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SUNSPOT GENESIS: A new sunspot is materializing in the sun's southern hemisphere. The unusual ring-shaped 'spot has increased 10-fold in size since yesterday and it could soon pose a threat for Earth-directed solar flares. Watch the movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
SOLAR CYCLE UPDATE: March was another strong month for Solar Cycle 25. According to NOAA, the average sunspot number was among the highest of the past 10 years:
Originally, forecasters thought Solar Cycle 25 would be about the same as Solar Cycle 24, one of the weakest solar cycles in a century. March's sunspot numbers are the latest sign that Solar Cycle 25 will exceed predictions. In fact, Solar Cycle 25 has outperformed the official forecast for more than 24 months in a row.
Solar Maximum is not expected until 2024 or 2025, so the solar cycle has plenty of time to strengthen, bringing more X-flares, geomagnetic storms and auroras. You can follow the progression here. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text.
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30 STATES AND COUNTING: We've been keeping track of all the US states where auroras were sighted during the severe geomagnetic storm of March 23-24--a tally based on pictures submitted to Spaceweather.com. "Let's add Maryland to the list!" says Eric Hoffmann who photographed the storm's red glow behind clouds over Fair Hill:
"I had been tracking the outbreak of auroras and had my camera ready when a break in the clouds allowed just a few exposures," says Hoffmann. "I couldn't see auroras with the naked eye, but the faint glow in the northern sky showed up in my pictures. Next time I will use different exposure settings (higher ISO). Hopefully there will be more to come this solar cycle." (Editor's note: There will.)
Adding Maryland to the list brings the total to 30. This map shows the distribution of aurora photos color coded by their dominant hue:
By now many readers know why the colors are divided. Auroras are like a layer cake with red on top and green on the bottom. This picture is a great example of the altitude structure. Green is usually brighter, so green dominates most photos taken where the full display can be seen. However, people in the south can't see the full display. The northern horizon blocks their view of the low-hanging greens, leaving only red to color the sky.
Is your state missing from this map? Send us an aurora photo and we will add it to the list. Aurora alerts: SMS Text.
Realtime Aurora Photo Gallery
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"I LOVE YOU MORE" MOONSTONE PENDANT: Are you looking for a romantic gift? Nothing says "I love you" like a moonstone from space. This sterling silver infinity-wrapped moonstone pendant hitched a ride on an Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray research balloon, flying 112,201 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have it for $162.95. The students are selling these pendants to support their cosmic ray ballooning program. Engraved with "I Love You More," it makes a great anniversary, birthday or (never too early!) Christmas gift. Each pendant comes with a greeting card showing the moonstone 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
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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 Apr 03 2023, the network reported 3 fireballs.
(3 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 April 3, 2023 there were 2327 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 |
Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) |
| 2014 GC34 | 2023-Mar-29 | 13.7 LD | 25.9 | 85 |
| 2023 FP13 | 2023-Mar-29 | 8.7 LD | 13.6 | 34 |
| 2022 YK4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 11.9 LD | 2.3 | 25 |
| 2023 FR1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 19 LD | 7.9 | 45 |
| 2023 EK2 | 2023-Mar-30 | 12.9 LD | 15.4 | 83 |
| 2017 SE12 | 2023-Mar-30 | 5.2 LD | 8.4 | 15 |
| 2023 FQ4 | 2023-Mar-30 | 4 LD | 7.5 | 11 |
| 2023 FH7 | 2023-Mar-30 | 0.4 LD | 8.7 | 6 |
| 2016 GH1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 7.7 LD | 5.8 | 11 |
| 2023 FO3 | 2023-Mar-31 | 6.6 LD | 10.2 | 17 |
| 2023 FF7 | 2023-Apr-01 | 8.7 LD | 10.8 | 15 |
| 2023 FZ10 | 2023-Apr-01 | 2.7 LD | 2.8 | 7 |
| 2023 FY6 | 2023-Apr-02 | 10 LD | 22.5 | 32 |
| 2022 GO3 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17 LD | 11.6 | 15 |
| 2021 GN1 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17.7 LD | 14.2 | 18 |
| 2023 FU6 | 2023-Apr-03 | 4.9 LD | 10.2 | 14 |
| 2023 FS11 | 2023-Apr-03 | 17.3 LD | 11.7 | 26 |
| 2023 FA7 | 2023-Apr-04 | 5.9 LD | 24 | 29 |
| 2023 FQ7 | 2023-Apr-05 | 15 LD | 8.4 | 21 |
| 2023 FZ3 | 2023-Apr-06 | 10.9 LD | 18.8 | 47 |
| 2018 FD | 2023-Apr-06 | 16.2 LD | 7.8 | 47 |
| 2023 FE4 | 2023-Apr-06 | 9.6 LD | 2.6 | 32 |
| 2023 FM | 2023-Apr-06 | 7.8 LD | 15.8 | 161 |
| 2020 FL4 | 2023-Apr-06 | 14.1 LD | 5 | 14 |
| 2023 FX13 | 2023-Apr-09 | 8.2 LD | 13.3 | 27 |
| 2023 FY13 | 2023-Apr-09 | 18.5 LD | 11.9 | 55 |
| 2023 FP5 | 2023-Apr-09 | 10.7 LD | 14.1 | 40 |
| 2023 FC4 | 2023-Apr-09 | 19.6 LD | 10.1 | 56 |
| 2023 FG5 | 2023-Apr-10 | 9.5 LD | 9.4 | 24 |
| 2023 FT1 | 2023-Apr-10 | 19.5 LD | 6.6 | 33 |
| 2023 FE5 | 2023-Apr-11 | 11.6 LD | 5.8 | 28 |
| 2023 FS10 | 2023-Apr-12 | 3.2 LD | 7.6 | 21 |
| 2019 GK21 | 2023-Apr-13 | 15.2 LD | 8.1 | 27 |
| 2022 YK9 | 2023-Apr-13 | 19.9 LD | 9.9 | 175 |
| 436774 | 2023-Apr-13 | 12.5 LD | 17.6 | 719 |
| 2023 FN13 | 2023-Apr-15 | 2.6 LD | 4.5 | 12 |
| 2020 BV14 | 2023-Apr-16 | 17.8 LD | 8.2 | 81 |
| 2006 HV5 | 2023-Apr-26 | 6.3 LD | 17.4 | 400 |
| 2021 JF2 | 2023-Apr-28 | 16.6 LD | 8 | 19 |
| 2018 VS6 | 2023-May-01 | 5.2 LD | 11.6 | 14 |
| 2011 KY15 | 2023-May-18 | 19.9 LD | 14.3 | 54 |
| 2021 JK7 | 2023-May-22 | 16.7 LD | 22.9 | 48 |
| 2019 UJ3 | 2023-May-23 | 15.5 LD | 9.8 | 21 |
| 2023 CL3 | 2023-May-24 | 18.9 LD | 7.3 | 121 |
| 2021 KO2 | 2023-May-29 | 15.8 LD | 13.9 | 9 |
| 2012 KP24 | 2023-May-31 | 10.3 LD | 12.4 | 19 |
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 7 years, resulting in a unique dataset of in situ atmospheric measurements.
Latest results (July 2022): Atmospheric radiation is decreasing in 2022. Our latest measurements in July 2022 registered a 6-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 |
| | 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 |
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