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Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica
Credit: NOAA/Ovation
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
1.33 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 1.67 quiet
explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.49 nT
Bz: 1.58 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1017 UT
Coronal Holes: 03 Mar 25
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A new coronal hole is emerging over the sun's eastern limb. 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:
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On Mar 3, 2025, the Arctic stratosphere is cold enough for Type II clouds, but a sudden warming is predicted for later this week. | more data.
Noctilucent Clouds
The southern season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) is finished. The first clouds were detected over Antarctica on Nov. 19, 2024, and they vanished again on Feb. 21, 2025. The action will shift to the north pole in late May 2025. Until then, the map will remain blank.
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Updated: Feb. 21, 2025
An instrument onboard NOAA 21 (OMPS LP) is able to detect NLCs (also known as "polar mesospheric clouds" or PMCs). In the daily map, above, each dot is a detected cloud. As the season progresses, these dots will multiply in number and shift in hue from blue to red as the brightness of the clouds intensifies.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts |
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Updated at: 2025 Mar 03 2200 UTC
FLARE |
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
CLASS M |
30
% |
30
% |
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 Mar 03 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
35
% |
35
% |
MINOR |
30
% |
30
% |
SEVERE |
10
% |
10
% |
High latitudes
|
0-24
hr |
24-48
hr |
ACTIVE |
10
% |
10
% |
MINOR |
25
% |
25
% |
SEVERE |
65
% |
65
% |
|
|
|
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This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by Large Language Models is spreading rapidly 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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A CME IS COMING: On Mar. 1st, a magnetic filament on the sun erupted and hurled a CME into space. NOAA forecasters say it will graze Earth on March 4th, potentially sparking a G1-class geomagnetic storm. High latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras if/when the CME arrives. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO LOOK AT VENUS: Like the Moon, Venus has phases. At the moment, both are slender crescents. Gadi Eidelheit photographed the two side-by-side in the evening sky of Yavne, Israel:
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"Even with simple 7*35 binoculars the crescent of Venus is visible, and with larger magnifications it is really impressive," says Eidelheit.
Now is a special time for observing Venus. On Mar. 22nd, Venus will pass almost directly between Earth and the sun--an event astronomers call "inferior solar conjunction." Between now and then, the planet will narrow, becoming an increasingly-thin crescent as it turns its night side toward Earth. Nothing is prettier than the Goddess of Love in crescent form.
Maximilian Teodorescu sends this picture from the Institute of Space Science in Magurele, Romania:
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Yes, that's really Venus. "To see the planet's clouds, I used a UV filter on my 355mm (14-inch) Newtonian telescope," says Teodorescu. "The planet is getting very thin as it approaches inferior conjunction."
Indeed, now may be the best time for observing Venus. The planet is still easy to find high in the southwestern sky at sunset, and you have plenty of time to set up a telescope before it sets. Finding Venus will be more of a challenge near March 22nd when it is dangerously close to the sun. Go outside after sunset and take a look!
Realtime Venus Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
"ALWAYS & FOREVER" GOLDEN SAPPHIRE PENDANT: Are you looking for an unforgettable gift? Consider the Golden Sapphire Space Pendent. On Feb. 20, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
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You can have it for $199.95. Engraved with the words "I love you always and forever", this 18K gold-plated sterling silver pendant features a heart-shaped sapphire crystal surrounded by a ring of glittering 5A cubic zirconia nuggets. It is a visually striking premium pendant that makes a once-in-a-lifetime anniversary or birthday gift.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Space Weather 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 Mar 02, 2025, the network reported 2 fireballs.
(2 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 3, 2025 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) |
2025 DO22 |
2025-Feb-26 |
19.6 LD |
14.1 |
23 |
2025 DB30 |
2025-Feb-26 |
1 LD |
9.1 |
5 |
2025 DT1 |
2025-Feb-26 |
2.2 LD |
7.8 |
7 |
2025 EE |
2025-Feb-26 |
7.1 LD |
16.9 |
23 |
2009 DE1 |
2025-Feb-26 |
6.5 LD |
18.3 |
49 |
2025 DN6 |
2025-Feb-26 |
0.8 LD |
6 |
3 |
2025 DY |
2025-Feb-26 |
9.5 LD |
12.8 |
23 |
2025 DK3 |
2025-Feb-27 |
2.8 LD |
15.6 |
14 |
2025 DJ1 |
2025-Feb-27 |
12.9 LD |
6.4 |
35 |
2025 DF9 |
2025-Feb-27 |
12.2 LD |
4.5 |
15 |
2025 DU7 |
2025-Feb-28 |
1.8 LD |
3.2 |
5 |
2025 EK |
2025-Feb-28 |
0.7 LD |
10 |
7 |
2025 EA |
2025-Feb-28 |
9.9 LD |
11.4 |
23 |
2025 DS24 |
2025-Mar-01 |
8.6 LD |
32.1 |
21 |
2025 EG |
2025-Mar-01 |
9.4 LD |
12.5 |
46 |
2025 DH27 |
2025-Mar-01 |
17.9 LD |
11.3 |
26 |
2025 DJ22 |
2025-Mar-01 |
1.5 LD |
13.1 |
15 |
2025 DV5 |
2025-Mar-01 |
16.2 LD |
23.5 |
29 |
2025 DE5 |
2025-Mar-02 |
2 LD |
7.4 |
7 |
2025 CV1 |
2025-Mar-02 |
16.5 LD |
10.3 |
49 |
2025 DB22 |
2025-Mar-02 |
3.8 LD |
15 |
13 |
2025 DH1 |
2025-Mar-02 |
4 LD |
4.3 |
19 |
2025 DH15 |
2025-Mar-03 |
8.4 LD |
19.7 |
21 |
2025 EL |
2025-Mar-03 |
0.9 LD |
12 |
5 |
2025 DX24 |
2025-Mar-03 |
4.6 LD |
16.5 |
13 |
2025 DM7 |
2025-Mar-04 |
1.2 LD |
7.1 |
13 |
2025 DT4 |
2025-Mar-04 |
6.4 LD |
18 |
36 |
2025 DG3 |
2025-Mar-04 |
16.4 LD |
8 |
33 |
2025 DT24 |
2025-Mar-04 |
4.2 LD |
8.8 |
12 |
535844 |
2025-Mar-05 |
9.6 LD |
7.9 |
148 |
2025 DU2 |
2025-Mar-06 |
1.4 LD |
17.4 |
50 |
2025 DT3 |
2025-Mar-06 |
17.7 LD |
11.8 |
39 |
2025 DS3 |
2025-Mar-06 |
17.1 LD |
16.8 |
32 |
2025 DJ5 |
2025-Mar-06 |
19.3 LD |
8.5 |
33 |
2025 DL8 |
2025-Mar-07 |
13.2 LD |
6.7 |
32 |
2017 EV |
2025-Mar-07 |
3.1 LD |
8.2 |
16 |
2025 DD22 |
2025-Mar-07 |
7.9 LD |
7.8 |
26 |
2025 DV24 |
2025-Mar-08 |
9.4 LD |
2.4 |
8 |
2025 DZ1 |
2025-Mar-08 |
3.9 LD |
16.9 |
37 |
2025 DK7 |
2025-Mar-08 |
9.6 LD |
7 |
12 |
2025 DF8 |
2025-Mar-08 |
3.4 LD |
5.6 |
10 |
2018 RC2 |
2025-Mar-08 |
2 LD |
12.5 |
85 |
2025 ED |
2025-Mar-08 |
10.8 LD |
9.7 |
19 |
2025 DZ6 |
2025-Mar-09 |
13.1 LD |
9.9 |
35 |
2025 DB5 |
2025-Mar-10 |
5.9 LD |
2 |
10 |
2021 EU3 |
2025-Mar-10 |
10.7 LD |
4.4 |
13 |
2025 DP3 |
2025-Mar-11 |
20 LD |
7.9 |
27 |
2025 DB7 |
2025-Mar-11 |
9.6 LD |
2.6 |
13 |
2025 DA7 |
2025-Mar-12 |
17.6 LD |
9.7 |
46 |
2025 DY5 |
2025-Mar-12 |
9.7 LD |
8.5 |
27 |
2025 DC22 |
2025-Mar-12 |
9.3 LD |
5.9 |
24 |
2025 DL22 |
2025-Mar-12 |
7.5 LD |
9.9 |
30 |
2025 DM3 |
2025-Mar-12 |
19.2 LD |
10.7 |
55 |
2025 CT1 |
2025-Mar-13 |
19.4 LD |
2.9 |
29 |
2025 DS6 |
2025-Mar-14 |
19.5 LD |
2.7 |
13 |
2025 DV4 |
2025-Mar-15 |
18 LD |
7 |
27 |
2020 FO |
2025-Mar-15 |
13.4 LD |
20.6 |
23 |
2025 DO27 |
2025-Mar-15 |
17.2 LD |
15.2 |
45 |
2025 CX1 |
2025-Mar-15 |
19.8 LD |
8.4 |
41 |
2025 DU25 |
2025-Mar-18 |
2.9 LD |
5.3 |
14 |
2021 FH1 |
2025-Mar-21 |
3.9 LD |
13.8 |
31 |
2025 DA15 |
2025-Mar-23 |
17 LD |
7.7 |
36 |
2014 TN17 |
2025-Mar-26 |
13.3 LD |
21.5 |
174 |
2025 DW5 |
2025-Mar-26 |
16.5 LD |
5.6 |
43 |
2025 DV22 |
2025-Mar-27 |
16.5 LD |
12.2 |
61 |
2020 VA4 |
2025-Mar-30 |
11.6 LD |
5.6 |
12 |
2022 FR3 |
2025-Apr-01 |
6.6 LD |
7.4 |
105 |
2020 XT2 |
2025-Apr-04 |
13.6 LD |
6.2 |
41 |
2023 GC2 |
2025-Apr-04 |
17.3 LD |
6.3 |
12 |
2020 FH4 |
2025-Apr-04 |
12.8 LD |
3 |
7 |
2025 BC10 |
2025-Apr-05 |
9.7 LD |
22.9 |
479 |
2007 SQ6 |
2025-Apr-05 |
10.9 LD |
6.6 |
129 |
2003 GQ22 |
2025-Apr-07 |
19.6 LD |
8.9 |
180 |
2025 DL28 |
2025-Apr-08 |
16.2 LD |
5.6 |
42 |
2023 HG |
2025-Apr-11 |
3.7 LD |
8.6 |
14 |
2023 KU |
2025-Apr-11 |
2.8 LD |
18 |
119 |
2023 RX1 |
2025-Apr-13 |
18.1 LD |
1.4 |
3 |
2023 UH |
2025-Apr-15 |
8.8 LD |
11 |
21 |
2022 UO |
2025-Apr-15 |
19.8 LD |
16.2 |
18 |
2017 RN16 |
2025-Apr-17 |
10.9 LD |
8.7 |
6 |
2014 HS124 |
2025-Apr-22 |
10.9 LD |
8.9 |
93 |
2019 FY2 |
2025-Apr-24 |
12.8 LD |
5.3 |
12 |
462959 |
2025-Apr-25 |
12.9 LD |
9.5 |
213 |
2024 BF |
2025-May-01 |
9.5 LD |
4.6 |
47 |
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 decreasing in 2024. Our latest measurements in November registered a 10-year low:
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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. |
|
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 |
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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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