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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A HOLE IN THE SUN'S ATMOSPHERE: A large hole has opened in the sun's atmosphere, and it is directly facing Earth. High-speed solar wind flowing from this coronal hole should arrive on April 18th, potentially sparking G2-class geomagnetc storms. The New Moon will provide dark skies and a nice canvas for long-exposure photography of auroras. Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
STARLINK DECLARES WAR ON COMETS: Earlier this year, the number of Starlink satellites in Earth orbit surpassed 10,000. You can see the evidence in the sky:
Dan Bush took this picture before sunrise on April 16th from Albany, Missouri. It's supposed to be a picture of Comet PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3), but it contains far more satellites than comets--more than 35 Starlinks in the full-frame photo.
"The 'Starlink Zone of Maximum Reflection' appeared right in front of the comet," says Bush. "Stacking 30-second exposures helped alleviate the satellites, but they're still there."
Bush's photo is no fluke. In the past year, the number of comet photos criss-crossed by satellites submitted to our gallery has jumped more than 10-fold. The actual counts are certainly greater. Many astrophotographers use software to remove the streaks (e.g., StarXTerminator and Cosmic Clarity), then submit the scrubbed photos without mentioning that they were photobombed.
Sometimes, Starlink is the point: "Like any good astrophotographer, I was out in the pre-twilight hours of April 15th photographing Comet PanSTARRS," says David Blanchard of Mormon Lake, Arizona. This is what he saw:
"Having Starlink satellites move across the image is expected these days -- but I was not expecting this!" he says. "Some of the Starlinks were as bright as Venus." (They had launched only 6 1/2 hours earlier and were still in extra-bright low orbits.)
Comet PanSTARRS is especially vulnerable to photobombing. It hugs the morning horizon in a patch of twilight sky where Starlinks are outside of Earth's shadow. There, the satellites do a great job reflecting high-altitude sunlight into telescopes.
The Space Weather Photo Gallery is 10+ years older than the Starlink program, and it contains phenomena of all types--from Auroras to Zodiacal Lights. We find that comet photos are disproportionately susceptible to interference. Comets tend to be close to the sun, where Starlinks are brightest, and the field of view + exposure time of a typical comet photo is perfect for catching satellites.
Ultimately, SpaceX plans for 42,000 satellites. Note to the Editor: Next year, re-title this piece "The Good Old Days."
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
MOTHER'S LOVE IRON SCULPTURE: Mother's Day is coming soon. Here's a gift she'll never forget: The Mother's Love Iron Sculpture. On Nov. 13, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $159.95. Handmade from iron, the sculpture depicts a young mother holding her child in a loving embrace. The gift-boxed figurine includes a unique keepsake card showing the sculpture at the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Inside, the card tells the story of the flight and certifies that this gift has been to the edge of space--and back again.
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 16, 2026, the network reported 6 fireballs.
(6 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 17, 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 GR1 |
2026-Apr-12 |
0.9 LD |
6.7 |
10 |
| 2026 HA |
2026-Apr-12 |
11.6 LD |
16.3 |
29 |
| 2023 HB4 |
2026-Apr-12 |
16.8 LD |
8.7 |
15 |
| 2026 FV6 |
2026-Apr-13 |
7.5 LD |
11.2 |
29 |
| 2026 GW1 |
2026-Apr-13 |
3.1 LD |
13.6 |
14 |
| 2026 GX1 |
2026-Apr-14 |
13.1 LD |
4.7 |
15 |
| 2013 GM3 |
2026-Apr-14 |
0.7 LD |
7.4 |
20 |
| 2026 FX13 |
2026-Apr-14 |
7.1 LD |
11.8 |
29 |
| 2026 GN2 |
2026-Apr-15 |
12.6 LD |
20.7 |
30 |
| 2026 GS2 |
2026-Apr-15 |
4.7 LD |
9.1 |
14 |
| 2026 GP2 |
2026-Apr-16 |
8.4 LD |
18.2 |
21 |
| 2026 GT |
2026-Apr-16 |
11.7 LD |
16 |
18 |
| 2026 GA2 |
2026-Apr-16 |
3.6 LD |
10.5 |
14 |
| 2026 GT2 |
2026-Apr-16 |
5.7 LD |
28.7 |
31 |
| 2026 GQ2 |
2026-Apr-16 |
1 LD |
6.9 |
5 |
| 2026 HE |
2026-Apr-17 |
11 LD |
6.8 |
20 |
| 2026 GA1 |
2026-Apr-17 |
12.2 LD |
7.8 |
20 |
| 2026 HG |
2026-Apr-17 |
2.8 LD |
8 |
6 |
| 2026 GO2 |
2026-Apr-17 |
17.8 LD |
20.5 |
49 |
| 2026 GR2 |
2026-Apr-18 |
7.7 LD |
6.5 |
12 |
| 2026 FJ6 |
2026-Apr-18 |
15.8 LD |
9.8 |
89 |
| 2026 GM1 |
2026-Apr-18 |
3.5 LD |
5.6 |
28 |
| 2026 HF |
2026-Apr-20 |
9.8 LD |
5.5 |
36 |
| 2026 AC4 |
2026-Apr-20 |
10.7 LD |
1.2 |
22 |
| 2022 UG2 |
2026-Apr-20 |
16.3 LD |
10.3 |
13 |
| 2026 GJ1 |
2026-Apr-21 |
8.7 LD |
22.2 |
66 |
| 2025 HQ4 |
2026-Apr-21 |
16.4 LD |
12.5 |
22 |
| 2026 GZ1 |
2026-Apr-21 |
15.5 LD |
10.3 |
49 |
| 2026 GL2 |
2026-Apr-22 |
7.1 LD |
10.4 |
33 |
| 2026 BK2 |
2026-Apr-22 |
10 LD |
8.1 |
219 |
| 2022 UU8 |
2026-Apr-25 |
8.7 LD |
4 |
9 |
| 2026 GU1 |
2026-Apr-28 |
12.5 LD |
6.4 |
75 |
| 2026 GD1 |
2026-May-03 |
14.6 LD |
6.7 |
51 |
| 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 |
| 2018 GE |
2026-Jun-07 |
16.4 LD |
3.1 |
11 |
| 2016 VS |
2026-Jun-12 |
20 LD |
11.1 |
12 |
| 530520 |
2026-Jun-12 |
16.1 LD |
14.6 |
152 |
Notes: LD means
"Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance
between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256
AU.
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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. |
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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 |
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from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
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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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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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