 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 3.00 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.00 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 7.20 nT
Bz: 2.20 nT north
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 25 Feb 23 
Solar wind flowing from this equatorial coronal hole could reach Earth on Feb 26-28. Credit: SDO/AIA  Noctilucent Clouds
The southern hemisphere season for noctilucent clouds has begun. NASA's AIM spacecraft detected the first electric-blue puffs over Antarctica on Dec. 1st. Switch view:Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated Feb25 SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2023 Feb 25 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 65 % | 65 % | CLASS X | 15 % | 15 % | Geomagnetic Storms:
Probabilities for significant disturbances in Earth's magnetic field are given for three activity levels: active, minor storm, severe storm Updated at: 2023 Feb 25 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 45 % | 30 % | MINOR | 30 % | 40 % | SEVERE | 05 % | 25 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 05 % | 05 % | MINOR | 20 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 70 % | 79 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | Never miss another geomagnetic storm. Sign up for Space Weather Alerts and you'll receive a text message when magnetic storms erupt. Aurora tour guides and professional astronomers use this service. You can, too! | | | GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Earth's magnetic field is about to receive a double blow--first from a solar wind stream, then from a CME, both arriving around Feb. 27th. The solar wind stream is flowing from an equatorial hole in the sun's atmosphere. The CME was launched by yesterday's "chain reaction" explosion, described below. Their arrival could spark category G1 (Minor) to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storms with auroras in northern-tier US states. Aurora alerts: SMS Text. A "CHAIN REACTION" EXPLOSION ON THE SUN: A magnetic filament connected to sunspot AR3229 erupted on Feb. 24th, producing a chain reaction of events that could lead to a geomagnetic storm on Earth. The action began at 1949 UTC when the filament rose up and sliced through the sun's atmosphere: 
The violent liftoff destabilized sunspot AR3229, sparking a long duration M3-class solar flare (2030 UTC). Radiation from the flare, in turn, ionized the top of Earth's atmosphere, blacking out shortwave radio transmissions around the Pacific Ocean: map. Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal at frequencies below 25 MHz for as much as an hour after the explosion. Next, a CME emerged from the blast site. Coronagraph images from SOHO show a lopsided halo with an Earth-directed component: 
Type II solar radio emissions from the leading edge of the CME suggest a departure speed of 1200 km/s (2.7 million mph). The flank of the fast-moving cloud could reach Earth on Feb. 27th. NOAA analysts are modeling the CME now, so stay tuned for a refined forecast. There's more: Shock waves inside the CME accelerated protons to nearly light speed, and they have already reached Earth. Our planet's magnetic field is funneling the particles toward the poles where a second type of radio blackout is underway--a polar cap absorption (PCA) event. Airplanes flying over these regions may find that their shortwave radios won't work due to the ionizing effect of infalling protons: map. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
Free: Spaceweather.com Newsletter "ALWAYS AND FOREVER" SPACE PENDANT: Are you looking for a romantic gift? Consider the Always and Forever Space Pendent. The students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched it to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon: 
You can have it for $199.95. Engraved with the words "I love you always and forever", this 18K gold-plated pendant has a heart-shaped citrine crystal in the middle surrouunded by a ring of glittering 5A cubic zirconia nuggets. It is a visually striking premium pendant that makes a once-in-a-lifetime anniversary or birthday gift. The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry 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
Realtime Aurora 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 Feb 25 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 February 25, 2023 there were 2331 potentially hazardous asteroids.
 | Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2023 DC | 2023-Feb-20 | 8.6 LD | 7.8 | 13 | | 2023 CR2 | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.2 LD | 17.3 | 21 | | 2023 DJ | 2023-Feb-20 | 19.6 LD | 12.4 | 75 | | 2023 DF | 2023-Feb-21 | 4.4 LD | 9.8 | 14 | | 2023 DP | 2023-Feb-21 | 5.7 LD | 15 | 30 | | 37638 | 2023-Feb-21 | 17 LD | 11.1 | 493 | | 2023 AA2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 17.4 LD | 10.1 | 133 | | 2023 CM2 | 2023-Feb-22 | 2.1 LD | 11.2 | 22 | | 2023 DE | 2023-Feb-22 | 8.6 LD | 16.9 | 25 | | 2023 CS1 | 2023-Feb-23 | 15.1 LD | 9.1 | 31 | | 2023 DR | 2023-Feb-25 | 0.2 LD | 14 | 4 | | 2023 DK | 2023-Feb-25 | 6.6 LD | 4 | 9 | | 2023 CG1 | 2023-Feb-25 | 15.2 LD | 6.5 | 32 | | 2023 DA | 2023-Feb-26 | 2.8 LD | 5.9 | 18 | | 2023 CX2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 7.6 LD | 2.3 | 11 | | 2023 CC2 | 2023-Feb-27 | 16.2 LD | 5.1 | 31 | | 2012 DK31 | 2023-Feb-27 | 12.6 LD | 15.5 | 143 | | 2006 BE55 | 2023-Feb-28 | 9.4 LD | 13.3 | 145 | | 2021 QW | 2023-Mar-03 | 13.9 LD | 12.1 | 79 | | 2017 BM123 | 2023-Mar-03 | 12.1 LD | 7.8 | 61 | | 2007 ED125 | 2023-Mar-03 | 11.7 LD | 13.1 | 224 | | 2015 EG | 2023-Mar-04 | 13.9 LD | 10.6 | 27 | | 2023 BK5 | 2023-Mar-05 | 17.8 LD | 8.4 | 62 | | 535844 | 2023-Mar-07 | 10.5 LD | 7.7 | 149 | | 2023 DQ | 2023-Mar-08 | 6.2 LD | 22.9 | 182 | | 2020 FQ | 2023-Mar-09 | 14 LD | 6.3 | 13 | | 2020 FV4 | 2023-Mar-13 | 17.6 LD | 8.2 | 30 | | 2023 CM | 2023-Mar-14 | 10.3 LD | 14 | 190 | | 2023 DM | 2023-Mar-15 | 8.5 LD | 7.3 | 66 | | 2018 UQ1 | 2023-Mar-17 | 10.7 LD | 11.7 | 143 | | 2016 WH | 2023-Mar-19 | 18.1 LD | 11.8 | 14 | | 2018 FE3 | 2023-Mar-21 | 10.1 LD | 5.4 | 13 | | 2023 CE4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 20 LD | 10.1 | 93 | | 2022 YK4 | 2023-Mar-29 | 11.9 LD | 2.3 | 25 | | 2017 SE12 | 2023-Mar-30 | 5.2 LD | 8.4 | 15 | | 2016 GH1 | 2023-Mar-30 | 7.7 LD | 5.8 | 11 | | 2022 GO3 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17 LD | 11.6 | 15 | | 2021 GN1 | 2023-Apr-02 | 17.7 LD | 14.2 | 18 | | 2018 FD | 2023-Apr-07 | 17.9 LD | 8.2 | 47 | | 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 | 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 |  | BestCSGOGambling is the best site for everything related to CSGO gambling on the web | | To find reviews of new online casino sites in the UK try The Casino DB where there are hundreds of online casino reviews complete with bonuses and ratings. Alternatively, Online-Casinos.xyz is another massive directory of online casinos listing sites for the UK and Worldwide. Casinos that offer Rupees for bonuses are very generous to Indian players. Find the best online casinos in India at AllCasinos.in Looking for a new online casino? Try Casimpo the new site dedicated to making online casino simple, or check out the new Avenger Slots Casino and Ace Online Casino with over 500 online slots and casino games. | | When looking for casinos to play online when the weather is bad, you can try casino online trucchi for Italian games. If you are not from Finland you can try the Swedish page Svenska casino online to find suitable games, check out svenskacasinoonline.net. Always check your local laws before playing with real money. | | Looking for sports betting companies not registered on GamStop? CasinoGap has presented a list of sites not on GamStop available for UK players. Check and bet online! Would you like to bet at sites not using GamStop? Look at a list of NonStopCasino sites for online betting that aren't on GamStop. Top-rated bookmakers ever! | | | 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. | |
