 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2.33 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.82 nT
Bz: 2.49 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 05 Sep 24 
There are no significant coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA  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 Sep. 05, 2024, the Arctic stratosphere is much too warm for Type II polar stratospheric clouds. | more data. Noctilucent Clouds
The northern season for NLCs is underway--but not for long. The first clouds were detected inside the Arctic Circle on May 25, 2024, by the NOAA 21 satellite. After peaking in July, the clouds are now in rapid decline. This is typical for the month of August, which usually brings the end of NLC season in the northern hemisphere.
Updated: Aug. 28, 2024
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 | | Updated at: 2024 Sep 05 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 75 % | 75 % | 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: 2024 Sep 05 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 10 % | MINOR | 05 % | 01 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 25 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 25 % | 15 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by Large Language Models is spreading rapidly across the Internet. It's well-written, artificial, frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being. | | | WHAT'S HAPPENING ON THE FARSIDE OF THE SUN? A magnificent halo CME billowed away from the farside of the sun today, the second time this week this has happened. A hidden sunspot group transiting the farside is crackling with activity. If it were facing Earth, we would now be bracing for geomagnetic storms. CME impact alerts: SMS Text SOLAR CYCLE 25 CONTINUES TO SURGE: Solar activity continues to intensify. In August 2024, the average monthly sunspot number exceeded 200 for the first time in 23 years, almost doubling the official forecast: 
The current solar cycle (Solar Cycle 25) wasn't expected to be this strong. When it began in Dec. 2019, experts predicted it would be weak like its immediate predecessor Solar Cycle 24. Instead, Solar Cycle 25 may be on pace to rival some of the stronger cycles of the 20th century. Already in May 2024 we have experienced a century-class geomagnetic storm with auroras sighted in the South Pacific, central America and south Africa.
The last time sunspot counts were this high, in Sept.-Dec. 2001, the sun was winding up to launch the Great Halloween Storms of '03, which included the strongest X-ray solar flare ever recorded (X45) and a CME so potent it was felt by Voyager at the edge of the solar system. A repeat is not guaranteed, but current sunspot counts tell us it's possible. 
Above: A composite view of sunspots in Aug. 2024. Credit: Senol Sanli
Years from now, we may look back and realize that 2024 was the maximum of Solar Cycle 25. Or not; the original "official forecast" predicted Solar Max would occur in July 2025. Either way, we probably have at least 2 more years of high solar activity ahead. Stay tuned. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter STERLING SILVER MOONCAT: This cat has experienced a geomagnetic storm. Multiple CMEs hit Earth's magnetic field during the weekend of August 10-11. Students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray balloon into the resulting severe geomagnetic storm. The Sterling Silver Mooncat went along for the ride.: 
You can have it for $199.95. Supported by a sterling silver frame, the black cat is curled around a genuine blue moonstone. It floated through the stratosphere for almost 3 hours during the storm, gathering radiation data for the students' monitoring program. The Mooncat comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and explaining the radiation experiment. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space jewelry to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Don't wait for Christmas--get yours now! Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
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Realtime Noctilucent Cloud 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 Sep 05, 2024, the network reported 18 fireballs.
(15 sporadics, 1 Northern iota Aquariids, 1 alpha Aurigid, 1 September epsilon Perseid)  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 September 5, 2024 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2024 QB2 | 2024-Aug-31 | 4.2 LD | 6.8 | 8 | | 2024 RP1 | 2024-Aug-31 | 1.2 LD | 6.4 | 5 | | 2024 RK | 2024-Aug-31 | 10.8 LD | 8.2 | 16 | | 2024 QM1 | 2024-Sep-01 | 4.9 LD | 12.9 | 20 | | 2024 RK1 | 2024-Sep-01 | 8.3 LD | 7.5 | 16 | | 2024 QK1 | 2024-Sep-01 | 8.3 LD | 7.9 | 31 | | 2021 JT | 2024-Sep-01 | 16.4 LD | 8.2 | 12 | | 2021 RB16 | 2024-Sep-02 | 12.3 LD | 8.4 | 15 | | 2007 RX8 | 2024-Sep-02 | 18.5 LD | 7 | 44 | | 2024 RS1 | 2024-Sep-03 | 2.4 LD | 14.2 | 20 | | 2024 RR1 | 2024-Sep-03 | 6.6 LD | 8.7 | 28 | | 2024 RL1 | 2024-Sep-03 | 19.9 LD | 10.4 | 33 | | 2024 QV1 | 2024-Sep-03 | 5.5 LD | 13.3 | 40 | | 2024 QU | 2024-Sep-04 | 11.9 LD | 6.4 | 38 | | 2024 QE2 | 2024-Sep-04 | 2 LD | 8.2 | 11 | | 2024 RB | 2024-Sep-04 | 3.1 LD | 11.4 | 11 | | 2024 RJ2 | 2024-Sep-05 | 10.6 LD | 16 | 76 | | 2024 RG2 | 2024-Sep-05 | 15 LD | 16.6 | 29 | | 2024 RL2 | 2024-Sep-06 | 2.7 LD | 11 | 7 | | 2024 RF | 2024-Sep-06 | 12.4 LD | 7.9 | 16 | | 2022 SR | 2024-Sep-07 | 9.1 LD | 6.3 | 42 | | 2024 RC | 2024-Sep-07 | 19.9 LD | 1.6 | 11 | | 2024 RF2 | 2024-Sep-08 | 4 LD | 11.5 | 30 | | 2024 QS | 2024-Sep-09 | 12.1 LD | 9.3 | 43 | | 2024 RN1 | 2024-Sep-09 | 3.6 LD | 16.5 | 19 | | 2024 RE1 | 2024-Sep-09 | 9 LD | 13.2 | 26 | | 2023 SP2 | 2024-Sep-09 | 15.3 LD | 4.2 | 8 | | 2024 RJ | 2024-Sep-09 | 5.3 LD | 11.9 | 18 | | 2024 PM6 | 2024-Sep-09 | 14 LD | 9 | 53 | | 2024 RH | 2024-Sep-10 | 16.7 LD | 11.4 | 26 | | 2016 TU19 | 2024-Sep-11 | 13.2 LD | 10.1 | 47 | | 2024 RO1 | 2024-Sep-11 | 9.1 LD | 9.4 | 23 | | 2024 RH2 | 2024-Sep-12 | 7.8 LD | 4.2 | 35 | | 2024 QS1 | 2024-Sep-12 | 12.1 LD | 14.3 | 132 | | 2019 DJ1 | 2024-Sep-15 | 10.4 LD | 4.9 | 15 | | 2024 RQ | 2024-Sep-16 | 1.4 LD | 6.6 | 34 | | 2024 ON | 2024-Sep-17 | 2.6 LD | 8.9 | 284 | | 2013 FW13 | 2024-Sep-18 | 8.5 LD | 15.6 | 162 | | 2022 SW3 | 2024-Sep-19 | 6.8 LD | 9.2 | 37 | | 2015 SH | 2024-Sep-19 | 11.6 LD | 5.9 | 9 | | 2024 RJ1 | 2024-Sep-20 | 15.4 LD | 8.9 | 43 | | 2023 RX1 | 2024-Sep-20 | 10.1 LD | 1.1 | 3 | | 2018 VG | 2024-Sep-20 | 13.4 LD | 7.3 | 12 | | 2020 GE | 2024-Sep-24 | 1.7 LD | 2.2 | 8 | | 2011 ST12 | 2024-Sep-27 | 17.6 LD | 7.4 | 19 | | 2023 GM1 | 2024-Oct-05 | 15.4 LD | 5.2 | 13 | | 2014 VA | 2024-Oct-05 | 18.1 LD | 6.3 | 46 | | 2022 SU21 | 2024-Oct-06 | 17.5 LD | 21.1 | 45 | | 671076 | 2024-Oct-07 | 12.8 LD | 8.6 | 120 | | 2016 JG38 | 2024-Oct-08 | 13.2 LD | 12 | 56 | | 2018 QE | 2024-Oct-09 | 1.7 LD | 4.4 | 10 | | 363027 | 2024-Oct-12 | 9.3 LD | 16.6 | 419 | | 2020 GE1 | 2024-Oct-12 | 20.1 LD | 4.3 | 14 | | 2022 UX1 | 2024-Oct-12 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 9 | | 2008 UU95 | 2024-Oct-12 | 13.5 LD | 15.6 | 66 | | 2021 TK11 | 2024-Oct-14 | 8 LD | 10.6 | 7 | | 2022 TB41 | 2024-Oct-15 | 10 LD | 6 | 4 | | 2019 UH14 | 2024-Oct-17 | 8.3 LD | 10.4 | 62 | | 2015 HM1 | 2024-Oct-24 | 14.4 LD | 10.9 | 32 | | 363305 | 2024-Oct-24 | 11.8 LD | 4.9 | 186 | | 2021 UE2 | 2024-Oct-24 | 13.6 LD | 7.1 | 40 | | 2023 TG14 | 2024-Oct-24 | 6.6 LD | 6.9 | 24 | | 2007 UT3 | 2024-Oct-26 | 17.7 LD | 10.4 | 23 | | 2020 WG | 2024-Oct-28 | 8.7 LD | 9.4 | 160 | | 2021 CV1 | 2024-Oct-30 | 14.4 LD | 23.6 | 38 | | 2023 KX3 | 2024-Oct-31 | 18.8 LD | 2.4 | 25 | | 2022 UD21 | 2024-Oct-31 | 11.6 LD | 11.8 | 27 | | 2016 VA | 2024-Nov-01 | 1.5 LD | 21.2 | 11 | 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 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements. Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-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. | | Marketing yourself on YouTube is hard without real organic views on your videos. You can buy organic YouTube views from and enjoy social boosting that is actually real. Highly recommended! | | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | | These links help Spaceweather.com stay online. Thank you to our supporters! | | | | | | | | |  | | |  | ©2021 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips. | |
