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A SHADOW IS ABOUT TO FALL ACROSS SATURN: Amateur astronomers, prepare your telescopes. The shadow of Titan is about to fall across Saturn. It looks like this. The transit will occur on Sunday, Aug. 3rd, between 06:25 and 1104 UTC. Submit your photos here.
SPACE HURRICANES ARE REAL: Hurricane season just got worse. Chinese researchers have discovered a new kind of storm at the edge of space. They call it a "space hurricane."
The first known example appeared in Defense Meteorological Satellite (DMSP) images on Aug. 20, 2014. A massive swirl of charged particles appeared above the North Pole. Spinning silently, it resembled a terrestrial hurricane in shape, with spiral arms and a calm "eye" glowing with auroral light. A detailed study of this event was published in the July 2025 edition of Space Weather.
Above: A ' space hurricane' observed by DMSP satellites. Note the eye and spiral arms.
"The space hurricane formed during very quiet conditions," says lead author Sheng Lu of Shandong University. "Solar activity was low."
Most researchers had overlooked these events because they weren't linked to solar storms. This team looked for auroras under calm conditions and found something new. The DMSP F17 satellite flew through the space hurricane's center; ten minutes later, SWARM B crossed the edge. Their data confirmed the hurricane was an active electrodynamic storm, not just an auroral display.
The hurricane's effects mimicked those of actual geomagnetic storms. Using GPS data from the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network, the researchers found that satellite signals passing through the hurricane's edge experienced strong phase scintillations--a type of "twinkling" that can reduce GPS accuracy. Meanwhile, ground-based magnetometers in Greenland recorded sharp shifts in Earth's magnetic field as large as 400 nT--comparable to a G1-class geomagnetic storm.
Above: The anatomy of a space hurricane. Credit: Lu et al (2025) [Expand]
Savvy aurora chasers know that the best time to catch Northern Lights is when the interplanetary magnetic field (
IMF) tilts south. This opens a hole in Earth's magnetosphere, allowing solar wind to enter. We tend to ignore times when the IMF tilts north and closes the door. Yet that is precisely when space hurricanes form, according to the study.
Space hurricanes are stealthy, appearing when traditional metrics of space weather forecasting indicate little of interest. Note to forecasters: Not all storms come from the sun.
Want to learn more? Read the original research here.
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NASA SPACEWALKER $1 COINS: The US Mint has just released a new set of limited edition $1 coins to honor NASA's astronaut core. Yesterday, 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 on July 31, 2025. 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
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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 Aug 01, 2025, the network reported 30 fireballs.
(22 sporadics, 4 Perseids, 3 Southern Delta Aquariids, 1 alpha Capricornid)
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 1, 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 OT5 | 2025-Jul-27 | 12.5 LD | 8.1 | 14 |
| 2025 OR5 | 2025-Jul-27 | 4.5 LD | 2.6 | 7 |
| 2025 OO11 | 2025-Jul-28 | 7.4 LD | 11.1 | 17 |
| 2025 OM4 | 2025-Jul-28 | 18.5 LD | 6.2 | 35 |
| 2025 ON10 | 2025-Jul-28 | 2 LD | 10.7 | 8 |
| 2018 BE5 | 2025-Jul-28 | 10.8 LD | 13.9 | 45 |
| 2025 OO4 | 2025-Jul-28 | 5.9 LD | 8.8 | 22 |
| 2025 OW | 2025-Jul-28 | 1.7 LD | 21 | 70 |
| 2025 OU2 | 2025-Jul-28 | 13.4 LD | 2.7 | 25 |
| 2025 OL5 | 2025-Jul-29 | 0.3 LD | 16.6 | 9 |
| 2025 OA4 | 2025-Jul-29 | 18.2 LD | 13.4 | 35 |
| 2025 ON1 | 2025-Jul-30 | 16.1 LD | 3.1 | 30 |
| 2025 OX3 | 2025-Jul-30 | 9.9 LD | 9.3 | 16 |
| 2025 OL1 | 2025-Jul-30 | 5.4 LD | 7.6 | 35 |
| 2025 OM10 | 2025-Jul-30 | 5.8 LD | 5.7 | 44 |
| 2025 OU4 | 2025-Jul-30 | 1.8 LD | 12.5 | 16 |
| 2025 OD1 | 2025-Jul-31 | 9.8 LD | 12.3 | 35 |
| 2025 OR | 2025-Jul-31 | 12.8 LD | 8 | 35 |
| 2025 OC5 | 2025-Jul-31 | 12.6 LD | 3.4 | 9 |
| 2025 OY8 | 2025-Jul-31 | 1.8 LD | 10.7 | 11 |
| 2025 OY10 | 2025-Aug-01 | 2.4 LD | 7.8 | 9 |
| 2025 OC6 | 2025-Aug-03 | 6.3 LD | 4.1 | 8 |
| 2025 OW3 | 2025-Aug-03 | 7.7 LD | 13.9 | 21 |
| 2025 OA3 | 2025-Aug-04 | 6 LD | 13.6 | 37 |
| 2025 OT7 | 2025-Aug-05 | 11.4 LD | 21.7 | 53 |
| 2025 OW9 | 2025-Aug-06 | 14.8 LD | 6.9 | 13 |
| 2025 OQ5 | 2025-Aug-07 | 4.2 LD | 16.7 | 49 |
| 2025 OT4 | 2025-Aug-07 | 3.9 LD | 6 | 41 |
| 2025 OJ1 | 2025-Aug-08 | 13.5 LD | 14.2 | 97 |
| 2019 CO1 | 2025-Aug-08 | 17.8 LD | 10.5 | 65 |
| 2025 OX7 | 2025-Aug-09 | 20 LD | 4 | 15 |
| 2022 QB1 | 2025-Aug-10 | 8.9 LD | 3.9 | 6 |
| 2025 OR4 | 2025-Aug-12 | 3.5 LD | 4.6 | 18 |
| 2025 OJ10 | 2025-Aug-13 | 9.2 LD | 6.4 | 29 |
| 2025 OL10 | 2025-Aug-13 | 10.4 LD | 7.2 | 10 |
| 2021 PJ1 | 2025-Aug-15 | 4.4 LD | 9.3 | 24 |
| 2025 CO3 | 2025-Aug-16 | 19.8 LD | 8.4 | 90 |
| 2025 OV4 | 2025-Aug-20 | 7.5 LD | 10.8 | 52 |
| 1997 QK1 | 2025-Aug-20 | 7.9 LD | 9.8 | 315 |
| 2025 OB3 | 2025-Aug-21 | 8.8 LD | 7 | 50 |
| 2022 QD3 | 2025-Aug-21 | 15 LD | 6.9 | 35 |
| 2023 PX | 2025-Aug-22 | 2.4 LD | 8.3 | 23 |
| 2019 QQ6 | 2025-Aug-24 | 9.4 LD | 17.2 | 31 |
| 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 OG1 | 2025-Sep-05 | 14.5 LD | 4.2 | 35 |
| 2019 JG1 | 2025-Sep-09 | 18.8 LD | 7.9 | 17 |
| 2009 FF | 2025-Sep-11 | 6.8 LD | 12.9 | 155 |
| 2015 SA | 2025-Sep-13 | 10.3 LD | 9.1 | 31 |
| 2022 SS2 | 2025-Sep-13 | 2.4 LD | 7.2 | 13 |
| 2025 FA22 | 2025-Sep-18 | 2.2 LD | 10.8 | 166 |
| 2022 SW12 | 2025-Sep-23 | 15 LD | 17.6 | 210 |
| 2021 RN16 | 2025-Sep-23 | 10.1 LD | 8.8 | 7 |
| 2018 QT1 | 2025-Sep-23 | 13 LD | 12.7 | 138 |
| 2019 SF6 | 2025-Sep-28 | 20 LD | 8.4 | 20 |
| 152664 | 2025-Sep-29 | 10.1 LD | 18.6 | 412 |
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. |
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| | 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 |
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