 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 1 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 2 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 6.96 nT
Bz: -0.88 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 26 Aug 22 
Solar wind flowing from this southern coronal hole could reach Earth on Aug. 29-30. Credit: SDO/AIA  Noctilucent Clouds
Noctilucent cloud season is underway--but also nearing its end. AIM images show the polar ring of NLCs is contracting as northern summer winds down. Switch view: Europe, USA, Asia, Polar Updated Aug26 SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2022 Aug 26 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 35 % | 35 % | CLASS X | 10 % | 10 % | Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at: 2022 Aug 26 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 10 % | 20 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 15 % | MINOR | 20 % | 30 % | SEVERE | 15 % | 25 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when magnetic storms erupt. Aurora tour guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | | PARTIAL HALO CME MIGHT HIT EARTH: A small magnetic filament on the sun erupted yesterday, Aug. 25th, hurling a partial halo CME into space. NOAA forecasters say there is a 50-50 chance it will hit Earth on Aug. 29th. The glancing blow, if it occurs, could spark a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm with auroras around the Arctic Circle. Aurora alerts: SMS Text STRONG SOLAR FLARE ACTIVITY: Today, the sun is crackling with M-class solar flares. Two sunspots are contributing: AR3088 (on the right side of the sun) and AR3089 (on the left). The strongest flare so far (Aug. 26 @ 1216 UT) registered M7 and caused a shortwave radio blackout over much of Europe and Africa. 
Above: The extreme ultraviolet flash from today's M7-class solar flare (AR3089).
Preliminary data from SOHO coronagraphs show CMEs emerging. However, it is too soon to know if any will hit Earth. The two sunspots are book-ending the Earth strike zone. It's possible that all of today's CMEs will miss. Confirmation awaits additional images. Meanwhile, AR3089 appears to be on the verge of producing an X-flare. Stay tuned. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter AURORAS AND SUNFLOWERS: It was the perfect time to be crouching in a field on sunflowers. On Aug. 22nd, a crack opened in Earth's magnetic field. MaryBeth Kiczenski captured the resulting glow of geomagnetic activity: 
"Ever since visiting this field in Michigan a few years ago, I knew I wanted to get back there if there was a chance for aurora," says Kiczenski. "It finally happened. I was in the field just after midnight when Bz turned south, sparking a very short substorm that lasted maybe 15 mins. That's all I needed!!" Magnetic cracks are very difficult to predict. However, you can get an instant text message when they open by subscribing to our Space Weather Alert Service (Pro Plan). Next time, the photographer crouching among the sunflowers could be you. Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter CAPT. KIRK BEER COZY: Boldly going where no beer has gone before, this Capt. Kirk beer cozy flew to the edge of space onboard an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon. Here it is parachuting back to Earth from an altitude of 109,888 feet: 
You can have it for $79.95. The students are selling beer cozies (beer not included) to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. They make great anniversary, birthday and Christmas gifts. Each one comes with greeting card showing the cozy 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 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 Aug 26, 2022, the network reported 22 fireballs.
(22 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 August 26, 2022 there were 2288 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2022 QU3 | 2022-Aug-21 | 4.8 LD | 8.7 | 16 | | 2022 QW4 | 2022-Aug-21 | 4.2 LD | 18 | 17 | | 2020 QW3 | 2022-Aug-22 | 14.1 LD | 18.1 | 30 | | 2022 QM | 2022-Aug-22 | 18.8 LD | 5.1 | 20 | | 2022 QV | 2022-Aug-22 | 2.2 LD | 21.8 | 23 | | 2022 QH3 | 2022-Aug-22 | 1.3 LD | 9.5 | 15 | | 2015 QH3 | 2022-Aug-22 | 5.6 LD | 7 | 14 | | 2022 QX | 2022-Aug-23 | 7.3 LD | 12.7 | 19 | | 2022 QR | 2022-Aug-24 | 3.6 LD | 8.6 | 13 | | 2022 QP4 | 2022-Aug-26 | 3.7 LD | 7.7 | 13 | | 2022 QQ4 | 2022-Aug-27 | 15.5 LD | 7.2 | 34 | | 2022 QP3 | 2022-Aug-28 | 14.4 LD | 7.9 | 34 | | 2022 QX4 | 2022-Aug-29 | 4.8 LD | 8.8 | 43 | | 2017 BU | 2022-Aug-29 | 15.8 LD | 7 | 32 | | 2022 QX1 | 2022-Aug-31 | 5.4 LD | 21.2 | 46 | | 2021 CQ5 | 2022-Sep-01 | 8.7 LD | 13.5 | 7 | | 2022 QB2 | 2022-Sep-01 | 10.3 LD | 15.9 | 32 | | 2022 QF2 | 2022-Sep-11 | 19.1 LD | 8.4 | 44 | | 2008 RW | 2022-Sep-12 | 17.5 LD | 10.2 | 98 | | 2020 PT4 | 2022-Sep-15 | 19.7 LD | 10.8 | 39 | | 2022 QD1 | 2022-Sep-16 | 19.5 LD | 9.5 | 71 | | 2016 HF2 | 2022-Sep-29 | 19.2 LD | 5.6 | 21 | | 2018 ER1 | 2022-Oct-02 | 14.7 LD | 4 | 27 | | 2018 VG | 2022-Oct-05 | 18.5 LD | 6.7 | 12 | | 2021 TJ10 | 2022-Oct-06 | 19.6 LD | 8.1 | 6 | | 2006 SG7 | 2022-Oct-07 | 16.7 LD | 18.4 | 93 | | 2013 TJ6 | 2022-Oct-07 | 11.7 LD | 14.4 | 32 | | 2013 SL20 | 2022-Oct-14 | 6.2 LD | 12.1 | 45 | | 2020 TO2 | 2022-Oct-15 | 1.4 LD | 12.6 | 18 | | 2020 BD | 2022-Oct-16 | 12.1 LD | 11.4 | 20 | 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 | | | 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 |  | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings. Alternatively, Online-Casinos.xyz is another massive directory of online casinos listing sites for the UK and Worldwide. Casinos that offer Rupees for bonuses are very generous to Indian players. Find the best online casinos in India at AllCasinos.in Looking for a new online casino? Try Casimpo the new site dedicated to making online casino simple, or check out the new Avenger Slots Casino and Ace Online Casino with over 500 online slots and casino games. | | One of the most popular casino games is the Book Of Dead Slot based on ancient Egyptian text, you can find all the casinos with spins at bookofdeadslotsites.com. | | When looking for casinos to play online when the weather is bad, you can try casino online trucchi for Italian games. If you are not from Finland you can try the Swedish page Svenska casino online to find suitable games, check out svenskacasinoonline.net. Always check your local laws before playing with real money. | | Looking for sports betting companies not registered on GamStop? CasinoGap has presented a list of sites not on GamStop available for UK players. Check and bet online! Would you like to bet at sites not using GamStop? Look at a list of NonStopCasino sites for online betting that aren't on GamStop. Top-rated bookmakers ever! | | | 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. | |
