A CME IS COMING--ETA JUNE 30TH: A magnetic filament erupted from the sun's southern hemisphere during the late hours of June 26th, hurling a CME into space. NASA models predict that it will strike Earth on June 30th. This is not a major CME, but it could spark a G1-class geomagnetic storm when it reaches Earth. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
A BIG ASTEROID IS ABOUT TO FLY PAST EARTH: It is often said that Earth is in a shooting gallery. This weekend, amateur astronomers can watch one of the bullets streak by.
Above: Asteroid 1997 NC1 on June 25, 2026. Credit: Brian D Ottum of Saline, MI
On June 27th, near-Earth asteroid 152637 (1997 NC1) will fly past Earth at a distance of 2.6 million kilometers. There's no danger of a strike, but the flyby is significant anyway. This is a large, kilometer-class asteroid (between 0.7 and 1.6 km across) making its closest approach in more than 400 years.
And it will be visible in backyard telescopes. Six-inch optics are enough to see it. The asteroid will brighten to 10th magnitude as it races through the constellation Ophiuchus not far from red giant Antares. At closest approach, the speedy space rock will move so quickly that observers can watch it drift against the background stars in only a few minutes.
The flyby is unusually close for an object so large: The last encounter closer than this by a kilometer-class asteroid was in January 2022 by 1994 PC1. Statistically speaking, it is a once-in-a-decade event.
If 1997 NC1 struck Earth, it would blast a crater ~10 km wide and loft enough dust to alter global climate for years. There is, however, no danger of a collision for at least a century. Over the weekend, NASA astronomers will use a Deep Space Network radar to investigate the asteroid in case it ever becomes a hazard in the distant future.
Want to take a look? Go outside around midnight and point your optics south: sky map. Precise coordinates are available from JPL's Horizons system. If you see anything, submit your images here.
more images: from Michael Jaeger of AZM Martinsberg Austria; from Leslie Fry of Nr Aberystwyth. Wales; from George Steinmetz III of Lewiston, New York
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