding from Earth now, but good news: It is still brightening. Multiple observers reporting to the Comet Observation Database estimate it is near m=+3.8. This is because the comet is approaching the sun for a 0.53 AU perihelion Nov. 8th. Solar heat is boosting its brightness. The comet will therefore remain a splendid target for astrophotographers for weeks to come.
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
FARSIDE EXPLOSION (UPDATED): Late on Oct. 21st, something exploded on the farside of the sun. The blast produced a fast and potent CME, shown here in an animation from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
The USAF reported Type II radio emissions from this CME with high-velocity drift rates: 2474 km/s--a sign of fast-moving shocks inside the CME. Only a handful of CMEs in the Space Age have moved significantly faster, such as the great CME of Aug. 1972 (2850 km/s) and a CME propelled by an X8 flare in Sept. 2017 (2600--3300 km/s).
Update: New 3D models of this CME from NASA's Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office suggest a lower speed, around 1320 km/s. This is still very fast, but not the record-setter indicated by Type II solar radio emissions.
According to a NASA model, the CME just hit Venus. Venus does not have an internally generated global magnetic field to protect it, so the impact probably eroded some gas from the planet's cloudtops. Venus's crushingly-thick atmosphere won't notice.
The source of the explosion approximately matches the location of old sunspot 4246, currently transiting the farside of the sun. Only a week ago, that dangerous sunspot was facing Earth. ==> We dodged a bullet. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
MILKY WAY IN A CRYSTAL BALL: Are you looking for a big gift? How about the entire Milky Way? The students of Earth to Sky Calculus have launched our own galaxy to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is 113,517 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $119.95. The galaxy is laser etched inside a 60 mm crystal sphere. You can turn it in your hands, inspecting the spiral star system from any angle. The gift-boxed sphere comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
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 Oct 22, 2025, the network reported 30 fireballs.
(19 sporadics, 8 Orionids, 1 Leonis Minorid, 1 epsilon Geminid, 1 Southern Taurid)
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 October 24, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2025 UH1 |
2025-Oct-18 |
3.8 LD |
10.3 |
6 |
| 2025 UH3 |
2025-Oct-18 |
5.7 LD |
9.2 |
10 |
| 2025 UM1 |
2025-Oct-18 |
0.3 LD |
14.4 |
4 |
| 2025 UW |
2025-Oct-18 |
8.4 LD |
8.2 |
14 |
| 2022 UU15 |
2025-Oct-19 |
14.8 LD |
16.1 |
34 |
| 2025 UL |
2025-Oct-19 |
10.9 LD |
11.9 |
23 |
| 2025 TT10 |
2025-Oct-19 |
1.2 LD |
22.8 |
16 |
| 2025 UO2 |
2025-Oct-19 |
19.3 LD |
8.3 |
22 |
| 2025 UE |
2025-Oct-19 |
13.9 LD |
7.8 |
32 |
| 2025 UW3 |
2025-Oct-20 |
3.8 LD |
8.4 |
7 |
| 2025 TV10 |
2025-Oct-20 |
7.8 LD |
7.2 |
35 |
| 2025 UB2 |
2025-Oct-20 |
19.7 LD |
17 |
50 |
| 2025 TJ11 |
2025-Oct-20 |
7.2 LD |
13.1 |
25 |
| 2025 UR |
2025-Oct-21 |
3.7 LD |
11.6 |
20 |
| 2025 SD7 |
2025-Oct-21 |
9.9 LD |
12.5 |
55 |
| 2025 TQ10 |
2025-Oct-21 |
9.3 LD |
7.4 |
44 |
| 2023 UK3 |
2025-Oct-21 |
6.7 LD |
9 |
5 |
| 2025 UN1 |
2025-Oct-21 |
16.2 LD |
12.6 |
30 |
| 2025 UX |
2025-Oct-21 |
11.9 LD |
6.5 |
21 |
| 2025 TU4 |
2025-Oct-21 |
15.4 LD |
7.7 |
17 |
| 2025 TU10 |
2025-Oct-21 |
15.9 LD |
7.3 |
25 |
| 2025 UJ4 |
2025-Oct-21 |
0.2 LD |
7.1 |
3 |
| 2025 UJ1 |
2025-Oct-22 |
2.5 LD |
15.3 |
11 |
| 2025 UC2 |
2025-Oct-22 |
0.9 LD |
10.6 |
9 |
| 2025 UB |
2025-Oct-22 |
3.2 LD |
5.4 |
12 |
| 2024 GD2 |
2025-Oct-22 |
17.8 LD |
4.2 |
28 |
| 2025 UV1 |
2025-Oct-22 |
5.5 LD |
11.7 |
21 |
| 2025 UA2 |
2025-Oct-22 |
4.6 LD |
11.3 |
13 |
| 2025 UK2 |
2025-Oct-22 |
13.7 LD |
7.2 |
30 |
| 2025 UE1 |
2025-Oct-22 |
0.7 LD |
15.3 |
17 |
| 2025 TG11 |
2025-Oct-22 |
10.4 LD |
10.8 |
19 |
| 2025 UP1 |
2025-Oct-23 |
18.4 LD |
6.8 |
12 |
| 2022 HM1 |
2025-Oct-23 |
15.1 LD |
13.3 |
27 |
| 2025 UR3 |
2025-Oct-23 |
1.3 LD |
9.9 |
8 |
| 2025 UE2 |
2025-Oct-23 |
5.9 LD |
9.2 |
11 |
| 2025 UD2 |
2025-Oct-23 |
2.1 LD |
9.6 |
16 |
| 2025 UL1 |
2025-Oct-24 |
9.1 LD |
14.1 |
30 |
| 2025 TX2 |
2025-Oct-24 |
6.3 LD |
6.8 |
26 |
| 2025 UG4 |
2025-Oct-25 |
16.4 LD |
25.8 |
40 |
| 2012 TP231 |
2025-Oct-25 |
15.2 LD |
6.7 |
37 |
| 2025 UX1 |
2025-Oct-25 |
3.6 LD |
14.4 |
10 |
| 2025 UP2 |
2025-Oct-25 |
5.2 LD |
3.1 |
6 |
| 2025 UD3 |
2025-Oct-25 |
1.9 LD |
6.3 |
7 |
| 2025 UU |
2025-Oct-25 |
5 LD |
12.6 |
28 |
| 2020 FA5 |
2025-Oct-26 |
15.7 LD |
26.5 |
210 |
| 2025 UU1 |
2025-Oct-26 |
16.1 LD |
13.2 |
26 |
| 2025 UV2 |
2025-Oct-26 |
14.6 LD |
7.7 |
12 |
| 2009 HC |
2025-Oct-26 |
8.6 LD |
4.2 |
39 |
| 2025 UJ2 |
2025-Oct-26 |
18.9 LD |
14.5 |
48 |
| 2025 UF3 |
2025-Oct-27 |
6.2 LD |
3.2 |
14 |
| 434196 |
2025-Oct-27 |
17.4 LD |
10.9 |
171 |
| 2025 UQ1 |
2025-Oct-28 |
10.4 LD |
5.8 |
10 |
| 2025 UH2 |
2025-Oct-29 |
19.3 LD |
8.9 |
29 |
| 2025 UL2 |
2025-Oct-29 |
3.9 LD |
12.4 |
21 |
| 2025 UF4 |
2025-Oct-30 |
15.3 LD |
10.2 |
79 |
| 2025 TP11 |
2025-Nov-02 |
12 LD |
8.4 |
35 |
| 2005 EZ223 |
2025-Nov-03 |
15.6 LD |
12.9 |
118 |
| 2023 VK6 |
2025-Nov-03 |
7.6 LD |
9.6 |
15 |
| 2025 TB12 |
2025-Nov-04 |
7.3 LD |
6.3 |
22 |
| 2025 UL4 |
2025-Nov-07 |
16.9 LD |
8.2 |
25 |
| 2021 VQ10 |
2025-Nov-08 |
9 LD |
15 |
13 |
| 2019 UH7 |
2025-Nov-08 |
13.3 LD |
5.8 |
11 |
| 2018 KC |
2025-Nov-09 |
16 LD |
9.3 |
11 |
| 2017 WG14 |
2025-Nov-09 |
16.7 LD |
11.7 |
45 |
| 2020 VK4 |
2025-Nov-10 |
16.4 LD |
3.8 |
9 |
| 2012 VC26 |
2025-Nov-11 |
13.3 LD |
6.4 |
6 |
| 2019 VL5 |
2025-Nov-14 |
14.7 LD |
9.1 |
24 |
| 2022 FG4 |
2025-Nov-17 |
18.7 LD |
22.2 |
105 |
| 3361 |
2025-Nov-19 |
14.8 LD |
9.1 |
435 |
| 2013 NJ4 |
2025-Nov-20 |
12.6 LD |
6.4 |
12 |
| 2021 WR |
2025-Nov-22 |
19.3 LD |
10 |
31 |
| 516155 |
2025-Nov-24 |
12.5 LD |
16.7 |
338 |
| 2020 WM |
2025-Nov-24 |
17.4 LD |
11.8 |
36 |
| 2019 UT6 |
2025-Nov-25 |
6.2 LD |
12.6 |
147 |
| 2018 WG2 |
2025-Nov-27 |
13.5 LD |
7.5 |
3 |
| 2007 VM184 |
2025-Dec-01 |
13.1 LD |
20 |
224 |
| 2018 WC2 |
2025-Dec-03 |
9.8 LD |
8.9 |
36 |
| 2021 JE1 |
2025-Dec-08 |
13.5 LD |
7.1 |
16 |
| 2019 XN3 |
2025-Dec-10 |
5.7 LD |
3.6 |
15 |
| 1999 SF10 |
2025-Dec-10 |
8.2 LD |
4.4 |
46 |
| 2016 YH |
2025-Dec-13 |
6.8 LD |
8.9 |
28 |
| 2025 TZ |
2025-Dec-16 |
19.1 LD |
6.1 |
48 |
| 2015 XX168 |
2025-Dec-18 |
4.7 LD |
11.6 |
27 |
| 2010 WR7 |
2025-Dec-20 |
19.5 LD |
8.3 |
71 |
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 |
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The
first place to look for information about sundogs,
pillars, rainbows and related phenomena. |
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Researchers
call it a "Hubble for the sun." SDO
is the most advanced solar observatory ever. |
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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. |
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from the NOAA Space Environment Center |
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the
underlying science of space weather |
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