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SOLAR WIND SPARKS MINOR STORMS: Today, a relatively fast-moving (500 km/s) stream of solar wind is buffeting Earth's magnetic field, and this is causing minor G1-class geomagnetic storms. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
PLASMA FALLS: Imagine a waterfall made of hot plasma falling from a precipice tall enough to swallow Earth. Here it is:
"Another cloud-free day in Scotland let me catch almost 9 hours of this huge and lively prominence," says David Wilson of Inverness. Into his video, he inserted a picture of Earth to demonstrate the scale of "plasma droplets" falling to the surface of the sun.
These droplets and streamers have been seen on the sun many times before, but researchers still don't fully understand them. The mystery is this: The sun's plasma droplets fall faster than ambient magnetic forces wold seem to allow. Nuclear engineers would like to figure out how this happens, because it also happens on a smaller scale in fusion reactors on Earth, frustrating their efforts to sustain an energy-producing reaction. Studies of these prominences could therefore lead to practical breakthroughs here on Earth.
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WHAT YOU CAN SEE FROM YOUR OWN BACKYARD: There's an alien world in your backyard, visible in spectacular detail through common binoculars and telescopes. It's the Moon. To illustrate the point, Raffaello Lena of Rome, Italy, photographed the Moon's south pole on April 4th:
The view through an 18-cm Mak Cassegrain telescope. Credit: Raffaello Lena
"Mapping the south pole of the Moon is one of my interests," says Lena. "In this mosaic I have identified craters Amundsen, Faustini and Shoemaker, which is centered at 89.9° south, 0.0° east. Shackleton crater, which lies at the South Pole itself, is at the upper edge of the photo."
Most worlds in the Solar System are staggeringly far away. Tens, even hundreds of millions of miles separate us from them. Have you ever tried to see a crater on Mercury or a glacier on Pluto through a backyard telescope? Be prepared to use your imagination. Not so, the Moon. Take a look tonight!
more Moon shots: from Philippe Tosi of Nîmes, France;
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HANDMADE TOTAL ECLIPSE PENDANT: One year ago yesterday (April 8, 2024), the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray research balloon to the stratosphere during a total solar eclipse. This handmade pendant went along for the ride. Floating more than 118,110 feet high, it spent 3 minutes and 45 seconds wrapped in the shadow of the Moon:
You can have it for $149.95. Created by an artist in Texas where totality occured, the pendant displays a solar eclipse art print sealed under a smooth glass cover. It comes with a greeting card showing the pendant in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space during the total eclipse.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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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 Apr 08, 2025, the network reported 5 fireballs.
(5 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 9, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2004 FC18 | 2025-Apr-04 | 18.4 LD | 18.5 | 47 |
| 2025 FW5 | 2025-Apr-04 | 13.3 LD | 20.4 | 59 |
| 2020 XT2 | 2025-Apr-04 | 13.8 LD | 6.2 | 41 |
| 2023 GC2 | 2025-Apr-04 | 17.3 LD | 6.3 | 12 |
| 2025 GH | 2025-Apr-04 | 2.4 LD | 20.6 | 40 |
| 2017 FA102 | 2025-Apr-04 | 11.7 LD | 15.2 | 28 |
| 2020 FH4 | 2025-Apr-04 | 12.8 LD | 3 | 7 |
| 2025 FU7 | 2025-Apr-05 | 19.8 LD | 7.9 | 22 |
| 2025 BC10 | 2025-Apr-05 | 9.7 LD | 22.9 | 479 |
| 2007 SQ6 | 2025-Apr-05 | 10.9 LD | 6.6 | 129 |
| 2025 FM12 | 2025-Apr-05 | 11 LD | 7 | 15 |
| 2025 GD | 2025-Apr-05 | 2.5 LD | 11.7 | 40 |
| 2025 GS | 2025-Apr-05 | 0.4 LD | 9.9 | 8 |
| 2025 DV40 | 2025-Apr-06 | 16.8 LD | 13.1 | 98 |
| 2025 FO15 | 2025-Apr-06 | 11.3 LD | 14.2 | 21 |
| 2025 GY | 2025-Apr-06 | 0.9 LD | 9.2 | 8 |
| 2025 FX14 | 2025-Apr-06 | 13.2 LD | 14.9 | 34 |
| 2025 GW | 2025-Apr-07 | 2.3 LD | 7.6 | 13 |
| 2003 GQ22 | 2025-Apr-07 | 19.6 LD | 8.9 | 180 |
| 2025 FF18 | 2025-Apr-08 | 8.6 LD | 7.5 | 24 |
| 2025 GT | 2025-Apr-08 | 4.6 LD | 13.4 | 15 |
| 2025 DL28 | 2025-Apr-08 | 16.2 LD | 5.6 | 40 |
| 2025 FN14 | 2025-Apr-08 | 13.6 LD | 7.9 | 38 |
| 2025 GX | 2025-Apr-09 | 8 LD | 4 | 15 |
| 2025 GA1 | 2025-Apr-09 | 12.5 LD | 5.3 | 15 |
| 2025 FX22 | 2025-Apr-10 | 10.1 LD | 12.4 | 20 |
| 2023 HG | 2025-Apr-11 | 3.7 LD | 8.6 | 14 |
| 2023 KU | 2025-Apr-11 | 2.8 LD | 18 | 119 |
| 2015 FS33 | 2025-Apr-12 | 14.6 LD | 20.7 | 129 |
| 2025 FP10 | 2025-Apr-12 | 10.9 LD | 14 | 572 |
| 2025 GK | 2025-Apr-13 | 17.3 LD | 11.9 | 36 |
| 2025 FV13 | 2025-Apr-13 | 18.2 LD | 5 | 28 |
| 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 |
| 2025 DC36 | 2025-Apr-15 | 14.2 LD | 4.9 | 60 |
| 2011 VG9 | 2025-Apr-16 | 12.2 LD | 23.8 | 135 |
| 2025 GV | 2025-Apr-17 | 15.9 LD | 17.4 | 40 |
| 2017 RN16 | 2025-Apr-17 | 10.9 LD | 8.7 | 6 |
| 2025 FL20 | 2025-Apr-17 | 13.1 LD | 3.4 | 14 |
| 2025 FY22 | 2025-Apr-19 | 9.4 LD | 9.2 | 32 |
| 2025 FK12 | 2025-Apr-20 | 9.5 LD | 7.3 | 21 |
| 2014 HS124 | 2025-Apr-22 | 10.9 LD | 8.9 | 93 |
| 2025 GD1 | 2025-Apr-22 | 4.2 LD | 5.9 | 27 |
| 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 |
| 2024 JM2 | 2025-May-03 | 7.2 LD | 11.3 | 62 |
| 2021 JN1 | 2025-May-06 | 18.3 LD | 16.3 | 39 |
| 2021 HZ | 2025-May-08 | 20 LD | 10.2 | 30 |
| 612356 | 2025-May-09 | 11 LD | 5.1 | 305 |
| 2021 KH | 2025-May-10 | 18.3 LD | 7.2 | 19 |
| 2011 HJ7 | 2025-May-12 | 6.6 LD | 15.8 | 118 |
| 2011 YU74 | 2025-May-13 | 11.4 LD | 5 | 90 |
| 2025 DT50 | 2025-May-14 | 16 LD | 6.4 | 102 |
| 2008 ST | 2025-May-20 | 13.5 LD | 2.5 | 14 |
| 387746 | 2025-May-24 | 17.4 LD | 8.3 | 338 |
| 2014 KF22 | 2025-May-25 | 9.1 LD | 11.5 | 19 |
| 390725 | 2025-May-25 | 18.4 LD | 13.5 | 408 |
| 2025 FU5 | 2025-May-28 | 13.4 LD | 7.3 | 90 |
| 2022 KP3 | 2025-May-30 | 10.2 LD | 7.7 | 7 |
| 424482 | 2025-Jun-05 | 9.1 LD | 6.2 | 412 |
| 2020 LQ | 2025-Jun-06 | 17.3 LD | 11.8 | 34 |
| 2018 LE4 | 2025-Jun-07 | 12.2 LD | 13.3 | 62 |
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 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 |
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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 |
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