 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 4.33 unsettled
24-hr max: Kp= 5.00 storm
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.94 nT
Bz: -3.02 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 30 May 25 
Earth is in the leading edge of a solar wind stream flowing from this long, narrow coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO | more data  Polar Stratospheric Clouds
Colorful Type II polar stratospheric clouds (PSC) form when the temperature in the stratosphere drops to a staggeringly low -85C. NASA's MERRA-2 climate model predicts when the air up there is cold enough: 
On May 27, 2025, the Arctic stratosphere is much too hot for polar stratospheric clouds. | more data. Noctilucent Clouds
The southern season for noctilucent clouds (NLCs) is finished. The first clouds were detected over Antarctica on Nov. 19, 2024, and they vanished again on Feb. 21, 2025. The action will shift to the north pole in late May 2025. Until then, the map will remain blank.
Updated: Feb. 21, 2025
An instrument onboard NOAA 21 (OMPS LP) is able to detect NLCs (also known as "polar mesospheric clouds" or PMCs). In the daily map, above, each dot is a detected cloud. As the season progresses, these dots will multiply in number and shift in hue from blue to red as the brightness of the clouds intensifies.
SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2025 May 30 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 50 % | 50 % | 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: 2025 May 30 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 40 % | 40 % | MINOR | 25 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 05 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 10 % | 10 % | MINOR | 25 % | 25 % | SEVERE | 60 % | 60 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | This is an AI Free Zone: AI isn't all bad. Large language models are good writers with access to vast stores of data. There's still no substitute for a human being with decades of space weather forecasting experience. This website is 100% human. | | | SUPER FAST SOLAR WIND (UPDATED): Solar wind is blowing around Earth faster than 750 km/s (1.7 million mph). This is putting pressure on our planet's magnetic field and setting the stage for possible G1/G2-class geomagnetic storms on May 30th. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras. Aurora alerts: SMS Text A 24-HOUR GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A co-rotating interaction region (CIR) hit Earth on May 29th, sparking 24 hours of non-stop geomagnetic storming. The day started off strong (G3) before settling into a sustained stretch of minor to moderate disturbances: 
CIRs are transition zones between fast- and slow-moving streams of solar wind. They're like mini-CMEs. They contain shock waves and enhanced magnetic fields that do a good job sparking geomagnetic storms and auroras. Astronomer Ian Griffin was at home in Portobello, New Zealand, when the CIR arrived. "An aurora alert came across my phone," says Griffin. "I went out into my garden to see what was going on, and I was rewarded by some amazing auroral beams!" This is what he saw: 
In addition to the aurora australis, his exposure also captured the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. "It was a beautiful display," he says. Meanwhile in the northern hemisphere, auroras appeared in Minnesota, Idaho, Illinois and lots of places in Canada. Another 24 hours, anyone? Aurora alerts: SMS Text Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter THIS IS *REAL* MONEY FROM SPACE: The US Mint has just released a new $1 coin to honor NASA's longest-serving spacecraft: The Space Shuttle. On May 25, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched the coins to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon: 
You can have a single coin for $49.95 or an entire unbroken roll for $299.95. No longer available from the US Mint, these rare coins flew 119,343 feet above the Sierra Nevada on July 16, 2024. One side shows the space shuttle lifting off from Launch Complex 39 at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center; the other side features the Statue of Liberty in profile. For collectors: The D mint version of these coins is also available: Get the single coin ($49.95) or an entire unbroken roll ($299.95). The students are selling space coins to support to support their cosmic ray research program. (Helium is expensive!) Each order comes with a greeting card showing the coins in flight and telling the story of their 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
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter
Realtime Comet 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 May 30, 2025, the network reported 5 fireballs.
(5 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 May 30, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2025 KM | 2025-May-25 | 4 LD | 3.6 | 8 | | 2014 KF22 | 2025-May-25 | 9.1 LD | 11.5 | 19 | | 390725 | 2025-May-25 | 18.4 LD | 13.5 | 410 | | 2025 KQ4 | 2025-May-26 | 0.4 LD | 10.6 | 4 | | 2025 KT1 | 2025-May-26 | 5.2 LD | 9.4 | 13 | | 2025 JP | 2025-May-27 | 13.4 LD | 7 | 27 | | 2025 KW | 2025-May-28 | 12.9 LD | 13.5 | 29 | | 2025 JR | 2025-May-28 | 12.1 LD | 11.3 | 80 | | 2025 KU1 | 2025-May-28 | 19.3 LD | 3.4 | 20 | | 2025 KX3 | 2025-May-28 | 0.9 LD | 7.9 | 10 | | 2025 FU5 | 2025-May-28 | 13.4 LD | 7.3 | 92 | | 2025 KA3 | 2025-May-28 | 5 LD | 19.5 | 27 | | 2025 KR | 2025-May-29 | 12.9 LD | 13.8 | 43 | | 2025 KD3 | 2025-May-29 | 19.7 LD | 12.1 | 84 | | 2025 KK | 2025-May-30 | 1.9 LD | 4.5 | 11 | | 2025 KH2 | 2025-May-30 | 14.6 LD | 12.4 | 34 | | 2025 KR1 | 2025-May-30 | 15 LD | 17.6 | 41 | | 2022 KP3 | 2025-May-30 | 10.2 LD | 7.7 | 7 | | 2025 KP | 2025-May-31 | 3.2 LD | 11.3 | 30 | | 2025 KC1 | 2025-May-31 | 5.3 LD | 8.8 | 23 | | 2025 KB4 | 2025-May-31 | 19.8 LD | 13.4 | 35 | | 2025 KL2 | 2025-May-31 | 15.2 LD | 18.9 | 32 | | 2025 KZ3 | 2025-May-31 | 1.8 LD | 2.6 | 8 | | 2025 KE4 | 2025-May-31 | 2.7 LD | 3.6 | 5 | | 2025 KC4 | 2025-Jun-02 | 10.7 LD | 6.7 | 23 | | 2025 KG | 2025-Jun-04 | 15.3 LD | 3.4 | 18 | | 2025 KY4 | 2025-Jun-05 | 7.2 LD | 3.8 | 13 | | 424482 | 2025-Jun-05 | 9.1 LD | 6.2 | 421 | | 2020 LQ | 2025-Jun-06 | 17.3 LD | 11.8 | 34 | | 2018 LE4 | 2025-Jun-07 | 12.2 LD | 13.3 | 62 | | 2014 LL26 | 2025-Jun-08 | 8 LD | 5.2 | 31 | | 2015 XR1 | 2025-Jun-12 | 18.1 LD | 12.6 | 81 | | 2022 KQ5 | 2025-Jun-12 | 13.6 LD | 5.1 | 5 | | 2025 KV4 | 2025-Jun-12 | 4.1 LD | 8 | 27 | | 2025 KF1 | 2025-Jun-12 | 8.1 LD | 9.7 | 41 | | 2023 XO15 | 2025-Jun-15 | 17.8 LD | 3.4 | 24 | | 2025 HN6 | 2025-Jun-16 | 6.4 LD | 2.3 | 24 | | 2000 LF3 | 2025-Jun-17 | 18.9 LD | 14.5 | 169 | | 2023 XU2 | 2025-Jun-18 | 11.1 LD | 15.6 | 32 | | 2025 KT6 | 2025-Jun-19 | 7 LD | 9.1 | 78 | | 2003 AY2 | 2025-Jun-22 | 14.2 LD | 15.9 | 386 | | 2014 DH | 2025-Jun-28 | 17.1 LD | 12.1 | 17 | | 2019 JM | 2025-Jul-09 | 16.6 LD | 6.9 | 14 | | 2019 NW5 | 2025-Jul-09 | 15.2 LD | 16.5 | 65 | | 2005 VO5 | 2025-Jul-11 | 15.9 LD | 14.4 | 382 | | 2022 YS5 | 2025-Jul-17 | 17.4 LD | 6.1 | 38 | | 2018 BY6 | 2025-Jul-19 | 13.7 LD | 7.4 | 69 | 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. | | 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! | | | | | | | | |  | | |  | ©2021 Spaceweather.com. All rights reserved. This site is penned daily by Dr. Tony Phillips. | |
