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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
2.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2.67 quiet
explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.61 nT
Bz: 0.20 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1057 UT
Coronal Holes: 31 Aug 25
There are no equatorial coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: NASA/SDO | more data
Polar Stratospheric Clouds
Colorful Type II polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) form when the temperature in the stratosphere drops to a staggeringly low -85C. NASA's MERRA-2 climate model predicts when the air up there is cold enough:
On Aug 27, 2025, the Arctic stratosphere is much too hot for polar stratospheric clouds. | more data.
Noctilucent Clouds
The northern season for noctilucent clouds is underway. First reports of the electric-blue clouds came from Russia on May 28, 2025. Since then, the clouds have spread to lower latitudes, reaching Paris, France, during a major outbreak on June 23, 2025. The seson is ending in an interesting way. Usually the clouds vanish in August, but they have persisted and sometimes been quite storng as August comes to an end.
Above: Aug. 21, 2025, Björköby, Finland
"These late season noctilucent clouds drifted in front of the crescent moon. It was quite beautiful," says photographer Sebastian Sainio.
See the complete NLC Photo Gallery
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
|
Updated at: 2025 Aug 31 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
65
% |
65
% |
CLASS X |
20
% |
20
% |
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 Aug 31 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
25
% |
25
% |
MINOR |
40
% |
35
% |
SEVERE |
30
% |
35
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
05
% |
05
% |
MINOR |
15
% |
15
% |
SEVERE |
79
% |
85
% |
|
|
|
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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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STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: A strong geomagnetic storm watch is in effect following yesterday's Earth-directed solar flare, described below. A halo CME is expected to hit Earth during the late hours of Sept. 1st, sparking a G3-class geomagnetic storm that could persist through Sept. 2nd. During such storms, auroras may be photographed in US states as far south as Virginia, Missouri and Colorado. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
A CME IS HEADING FOR EARTH: The sun is a tricky star. While we were watching giant sunspot 4197, a different, much smaller sunspot erupted. On Aug 30th at 20:02 UTC, sunspot 4204 produced a long duration M2.7-class solar flare:
Although the flare was not very intense, it lasted for 3 hours, long enough to lift a CME out of the sun's atmosphere. Indeed, data from SOHO coronagraphs confirm that a halo CME is heading straight for Earth. Here it is.
A NASA model of the CME predicts it will strike our planet late on Sept. 1st:
A NOAA model agrees with this assessment. The impact could spark a strong G3-class geomagnetic storm spilling into Sept. 2nd. During such storms, auroras may be photographed in US states as far south as Virginia, Missouri and Colorado. Stay tuned for updates as the CME approaches. CME impact alerts: SMS Text
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
REAL MONEY FROM SPACE: The US Mint has just released a new set of limited edition $1 coins to honor NASA's astronaut corps. On July 31st, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched them to the edge of space onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. Here they are, parachuting back from the stratosphere:
You can have a single coin for $49.95 or an entire unbroken roll for $299.95. No longer available from the US Mint, these rare coins flew 113,949 feet above the Sierra Nevada. One side shows an American astronaut conducting a spacewalk outside the International Space Station; the other side features the Statue of Liberty in profile.
Bonus: If you need to, you can spend these coins. They're real legal tender.
The students are selling space coins to support to support their cosmic ray research program. (Helium is expensive!) Each order comes with a greeting card showing the coins in flight and telling the story of their journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud 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 Aug 30, 2025, the network reported 25 fireballs.
(25 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 August 31, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent
& Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT) |
Miss Distance |
Velocity (km/s) |
Diameter (m) |
| 2025 QM14 |
2025-Aug-26 |
7 LD |
10.8 |
29 |
| 2025 QZ8 |
2025-Aug-26 |
16 LD |
8.6 |
29 |
| 2025 QB3 |
2025-Aug-26 |
19.1 LD |
7 |
21 |
| 2025 QY9 |
2025-Aug-26 |
8.1 LD |
17.2 |
73 |
| 2025 QK3 |
2025-Aug-26 |
11.7 LD |
12.7 |
37 |
| 2025 QB5 |
2025-Aug-26 |
11.7 LD |
4.8 |
26 |
| 2025 QC1 |
2025-Aug-27 |
4.2 LD |
9.4 |
21 |
| 2025 QW9 |
2025-Aug-27 |
5.2 LD |
6.3 |
8 |
| 2025 QM9 |
2025-Aug-27 |
3.5 LD |
11 |
20 |
| 2025 PM2 |
2025-Aug-27 |
9.7 LD |
18.5 |
59 |
| 2025 QK17 |
2025-Aug-27 |
0.3 LD |
12.3 |
3 |
| 2025 QX4 |
2025-Aug-27 |
3.7 LD |
6.9 |
24 |
| 2025 QV13 |
2025-Aug-28 |
5.6 LD |
18.3 |
15 |
| 2025 QB13 |
2025-Aug-28 |
5.5 LD |
20.4 |
27 |
| 2025 PX |
2025-Aug-29 |
16.5 LD |
7 |
53 |
| 2025 QY7 |
2025-Aug-29 |
1.8 LD |
7.2 |
5 |
| 2025 QY4 |
2025-Aug-29 |
11.8 LD |
13.5 |
53 |
| 2017 RK15 |
2025-Aug-29 |
15.8 LD |
13.2 |
26 |
| 2020 TS1 |
2025-Aug-29 |
17.8 LD |
3.3 |
5 |
| 1998 SH2 |
2025-Aug-30 |
8.1 LD |
17.3 |
246 |
| 2025 QK6 |
2025-Aug-30 |
2.8 LD |
21.5 |
15 |
| 2025 QO14 |
2025-Aug-31 |
4.7 LD |
10.8 |
14 |
| 2025 QO7 |
2025-Aug-31 |
0.7 LD |
8.2 |
15 |
| 2025 QM10 |
2025-Aug-31 |
14.6 LD |
5.3 |
11 |
| 2025 QR12 |
2025-Aug-31 |
13.6 LD |
6.6 |
66 |
| 2025 QT12 |
2025-Aug-31 |
1.4 LD |
12.9 |
11 |
| 2025 PJ3 |
2025-Sep-01 |
7.9 LD |
11.7 |
34 |
| 2025 QH16 |
2025-Sep-02 |
5.8 LD |
8.3 |
14 |
| 2025 QG16 |
2025-Sep-03 |
6.5 LD |
11.8 |
19 |
| 2025 QV5 |
2025-Sep-03 |
2.1 LD |
6.2 |
12 |
| 2025 QD8 |
2025-Sep-03 |
0.6 LD |
12.8 |
22 |
| 2025 QM6 |
2025-Sep-03 |
10.9 LD |
10 |
52 |
| 2025 PF3 |
2025-Sep-03 |
16.3 LD |
6.9 |
22 |
| 2025 QV11 |
2025-Sep-04 |
16.2 LD |
11.4 |
29 |
| 2025 OG1 |
2025-Sep-05 |
14.5 LD |
4.2 |
35 |
| 2019 JG1 |
2025-Sep-09 |
18.8 LD |
7.9 |
17 |
| 2025 QV9 |
2025-Sep-10 |
5.2 LD |
4.6 |
35 |
| 2025 QL7 |
2025-Sep-11 |
15.2 LD |
10.3 |
53 |
| 2025 QJ17 |
2025-Sep-11 |
17 LD |
5.8 |
28 |
| 2009 FF |
2025-Sep-11 |
6.8 LD |
12.9 |
155 |
| 2025 QO1 |
2025-Sep-11 |
8.7 LD |
13.6 |
81 |
| 2025 QL11 |
2025-Sep-12 |
6.1 LD |
5.4 |
15 |
| 2025 QX9 |
2025-Sep-12 |
17.7 LD |
3 |
16 |
| 2015 SA |
2025-Sep-13 |
10.3 LD |
9.1 |
31 |
| 2022 SS2 |
2025-Sep-13 |
2.4 LD |
7.2 |
13 |
| 2025 QV6 |
2025-Sep-14 |
18.1 LD |
6.9 |
40 |
| 2025 QR1 |
2025-Sep-14 |
19.7 LD |
8.7 |
158 |
| 2025 QK9 |
2025-Sep-16 |
4.2 LD |
8.4 |
51 |
| 2025 FA22 |
2025-Sep-18 |
2.2 LD |
10.8 |
166 |
| 2025 PJ1 |
2025-Sep-21 |
11.6 LD |
11.9 |
132 |
| 2022 SW12 |
2025-Sep-23 |
15 LD |
17.6 |
210 |
| 2018 QT1 |
2025-Sep-23 |
13.1 LD |
12.7 |
138 |
| 2021 RN16 |
2025-Sep-23 |
10.1 LD |
8.8 |
7 |
| 2019 SF6 |
2025-Sep-28 |
20 LD |
8.4 |
20 |
| 152664 |
2025-Sep-29 |
10.1 LD |
18.6 |
412 |
| 2020 GE1 |
2025-Oct-02 |
13.7 LD |
4.7 |
14 |
| 2022 TU1 |
2025-Oct-08 |
16.9 LD |
12.9 |
10 |
| 2020 QU5 |
2025-Oct-09 |
7.1 LD |
13.6 |
26 |
| 2022 AY5 |
2025-Oct-14 |
7.4 LD |
8.4 |
5 |
| 2022 UY3 |
2025-Oct-15 |
10.2 LD |
7.4 |
15 |
| 2022 UU15 |
2025-Oct-19 |
14.8 LD |
16.1 |
34 |
| 2023 UK3 |
2025-Oct-21 |
6.7 LD |
9 |
5 |
| 2024 GD2 |
2025-Oct-22 |
17.8 LD |
4.2 |
28 |
| 2022 HM1 |
2025-Oct-23 |
15.1 LD |
13.3 |
27 |
| 2012 TP231 |
2025-Oct-25 |
15.2 LD |
6.7 |
37 |
| 2020 FA5 |
2025-Oct-26 |
15.7 LD |
26.5 |
210 |
| 2009 HC |
2025-Oct-26 |
8.6 LD |
4.2 |
41 |
| 434196 |
2025-Oct-27 |
17.4 LD |
10.9 |
171 |
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 |
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