 | | |  SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2026 Apr 13 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 10 % | 10 % | CLASS X | 01 % | 01 % |  Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at: 2026 Apr 13 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 35 % | MINOR | 05 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 10 % | MINOR | 25 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 25 % | 50 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | This is an AI Free Zone: AI is everywhere -- except here. Spaceweather.com is written by Dr. Tony Phillips, a carbon-based lifeform with 30 yrs of forecasting experience. If you find a mistake, rest assured it was made by a real human being. | | | THE SUN IS FLATLINING: Solar activity is low. With no sunspots actively flaring, the sun's x-ray output has flatlined. This situation is expected to continue for the next 3 days, at least, barring the unexpected appearance of new sunspots. Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter NORTH SEA FIREBALL: A space rock entered Earth's atmosphere last night, creating a dramatic fireball over the North Sea. "We all screamed when it happened, I was so excited!" reports Ian Sproat who photographed the object from the Northumberland coastline of England: 
"I was out taking pictures of the Milky Way rising over Lindisfarne (also known as 'Holy Island') when this huge fire ball passed through the frame creating an insane contrast of stars, landscape, and drama," he says. So far the American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 195 reports of this big event from both sides of the North Sea. Some observers say it was much brighter than a Full Moon. Considering the amount of reflected light from the landscape of Holy Island, those estimates seem reasonable. The green color of the fireball is perfectly normal. Many of the brightest fireballs glow with a green light caused by intense heating of magnesium and nickle in the disintegrating space rock. If you saw the fireball, please submit your observations to the AMS. Realtime Comet Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter PREMIUM ITEM--THE WROUGHT IRON SPACE ROSE: Mother's Day is coming soon. Give mom a premium gift that never wilts or dies: The Wrought Iron Space Rose. On Feb. 1, 2026, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the metal bloom to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon: 
You can have it for $197.95. This is a premium item. The rose was forged by hand from iron, the element created in supernova explosions--so this rose is genuine "star stuff." Buy this rose and you will also receive a greeting card showing the bloom 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 Space Weather Photo Gallery
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Realtime Aurora 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 April 12, 2026, the network reported 7 fireballs.
(7 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 13, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2026 GE | 2026-Apr-08 | 0.5 LD | 10.8 | 7 | | 2026 GY | 2026-Apr-08 | 4.1 LD | 5.3 | 7 | | 2026 GB1 | 2026-Apr-09 | 16.3 LD | 15.7 | 49 | | 2026 GT1 | 2026-Apr-09 | 2.9 LD | 11.2 | 20 | | 2026 GD | 2026-Apr-09 | 0.7 LD | 12.7 | 17 | | 2022 GE2 | 2026-Apr-10 | 12 LD | 9.2 | 15 | | 2026 GY1 | 2026-Apr-10 | 2.9 LD | 10.1 | 32 | | 2026 GW | 2026-Apr-10 | 3.7 LD | 8.5 | 10 | | 2026 FE7 | 2026-Apr-11 | 8.9 LD | 7.8 | 29 | | 2026 GC | 2026-Apr-11 | 13.6 LD | 8.2 | 37 | | 2026 GR1 | 2026-Apr-12 | 0.9 LD | 6.7 | 10 | | 2023 HB4 | 2026-Apr-12 | 16.8 LD | 8.7 | 15 | | 2026 FV6 | 2026-Apr-13 | 7.5 LD | 11.2 | 29 | | 2026 GW1 | 2026-Apr-13 | 3.1 LD | 13.6 | 14 | | 2026 GX1 | 2026-Apr-14 | 13.1 LD | 4.7 | 16 | | 2013 GM3 | 2026-Apr-14 | 0.7 LD | 7.4 | 20 | | 2026 FX13 | 2026-Apr-14 | 7.1 LD | 11.7 | 29 | | 2026 GT | 2026-Apr-16 | 11.7 LD | 16 | 18 | | 2026 GA2 | 2026-Apr-16 | 3.6 LD | 10.5 | 16 | | 2026 GA1 | 2026-Apr-17 | 12.2 LD | 7.8 | 20 | | 2026 FJ6 | 2026-Apr-18 | 15.8 LD | 9.8 | 90 | | 2026 GM1 | 2026-Apr-18 | 3.5 LD | 5.6 | 28 | | 2026 AC4 | 2026-Apr-20 | 10.7 LD | 1.2 | 22 | | 2022 UG2 | 2026-Apr-20 | 16.3 LD | 10.3 | 13 | | 2026 GJ1 | 2026-Apr-21 | 8.7 LD | 22.3 | 69 | | 2025 HQ4 | 2026-Apr-21 | 16.4 LD | 12.5 | 22 | | 2026 GZ1 | 2026-Apr-21 | 15.5 LD | 10.3 | 49 | | 2026 BK2 | 2026-Apr-22 | 10 LD | 8.1 | 219 | | 2022 UU8 | 2026-Apr-25 | 8.7 LD | 4 | 9 | | 2026 GU1 | 2026-Apr-28 | 12.5 LD | 6.4 | 75 | | 2026 GD1 | 2026-May-03 | 14.6 LD | 6.7 | 51 | | 2020 GE3 | 2026-May-09 | 11.1 LD | 6 | 21 | | 2023 VR5 | 2026-May-16 | 7.5 LD | 2.3 | 10 | | 2025 KR4 | 2026-May-18 | 15.2 LD | 5.9 | 22 | | 2023 KH4 | 2026-May-24 | 5.5 LD | 7.9 | 14 | | 2023 KZ1 | 2026-May-24 | 9 LD | 13.4 | 20 | | 2023 BM4 | 2026-May-30 | 12.2 LD | 5.7 | 64 | | 2021 KN2 | 2026-Jun-03 | 8.9 LD | 8.9 | 7 | | 2018 GE | 2026-Jun-07 | 16.4 LD | 3.1 | 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 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. | | | 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. | | | 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. |
