 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.00 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 8.06 nT
Bz: -1.17 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1147 UT Coronal Holes: 20 May 25 
Solar wind flowing from this large southern coronal hole should reach Earth on May 20-21. 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 20, 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 19 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 35 % | 35 % | 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: 2025 May 19 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 30 % | 30 % | MINOR | 15 % | 15 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 30 % | 30 % | SEVERE | 45 % | 45 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | 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. | | | MINOR GEOMAGNETIC STORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS WEEK: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible later this week as Earth enters a stream of solar wind flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. If a storm occurs, it will most likely happen on May 23rd when a glancing-blow CME arrives, adding its power to that of the solar wind stream. Aurora alerts: SMS Text A FATA MORGANA IN OHIO: Last Thursday morning at Edgewater Beach, Ohio, photographer Tyler Penland witnessed something strange on the Lake Erie horizon. A massive tanker ship appeared to hover above the water—its form stretched and distorted, as if suspended in midair: 
"I took my first trip to the Great Lakes and was treated to also my first Fata Morgana," Penland said. "It was a very cool effect with this ship on the horizon." Fata Morgana is a rare type of mirage caused by layers of air at different temperatures. When warm air rests above a cooler surface—like the still-chilly waters of Lake Erie in spring—light rays bend in unusual ways. Distant objects, such as ships, can appear to float, stretch, or even flip upside down. This mirage is most often seen in polar or desert regions, but the Great Lakes can produce them, too, when conditions are just right. Cold lake water, calm air, and a warming sky created the perfect setup for the Lake Erie optical illusion. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter JALAPEñO PEPPERS FROM SPACE: These are the first Jalapeño seeds ever flown to the edge of space. On May 14, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched them onboard a cosmic ray research balloon. They spent 3 hours in the stratosphere exposed to Mars-like temperatures (-62 C) and cosmic rays: 
You can have them for $99.95. Also included are packets of Cayenne, Cubanelle, Orange Habanero ... 10 varieties in all. These seeds make a great DIY science project. Each space-flown packet of seeds comes with an identical control packet, which remained on Earth during the flight. Plant them side by side to discover the difference space travel makes. Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
Realtime Aurora 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 19, 2025, 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] 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 20, 2025 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2025 KJ | 2025-May-16 | 3.6 LD | 15.3 | 12 | | 2025 HD19 | 2025-May-17 | 7.3 LD | 9 | 28 | | 2025 KA | 2025-May-17 | 4.2 LD | 11.8 | 23 | | 2025 KD | 2025-May-18 | 3.6 LD | 6.7 | 25 | | 2025 KE | 2025-May-19 | 12.1 LD | 7.8 | 59 | | 2008 ST | 2025-May-20 | 13.5 LD | 2.5 | 14 | | 2025 JE1 | 2025-May-20 | 11.4 LD | 1.4 | 23 | | 2025 KF | 2025-May-21 | 0.3 LD | 11.6 | 13 | | 2025 KH | 2025-May-22 | 2.9 LD | 11.4 | 12 | | 2025 KC | 2025-May-23 | 2.7 LD | 7.5 | 17 | | 387746 | 2025-May-24 | 17.4 LD | 8.3 | 339 | | 2025 KL | 2025-May-24 | 8 LD | 8.2 | 15 | | 2014 KF22 | 2025-May-25 | 9.1 LD | 11.5 | 19 | | 390725 | 2025-May-25 | 18.4 LD | 13.5 | 410 | | 2025 JP | 2025-May-27 | 13.4 LD | 7 | 25 | | 2025 JR | 2025-May-28 | 12.1 LD | 11.3 | 81 | | 2025 FU5 | 2025-May-28 | 13.4 LD | 7.3 | 92 | | 2025 KK | 2025-May-30 | 1.9 LD | 4.5 | 11 | | 2022 KP3 | 2025-May-30 | 10.2 LD | 7.7 | 7 | | 2025 KG | 2025-Jun-04 | 15.2 LD | 3.5 | 19 | | 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 | | 2022 KQ5 | 2025-Jun-12 | 13.6 LD | 5.1 | 5 | | 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 | | 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 | 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. | |
