Solar wind
speed: 556.0 km/sec
density: 0.07 protons/cm3 more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 0636 UT
X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C7
1754 UT
Mar24
24-hr:
C7
1754 UT
Mar24 explanation
| more
data Updated: Today at: 1840 UT
Daily Sun: 24 Mar 26
Expand:labels | no labels
Sunspot 4400 has a delta-class magnetic field that poses a threat for X-class solar flares. Credit: NASA/SDO
Planetary K-index
Now: Kp=
2.33 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 4.00 unsettled explanation | more
data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 3.71 nT
Bz: 2.15 nT north more data: ACE, DSCOVR Updated: Today at 0636 UT
Coronal Holes: 24 Mar 26
Earth is inside a stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole. Credit: NASA/SDO | more data
Spotless Days Current Stretch: 0 days
2026 total: 3 days (4%)
2025 total: 0 days (0%)
2024 total: 0 days (0%)
2023 total: 0 days (0%)
2022 total: 1 day (<1%)
2021 total: 64 days (18%)
2020 total: 208 days (57%)
2019 total: 281 days (77%)
2018 total: 221 days (61%)
2017 total: 104 days (28%)
2016 total: 32 days (9%)
2015 total: 0 days (0%)
2014 total: 1 day (<1%)
2013 total: 0 days (0%)
2012 total: 0 days (0%)
2011 total: 2 days (<1%)
2010 total: 51 days (14%)
2009 total: 260 days (71%)
2008 total: 268 days (73%)
2007 total: 152 days (42%)
2006 total: 70 days (19%)
Updated 24 Mar 2026
Thermosphere Climate Index
today: 18.53x1010W Warm
Max: 49.4x1010 W Hot (10/1957)
Min: 2.05x1010 W Cold (02/2009) explanation | more data:gfx, txt
Updated 23 Mar 2026
Cosmic RaysSolar Cycle 25 is near its peak, and this is reflected in the number of cosmic rays entering Earth's atmosphere. Neutron counts from the University of Oulu's Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory show that cosmic rays reaching Earth are slowly declining--a result of the yin-yang relationship between the solar cycle and cosmic rays.
Oulu Neutron Counts Percentages of the Space Age average:
today: -7.2% Low
48-hr change: -0.2%
Max: +11.7% Very High (12/2009)
Min: -32.1% Very Low (06/1991) explanation |more data
Updated 24 Mar 2026 @ 0700 UT
SPACE WEATHER NOAA Forecasts
Updated at: 2026 Mar 23 2200 UTC
FLARE
0-24
hr
24-48
hr
CLASS M
25
%
25
%
CLASS X
05
%
05
%
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 Mar 23 2200 UTC
Mid-latitudes
0-24
hr
24-48
hr
ACTIVE
40
%
30
%
MINOR
35
%
15
%
SEVERE
10
%
01
%
High latitudes
0-24
hr
24-48
hr
ACTIVE
05
%
10
%
MINOR
20
%
25
%
SEVERE
75
%
40
%
Tuesday, Mar. 24, 2026
What's up in space
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.
A BREAK IN THE STORMS: Since the vernal equinox, Earth's magnetic field has been activeandstormy--a result of CME impacts amplified by the Russell-McPherron effect. The next two days should be relatively quiet until another CME passes close to Earth on March 26th. High-latitude sky watchers might see more auroras on Thursday night. Aurora alerts:SMS Text
A NOTE ABOUT THE HOUSTON AND OHIO FIREBALLS: Is Earth under siege? If you've been reading headlines about space rocks falling over Ohio and Texas, you might be wondering what's going on. According to NASA, it's nothing unusual.
"Spring is fireball season," says Bill Cooke of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office. "For reasons we don't fully understand, the rate of bright meteors climbs as much as 30% during the weeks around the vernal equinox."
Above: The Ohio fireball over Kennerdell, PA. Credit: Jeff Campbell
The Ohio and Texas meteors were very bright indeed. The Ohio event on March 17th around 9:00 a.m. ET was visible in broad daylight and produced a loud sonic boom that rattled homes. The Texas fireball was also visible in daylight on March 21st around 4:40 p.m. local time. Both peppered the ground with meteorites--with one reportedly punching through the roof of a home in suburban Houston.
"We've known about this phenomenon for more than 30 years," says Cooke. "Meteorite falls--fragments that actually hit the ground--are more common in spring as well."
No one is sure what causes the spring surge. Some researchers think there might be an intrinsic variation in the meteoroid population along Earth's orbit, with a March and April peak in large, fireball-producing debris.
Interestingly, the Texas and Ohio fireballs did not come from the same place.
"The two fireballs had completely different orbits," notes Cooke. "Plus, the meteorites they produced are quite different. Ohio finds are probably eucrites, whereas the recovered Texas meteorite appears to be an ordinary chondrite."
So, nothing unusual--but still mysterious. Keep looking up.
A GIFT FOR TOLKIEN FANS -- THE ONE RING OVER HOBBITON: Need a far out gift for a Tolkien fan? Consider the One Ring over Hobbiton. During a rare South Pacific balloon flight, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus flew this ring to the stratosphere directly over the movie set for Peter Jackson's Lord of the RIngs:
You can have it for $199.95. On the southern winter solstice, it reached an altitude of 108,345 feet, flying alongide a suite of cosmic radiation sensors that the students use to monitor atmospheric radiation. The ring is made of gold-plated tungsten and inscribed with the authentic Mordor script of the One Ring.
Your purchase comes with a greeting card showing the ring in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space and back again.
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 March 23, 2026, the network reported 4 fireballs.
(4 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]
Near
Earth Asteroids
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 March 24, 2026 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
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.
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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