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.
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NEW! BACKYARD ASTRONOMY ALERTS: We're proud to announce a new service from Spaceweather.com: Backyard Astronomy Alerts. We love this product. Subscribers receive real-time alerts about space station flybys, aurora outbursts, planetary conjunctions, meteor showers and more -- all easy to see with the naked eye. SMS text messages tell you to go outside right now while the event is happening, and companion emails include sky maps and detailed observing tips. Introductory offer: 1 year for 50% off
BIG SUNSPOT ALERT: Solar activity is poised to increase as a big sunspot emerges over the sun's southeastern limb. Maximilian-Vlad Teodorescu photographed it today from Romania:
"The wait is over!" says Teodorescu.
Indeed, we knew this sunspot was coming. For days, Europe's Solar Orbiter (SolO) has been watching it glide across the farside of the sun. Interestingly, SolO's X-ray detector has detected no strong flares from the region. It's unusually quiet for a sunspot so large--so far.
The entire sunspot group is ~10 times wider than Earth and, thus, easy to observe. You can see it using ordinary eclipse glasses, or, better yet, try casting an image of the sunspot onto a screen or wall. You can use binoculars and a mirror or a telescope and cardboard. Either way, it's fun!
more images: from Pepe Manteca of Begues, Spain; from Thierry Legault of Paris, France
SPACE STATION SOLAR TRANSIT: For years, amateur astronomers have routinely photographed transits of the International Space Station (ISS) across the face of the sun. This picture looks like a typical example--except for one thing. It's not the ISS:
"This is China's Tiangong space station," explains photographer Anthony Ayiomamitis, who recorded the split-second transit over Athens, Greece, on June 15th.
China started building their own space station in 2021 with the launch of Tiangong's core module. Subsequent launches have expanded the orbiting outpost; now it has a mass of about 70 tons and roughly 340 cubic meters of pressurized volume. It's still quite a bit smaller than the ISS (420 tons and 1,000 cubic meters), but considering that China's space station is only 5 years old vs. almost 3 decades for the ISS ... not bad.
The name Tiangong means "Heavenly Palace." It is currently occupied by three Chinese astronauts.
*TIANGONG FLYBY ALERTS* Would you like to see the Chinese space station in the night sky? It's quite bright! Sign up for our new Backyard Astronomy Alert Service. Subscribers receive flyby alerts (text and email) for the ISS, Tiangong, and other satellites of special interest.
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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18K GOLD SUNFLOWER PENDANT: Are you looking for a far-out gift? Consider the 18K Gold Sunflower Pendant. On June 3rd, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:
You can have it for $169.95. This 18k gold-plated pendant is inscribed with the words: "You are my sunshine." The sunflower's "eye" is a genuine citrine crystal, which sparkles in sunlight even at sea level.
The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry 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 Aurora Photo Gallery
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Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
Free: Space Weather 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 June 23, 2026, the network reported 15 fireballs.
(15 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 June 24, 2026 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) |
| 2026 MK |
2026-Jun-19 |
5 LD |
9.2 |
16 |
| 2026 MO |
2026-Jun-19 |
3.6 LD |
8.6 |
12 |
| 2026 MA1 |
2026-Jun-19 |
1.8 LD |
8.4 |
13 |
| 2026 MY1 |
2026-Jun-19 |
1 LD |
8.2 |
13 |
| 2026 MR |
2026-Jun-20 |
1.1 LD |
8.5 |
7 |
| 2026 ML |
2026-Jun-20 |
9.4 LD |
7.1 |
16 |
| 2026 LQ1 |
2026-Jun-20 |
18.5 LD |
2.7 |
22 |
| 2026 MZ |
2026-Jun-20 |
6.1 LD |
17.3 |
27 |
| 2025 WC4 |
2026-Jun-21 |
10.2 LD |
19.2 |
305 |
| 2026 MH |
2026-Jun-21 |
0.5 LD |
4.4 |
6 |
| 2026 MQ |
2026-Jun-22 |
7.5 LD |
6.8 |
10 |
| 2026 MW1 |
2026-Jun-23 |
15.4 LD |
19.7 |
144 |
| 2026 MX1 |
2026-Jun-23 |
0.4 LD |
10.9 |
9 |
| 2026 MU1 |
2026-Jun-23 |
5.2 LD |
13 |
35 |
| 2026 MA2 |
2026-Jun-24 |
14.5 LD |
16.2 |
42 |
| 2026 MD1 |
2026-Jun-25 |
5.9 LD |
10.1 |
61 |
| 2026 MR2 |
2026-Jun-25 |
16.5 LD |
12.5 |
29 |
| 2026 MN2 |
2026-Jun-25 |
4 LD |
7.6 |
15 |
| 2026 MD2 |
2026-Jun-25 |
10.7 LD |
6.8 |
28 |
| 2026 MY |
2026-Jun-25 |
5.4 LD |
10.3 |
20 |
| 2026 MC2 |
2026-Jun-25 |
3 LD |
3.1 |
8 |
| 2026 LJ3 |
2026-Jun-25 |
14.5 LD |
14.2 |
29 |
| 2026 MK2 |
2026-Jun-26 |
11.5 LD |
4.5 |
18 |
| 2026 LC2 |
2026-Jun-27 |
8.9 LD |
5.2 |
38 |
| 2026 MP1 |
2026-Jun-27 |
17.5 LD |
18.4 |
102 |
| 152637 |
2026-Jun-27 |
6.7 LD |
8.9 |
947 |
| 2026 MQ2 |
2026-Jun-28 |
1.3 LD |
11.1 |
11 |
| 2026 MN1 |
2026-Jun-28 |
9.5 LD |
7.3 |
18 |
| 2026 MJ1 |
2026-Jun-30 |
1.5 LD |
4.3 |
12 |
| 2026 MD |
2026-Jun-30 |
7.8 LD |
11 |
42 |
| 2026 MW2 |
2026-Jun-30 |
5.2 LD |
9.7 |
23 |
| 523808 |
2026-Jul-04 |
9.1 LD |
16.8 |
479 |
| 2023 YO1 |
2026-Jul-05 |
6.5 LD |
2.7 |
23 |
| 2026 MO1 |
2026-Jul-08 |
5.9 LD |
9.4 |
36 |
| 2026 MQ1 |
2026-Jul-10 |
11.9 LD |
10.4 |
47 |
| 2007 AA2 |
2026-Jul-11 |
17.8 LD |
7.2 |
43 |
| 2025 PN7 |
2026-Jul-17 |
11.6 LD |
2.6 |
19 |
| 2025 MB90 |
2026-Jul-19 |
5.1 LD |
9.6 |
54 |
| 2020 OM |
2026-Jul-21 |
9.1 LD |
9.5 |
15 |
| 2026 KU3 |
2026-Jul-24 |
7.7 LD |
8.6 |
80 |
| 2020 UR1 |
2026-Jul-25 |
18.8 LD |
7.6 |
28 |
| 2015 BF |
2026-Jul-26 |
17.3 LD |
12.5 |
17 |
| 2025 OW |
2026-Jul-30 |
16.1 LD |
20.1 |
70 |
| 2024 RM10 |
2026-Aug-05 |
13.6 LD |
7.5 |
24 |
| 173561 |
2026-Aug-09 |
13.1 LD |
16.2 |
756 |
| 2019 NY2 |
2026-Aug-10 |
6.6 LD |
9.6 |
195 |
| 2016 BV14 |
2026-Aug-10 |
19.1 LD |
21.1 |
162 |
| 2013 QC11 |
2026-Aug-13 |
14.5 LD |
19 |
172 |
| 2025 AL2 |
2026-Aug-16 |
2.8 LD |
12.5 |
100 |
| 2025 DU7 |
2026-Aug-19 |
8.7 LD |
2.9 |
5 |
| 2025 FY11 |
2026-Aug-20 |
19.2 LD |
3.5 |
6 |
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.
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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 |
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current counts of failed and deployed Starlink satellites from Jonathan's Space Page. See also, all satellite statistics. |
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Authoritative predictions of space junk and satellite re-entries |
| |
from
the NOAA Space Environment Center |
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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 |
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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. |
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