This is an AI Free Zone: Text created by Large Language Models is spreading across the Internet. It's well-written, but frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being.
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GEOMAGNETIC STORMS ARE LIKELY THIS WEEK: At least two CMEs will graze Earth's magnetic field this week (#1, #2). One of them came from yesterday's powerful X1.8-class flare. Even a glancing blow from such a CME could cause a geomagnetic storm. NOAA is currently forecasting minor G1-class storms on Nov. 6th and 7th, but don't be surprised if something stronger happens. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR ACTIVITY IS HIGH: Suddenly, the sun is very active. Yesterday, Earth-orbiting satellites detected two powerful X-class solar flares. This interest-compressed movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows both:
The northern flare (X1.8) came from active sunspot 4274. The southern flare (X1.1) came from a sunspot hidden behind the sun's limb. It was probably more powerful than its nominal classification because the flare was partially eclipsed by the edge of the solar disk.
There's no reason to think this activity will subside. These sunspots have been flaring for weeks, producing multiple farside CMEs in late October. Now they are turning toward Earth. Stay tuned! Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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A SPACE BALL FOR DODGER-HATERS: Right now, millions of New Yorkers are upset. Why? Because the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. If you know such a person, console them with the perfect gift--a Yankees baseball from the stratosphere:
You can have it for $99.95. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus are selling space baseballs to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the ball in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space.
Not a Yankees fan? No problem. We also offer space baseballs for the Red Sox, Astros, Giants, Cardinals, Cubs, Padres, Angels and, of course, Dodgers. Just let us know your favorite team and we'll fly it if we don't already have it.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
THE STRONGEST SOLAR FLARE OF THE SPACE AGE: Twenty-two years ago, the sun unleashed the strongest X-ray solar flare of the Space Age. The underlying sunspot was not facing Earth; otherwise we might have experienced a new Carrington Event. Instead, the debris flew harmlessly off the sun's western limb:
The flare's extreme ultraviolet flash recorded by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
The explosion on Nov. 4, 2003, was so intense that, at first, no one knew how strong it was. X-ray detectors onboard GOES satellites were saturated for 11 minutes. This clipped the readings at X17.4, but clearly it was stronger. Shortwave radios in North America went silent as the continent experienced a deep radio blackout--a hint at the flare's true severity.
Eventually, researchers figured it out. Our personal favorite estimate comes from this paper, which describes how Earth's ionosphere was used as a giant solar flare detector. Their answer, X45, has been confirmed by other studies.
This puts it in the same ballpark as the Carrington Event. There were no X-ray detectors in the 19th century, so researchers have to use indirect methods to estimate the intensity of Carrington's flare on Sept. 1, 1859. Studies of auroras, ice cores, and magnetic disturbances suggest values near X45, although some estimates go as high as X80.
Now for the interesting part: The Nov. 4, 2003, flare occurred during the declining phase of Solar Cycle 23. Twenty-two years later, we are near the same point in Solar Cycle 25. As any good space weather forecaster will tell you, the downslopes of solar cycles are prime time for big explosions. No one knows why, but it's true.
In conclusion, don't be surprised if it happens again. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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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 Nov 04, 2025, the network reported 30 fireballs.
(19 sporadics, 10 Northern Taurids, 1 Orionid)
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 November 5, 2025 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) |
| 2025 UF12 |
2025-Oct-30 |
2.4 LD |
8.9 |
14 |
| 2025 UX18 |
2025-Oct-30 |
0.1 LD |
8.1 |
3 |
| 2025 VG |
2025-Oct-30 |
2.4 LD |
6.4 |
14 |
| 2025 UC11 |
2025-Oct-30 |
0 LD |
11.4 |
1 |
| 2025 UF4 |
2025-Oct-30 |
15.3 LD |
10.2 |
78 |
| 2025 UE9 |
2025-Oct-30 |
3.4 LD |
24.5 |
18 |
| 2025 UK9 |
2025-Oct-30 |
1.1 LD |
7.8 |
4 |
| 2025 UH7 |
2025-Oct-31 |
2.2 LD |
7.8 |
8 |
| 2025 UN9 |
2025-Oct-31 |
7.2 LD |
2.4 |
8 |
| 2025 VD |
2025-Oct-31 |
0.8 LD |
13.1 |
19 |
| 2025 VE |
2025-Nov-01 |
4.2 LD |
6.7 |
11 |
| 2025 UO7 |
2025-Nov-01 |
8 LD |
7.6 |
17 |
| 2025 UU9 |
2025-Nov-01 |
14.9 LD |
4.4 |
14 |
| 2025 TP11 |
2025-Nov-02 |
12 LD |
8.4 |
35 |
| 2005 EZ223 |
2025-Nov-03 |
15.6 LD |
12.9 |
78 |
| 2025 VB |
2025-Nov-03 |
15.9 LD |
8.6 |
35 |
| 2023 VK6 |
2025-Nov-03 |
7.6 LD |
9.6 |
15 |
| 2025 UR12 |
2025-Nov-04 |
4.5 LD |
6.2 |
8 |
| 2025 TB12 |
2025-Nov-04 |
7.3 LD |
6.3 |
19 |
| 2025 UT11 |
2025-Nov-05 |
14.3 LD |
7.7 |
13 |
| 2025 UP11 |
2025-Nov-06 |
6.5 LD |
5.1 |
8 |
| 2025 UO8 |
2025-Nov-06 |
17.9 LD |
7.2 |
33 |
| 2025 UN11 |
2025-Nov-07 |
9 LD |
6.7 |
10 |
| 2025 UL4 |
2025-Nov-07 |
16.8 LD |
8.2 |
25 |
| 2021 VQ10 |
2025-Nov-08 |
9 LD |
15 |
13 |
| 2019 UH7 |
2025-Nov-08 |
13.3 LD |
5.8 |
11 |
| 2025 UL17 |
2025-Nov-08 |
5.9 LD |
9 |
36 |
| 2018 KC |
2025-Nov-09 |
16 LD |
9.3 |
11 |
| 2017 WG14 |
2025-Nov-09 |
16.7 LD |
11.7 |
45 |
| 2020 VK4 |
2025-Nov-10 |
16.4 LD |
3.8 |
9 |
| 2012 VC26 |
2025-Nov-11 |
13.3 LD |
6.4 |
6 |
| 2025 UP9 |
2025-Nov-11 |
18.1 LD |
14 |
46 |
| 2025 US11 |
2025-Nov-14 |
12.6 LD |
8.1 |
22 |
| 2019 VL5 |
2025-Nov-14 |
14.7 LD |
9.1 |
24 |
| 2022 FG4 |
2025-Nov-17 |
18.7 LD |
22.2 |
105 |
| 3361 |
2025-Nov-19 |
14.8 LD |
9.1 |
439 |
| 2013 NJ4 |
2025-Nov-20 |
12.6 LD |
6.4 |
12 |
| 2021 WR |
2025-Nov-22 |
19.3 LD |
10 |
31 |
| 516155 |
2025-Nov-24 |
12.5 LD |
16.7 |
338 |
| 2020 WM |
2025-Nov-24 |
17.4 LD |
11.8 |
36 |
| 2019 UT6 |
2025-Nov-25 |
6.2 LD |
12.6 |
146 |
| 2018 WG2 |
2025-Nov-27 |
13.5 LD |
7.5 |
3 |
| 2007 VM184 |
2025-Dec-01 |
13.1 LD |
20 |
219 |
| 2018 WC2 |
2025-Dec-03 |
9.8 LD |
8.9 |
36 |
| 2025 UF10 |
2025-Dec-04 |
14.7 LD |
13.2 |
133 |
| 2021 JE1 |
2025-Dec-08 |
13.5 LD |
7.1 |
16 |
| 2019 XN3 |
2025-Dec-10 |
5.7 LD |
3.6 |
15 |
| 1999 SF10 |
2025-Dec-10 |
8.2 LD |
4.4 |
46 |
| 2016 YH |
2025-Dec-13 |
6.8 LD |
8.9 |
28 |
| 2025 TZ |
2025-Dec-15 |
17.8 LD |
6.2 |
53 |
| 2015 XX168 |
2025-Dec-18 |
4.7 LD |
11.6 |
27 |
| 2010 WR7 |
2025-Dec-20 |
19.5 LD |
8.3 |
71 |
| 2021 AB1 |
2025-Dec-28 |
10.2 LD |
12.3 |
16 |
| 2019 AU |
2025-Dec-30 |
19.3 LD |
2.8 |
16 |
| 2024 AV2 |
2025-Dec-30 |
17.9 LD |
7 |
17 |
Notes: LD means
"Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance
between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256
AU.
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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 |
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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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