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. | | |
CONTINUED CHANCE OF FLARES: So far this week, sunspot 3981 has produced more than 20 M-class solar flares, including two that almost reached category X. The activity is likely to continue today. The sunspot retains a delta-class magnetic field that harbors energy for frequent explosions. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
GIANT UNCONTROLED ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT: What goes up, must come down--which could be a problem when you're launching thousands of satellites. Since 2018, SpaceX has placed more than 7,000 Starlink satellites into Earth orbit, and now they are starting to come down. In January alone, more than 120 Starlinks deorbited.
"The sustained rate of daily reentries is unprecedented," says Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics who tracks satellites. "They are retiring and incinerating about 4 or 5 Starlinks every day."
Planners have long known this would happen. First generation (Gen1) Starlink satellites are being retired to make way for newer models. "More than 500 of the 4700 Gen1 Starlinks have now reentered," says McDowell.
When Starlinks reenter, they disintegrate before hitting the ground, adding metallic vapors to the atmosphere. A study published in 2023 found evidence of the lingering devris. In February 2023, NASA flew a WB-57 aircraft 60,000 feet over Alaska to collect aerosols. 10% of the particles contained aluminum and other metals from the "burn-up" of satellites.
Right: NASA's WB-57 high altitude airplane. [more]
What we're observing is a giant uncontrolled experiment in atmospheric chemistry. The demise of just one Gen1 Starlink satellite produces about 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of aluminum oxide, a compound that eats away at the ozone layer. A new study finds these oxides have increased 8-fold between 2016 and 2022, and the recent surge is increasing the pollution even more.
On the bright side, each reentry produces a beautiful fireball--and the odds are increasing that you'll see one. Visit the Aerospace Corporation for reentry predictions, and submit your photos here.
A NEW CORONAGRAPH FOR SPACE WEATHER FORECASTING: Picture this: A giant CME is heading straight for Earth, but no one knows it's coming. Forecasters have long worried about such a scenario. Our best early warning system for CMEs is a coronagraph onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), which was launched in Dec. 1995. How long can such an ancient spacecraft last?
We can stop worrying. Yesterday, NOAA unveiled realtime data from its replacement, the CCOR-1 solar coronagraph onboard GOES-19.
This is a sample movie from Feb. 6th. At the top, a farside CME billows away from the sun's north pole. Near the bottom, starlike Mercury approaches the sun for a superior conjunction on Feb 9th. The full-resolution movie is quite beautiful.
Using an occulting disk to block the glare of the sun, CCOR-1 delivers uninterrupted monitoring of CMEs with a new image every 15 minutes. On April 4th, GOES-19 will be fully operational, and NOAA will begin using CCOR-1 for regular CME forecasts.
SOHO, meanwhile, will continue monitoring the sun as it has done for 30 years. This incredible spacecraft has discovered more than 5000 sungrazing comets and helped forecasters predict hundreds of strong geomagnetic storms. Long may it live.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
24K SPACE ROSE FOR VALENTINE'S DAY: On Jan. 24, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched a cosmic ray balloon to the stratosphere. This 24K Space Rose went along for the ride:
You can have it for $127.75. At the apex of the flight, the gold-dipped and gilded bloom was 115,823 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California, touching the edge of space. It comes with a greeting card showing the flower in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Comet ATLAS 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 Feb 06, 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 February 7, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2025 CJ1 | 2025-Feb-02 | 3.3 LD | 6 | 8 |
| 2025 BU | 2025-Feb-02 | 8.8 LD | 5.1 | 17 |
| 2025 CS1 | 2025-Feb-02 | 5.3 LD | 16.3 | 14 |
| 2025 CD2 | 2025-Feb-02 | 3 LD | 11.3 | 17 |
| 2025 CF | 2025-Feb-03 | 0.3 LD | 12.2 | 4 |
| 2025 CC1 | 2025-Feb-03 | 6.4 LD | 7 | 8 |
| 2025 BK3 | 2025-Feb-03 | 11.1 LD | 3.5 | 10 |
| 2018 RE3 | 2025-Feb-03 | 15.5 LD | 11.1 | 12 |
| 2022 AV4 | 2025-Feb-03 | 16.9 LD | 3.4 | 25 |
| 2025 CD | 2025-Feb-03 | 1.7 LD | 13.6 | 7 |
| 2025 CE | 2025-Feb-03 | 2.9 LD | 12.7 | 14 |
| 2002 CC14 | 2025-Feb-04 | 8.4 LD | 12.7 | 39 |
| 2025 BB2 | 2025-Feb-04 | 0.8 LD | 6.5 | 26 |
| 2025 CC2 | 2025-Feb-04 | 16.4 LD | 14.9 | 29 |
| 2025 BR | 2025-Feb-04 | 12.3 LD | 6 | 18 |
| 2025 CN1 | 2025-Feb-04 | 11.9 LD | 9.9 | 21 |
| 2025 CC | 2025-Feb-05 | 16.7 LD | 4.8 | 11 |
| 2025 CQ | 2025-Feb-05 | 5.9 LD | 16.9 | 47 |
| 2025 CQ1 | 2025-Feb-05 | 2.3 LD | 18.1 | 20 |
| 2025 CM | 2025-Feb-05 | 0.8 LD | 6.6 | 14 |
| 2025 CA1 | 2025-Feb-05 | 2.9 LD | 9.7 | 10 |
| 2025 CK1 | 2025-Feb-06 | 4.1 LD | 10.1 | 9 |
| 2025 CR1 | 2025-Feb-06 | 1.3 LD | 6 | 3 |
| 2025 CP1 | 2025-Feb-06 | 1.5 LD | 11.1 | 7 |
| 2025 CJ | 2025-Feb-06 | 1.6 LD | 4.9 | 8 |
| 2025 CZ1 | 2025-Feb-07 | 0.8 LD | 12.8 | 5 |
| 2016 CO248 | 2025-Feb-07 | 13.5 LD | 5.9 | 11 |
| 2020 GZ2 | 2025-Feb-07 | 17.7 LD | 8.9 | 9 |
| 2022 PK1 | 2025-Feb-07 | 15 LD | 11 | 33 |
| 2025 CG | 2025-Feb-08 | 5.5 LD | 9 | 18 |
| 2025 CK | 2025-Feb-08 | 5.4 LD | 5.1 | 8 |
| 2012 PB20 | 2025-Feb-09 | 3.5 LD | 4.3 | 37 |
| 2025 CF1 | 2025-Feb-10 | 11.3 LD | 12.6 | 26 |
| 2025 CO | 2025-Feb-10 | 14.4 LD | 10.1 | 20 |
| 2025 CV | 2025-Feb-12 | 12.4 LD | 9.4 | 15 |
| 2025 CN2 | 2025-Feb-13 | 3.9 LD | 8.4 | 9 |
| 2025 CR | 2025-Feb-15 | 13 LD | 10.1 | 31 |
| 2004 XG | 2025-Feb-16 | 15.6 LD | 9.1 | 54 |
| 2025 CO1 | 2025-Feb-16 | 18.1 LD | 7.4 | 27 |
| 2025 BX1 | 2025-Feb-16 | 7.2 LD | 10.3 | 49 |
| 2024 UD26 | 2025-Feb-16 | 16.8 LD | 9.3 | 250 |
| 2025 CA2 | 2025-Feb-18 | 13.3 LD | 7.4 | 22 |
| 2014 CE13 | 2025-Feb-18 | 15.2 LD | 18.4 | 55 |
| 2022 DG2 | 2025-Feb-19 | 11.5 LD | 10.4 | 7 |
| 2016 AX165 | 2025-Feb-20 | 14.9 LD | 9.2 | 89 |
| 2015 BK509 | 2025-Feb-25 | 9.4 LD | 14.6 | 119 |
| 2023 RW3 | 2025-Feb-25 | 7.4 LD | 5.1 | 18 |
| 2025 CV1 | 2025-Mar-02 | 16.5 LD | 10.4 | 49 |
| 535844 | 2025-Mar-05 | 9.6 LD | 7.9 | 149 |
| 2021 EU3 | 2025-Mar-10 | 10.7 LD | 4.4 | 13 |
| 2025 CT1 | 2025-Mar-13 | 19.3 LD | 2.9 | 31 |
| 2020 FO | 2025-Mar-15 | 13.4 LD | 20.6 | 23 |
| 2021 FH1 | 2025-Mar-21 | 3.9 LD | 13.8 | 31 |
| 2014 TN17 | 2025-Mar-26 | 13.3 LD | 21.5 | 174 |
| 2020 VA4 | 2025-Mar-30 | 11.6 LD | 5.6 | 12 |
| 2022 FR3 | 2025-Apr-01 | 6.6 LD | 7.4 | 102 |
| 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 |
| 2007 SQ6 | 2025-Apr-05 | 10.9 LD | 6.6 | 129 |
| 2003 GQ22 | 2025-Apr-07 | 19.6 LD | 8.9 | 180 |
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 |
| | 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. |
| 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! |
| | | | | | |
