 | | | Switch to: Europe, USA, New Zealand, Antarctica Credit: NOAA/Ovation  Planetary K-index
Now: Kp= 2.67 quiet
24-hr max: Kp= 3.67 quiet
explanation | more data
Interplanetary Mag. Field
Btotal: 5.76 nT
Bz: -0.80 nT south
more data: ACE, DSCOVR
Updated: Today at 1146 UT Coronal Holes: 27 Aug 23 
There are no significant equatorial coronal holes on the Earthside of the sun. Credit: SDO/AIA  Noctilucent Clouds
The northern season for NLCs began on May 26th. The first clouds were detected inside the Arctic Circle by the NOAA 21 satellite. An instrument onboard NOAA 21 (OMPS LP) is able to detect NLCs (also known as "polar mesospheric clouds" or PMCs). For the rest of the season, daily maps from NOAA 21 will be presented here:
Updated: Aug. 27, 2023
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.
What happened to NASA's AIM spacecraft, which has been monitoring NLCs since 2007? Earlier this year, the spacecraft's battery failed. As a result AIM is offline, perhaps permanently. There may be some hope of a recovery as AIM's orbit precesses into full sunlight in 2024. Until then, we will maintain AIM's iconic "daily daisy," frozen at Feb. 28, 2023, as a show of thanks for years of service and hope for future daisies:  | | | Switch view:Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, East Antarctica, Polar Updated Aug26 SPACE WEATHER
NOAA Forecasts | | Updated at: 2023 Aug 27 2200 UTC FLARE | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | CLASS M | 20 % | 20 % | 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: 2023 Aug 27 2200 UTC Mid-latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 20 % | 15 % | MINOR | 05 % | 05 % | SEVERE | 01 % | 01 % | High latitudes | 0-24 hr | 24-48 hr | ACTIVE | 15 % | 15 % | MINOR | 20 % | 20 % | SEVERE | 20 % | 20 % | | | |  | | | | | | | | | | | This is an AI Free Zone! Text created by ChatGPT and other Large Language Models is spreading rapidly across the Internet. It's well-written, artificial, frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being. | | | A CME IS HEADING FOR MARS: The "mystery explosion" described below has hurled a CME toward Mars. A NASA model suggests it will hit the Red Planet on Sept. 1st. The impact will probably spark ultraviolet auroras on Mars and erode a small amount of the planet's atmosphere. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text 'M' IS FOR MYSTERY (UPDATED): Earth-orbiting satelites detected an M1-class solar flare on Aug. 26th (2250 UT), but we're not sure what caused it. Here is the spray of debris flying up from the blast site: 
The source of the flare is hidden behind the sun's eastern limb, so we can't see it from Earth. Neither NASA's Perseverance Mars rover (which has a direct view of the area) nor helioseismic echoes of the sun's farside indicate a sunspot at that location--so it's a bit of a mystery. Soon we will find out. The sun's rotation will turn the blast site toward us in a few days. Solar flare alerts: SMS Text Update: This was a long duration flare that had plenty of time to lift a CME out of the sun's atmosphere. Indeed, SOHO coronagraphs have detected a bright CME emerging from the blast site. It will not hit Earth. GIANT JELLYFISH SPRITE: On Aug. 14th, Stanislav Kaniansky of Latky, Slovakia, took one of the most detailed pictures ever of a sprite, an exotic form of upward-directed lightning. For a fraction of a second it towered over the landscape like a massive jellyfish: 
"The thunderstorm was about 320 km away, giving me a good view of the atmosphere just above the cloudtops," says Kaniansky. "I captured the sprite using a Sony A7III digital camera with a 3.2 second exposure (ISO 8000)." From bushy head to tentacled-toe, the sprite stretched about 50 km, ten times taller than a normal bolt of lightning. Balls of light only a few hundred meters in diameter dot the jellyfish's waist and tentacles. Only a few decades ago, such a photo might be considered outlandish and possibly even fake. Now, however, we know that sprites are real and that they can assume a variety of fantastic shapes. See for yourself. Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
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STORM TROOPER WHISKEY DECANTER: It's the perfect gift for a Star Wars fan--the Storm Trooper Whiskey Decanter. On Oct. 10, 2022, it hitched a ride onboard a cosmic ray balloon floating 106,066 feet above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California: 
You can have it for $99.95. The 750 ml decanter comes with a greeting card showing the item in flight, and telling the story of its journey to the stratosphere and back again. All purchases from the Earth to Sky Store help pay the helium bill for our student ballooning program. Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education
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 Aug 27, 2023, the network reported 8 fireballs.
(8 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 August 27, 2023 there were 2349 potentially hazardous asteroids.
| Recent & Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters: | Asteroid | Date(UT) | Miss Distance | Velocity (km/s) | Diameter (m) | | 2023 QO5 | 2023-Aug-22 | 1.4 LD | 8.3 | 15 | | 2023 PM | 2023-Aug-22 | 9.5 LD | 7 | 55 | | 2023 QZ | 2023-Aug-22 | 13.5 LD | 4.5 | 15 | | 2023 QU1 | 2023-Aug-22 | 16.4 LD | 5.7 | 21 | | 6037 | 2023-Aug-23 | 15.9 LD | 14.3 | 571 | | 2023 QW | 2023-Aug-23 | 4.2 LD | 16.3 | 23 | | 2023 QO | 2023-Aug-23 | 6.5 LD | 8.8 | 15 | | 2023 QF | 2023-Aug-23 | 1.9 LD | 5.4 | 12 | | 2023 QS2 | 2023-Aug-23 | 12.6 LD | 17.6 | 33 | | 2023 QN2 | 2023-Aug-24 | 19.1 LD | 15.4 | 42 | | 2023 QK2 | 2023-Aug-24 | 7.7 LD | 4.9 | 16 | | 2023 QG4 | 2023-Aug-25 | 6.6 LD | 24 | 105 | | 2023 QC2 | 2023-Aug-25 | 9.2 LD | 10.2 | 21 | | 2023 QT1 | 2023-Aug-26 | 11.5 LD | 10.6 | 33 | | 2007 RR17 | 2023-Aug-26 | 8.3 LD | 7.1 | 63 | | 2023 QR1 | 2023-Aug-27 | 4.3 LD | 5 | 13 | | 2023 QQ | 2023-Aug-27 | 10.7 LD | 10.1 | 25 | | 2023 QJ5 | 2023-Aug-27 | 4.6 LD | 12.2 | 14 | | 2023 QK5 | 2023-Aug-29 | 3.9 LD | 6.8 | 12 | | 2023 QD2 | 2023-Aug-29 | 3.3 LD | 7.8 | 15 | | 2012 PZ17 | 2023-Aug-30 | 16.8 LD | 3.6 | 16 | | 2023 QH | 2023-Aug-31 | 12 LD | 15.9 | 64 | | 2023 QB2 | 2023-Sep-01 | 8.1 LD | 7.2 | 19 | | 2023 QZ1 | 2023-Sep-01 | 18.2 LD | 18.6 | 51 | | 2023 QU | 2023-Sep-01 | 13.6 LD | 9.8 | 34 | | 2017 BY32 | 2023-Sep-02 | 16.4 LD | 3.5 | 19 | | 2023 QG | 2023-Sep-03 | 11.6 LD | 13.7 | 75 | | 2023 QH1 | 2023-Sep-03 | 13.1 LD | 6.4 | 23 | | 2021 JA5 | 2023-Sep-06 | 13.3 LD | 10.9 | 19 | | 2023 QC5 | 2023-Sep-08 | 10.6 LD | 7.6 | 27 | | 2020 GE | 2023-Sep-08 | 14.9 LD | 1.4 | 8 | | 2023 QF6 | 2023-Sep-10 | 7 LD | 10.5 | 22 | | 2020 RT2 | 2023-Sep-12 | 11 LD | 10 | 8 | | 2016 LY48 | 2023-Sep-16 | 5 LD | 10.8 | 99 | | 2010 TE | 2023-Sep-16 | 6.8 LD | 6 | 22 | | 523598 | 2023-Sep-20 | 19.8 LD | 25 | 239 | | 2019 SF6 | 2023-Sep-26 | 16.7 LD | 8.6 | 20 | | 2013 TG6 | 2023-Sep-28 | 3.6 LD | 4.1 | 17 | | 2009 UG | 2023-Sep-30 | 6.1 LD | 9 | 78 | | 349507 | 2023-Oct-03 | 16.5 LD | 21 | 696 | | 2022 FX1 | 2023-Oct-04 | 20 LD | 9.9 | 25 | | 2022 TD | 2023-Oct-07 | 8.9 LD | 9.4 | 10 | | 2018 ER1 | 2023-Oct-08 | 12.5 LD | 5.3 | 27 | | 2022 UX1 | 2023-Oct-11 | 3.1 LD | 8.6 | 9 | | 2015 KW120 | 2023-Oct-12 | 18.2 LD | 13 | 22 | | 2021 NT14 | 2023-Oct-13 | 18.6 LD | 8.6 | 254 | | 2011 GA | 2023-Oct-15 | 6.8 LD | 16.6 | 230 | | 2007 SQ6 | 2023-Oct-15 | 19.4 LD | 6.5 | 130 | | 2019 UZ3 | 2023-Oct-16 | 9.6 LD | 8.3 | 14 | | 1998 HH49 | 2023-Oct-17 | 3.1 LD | 14.8 | 193 | | 2022 UO10 | 2023-Oct-19 | 7.8 LD | 9.8 | 16 | | 2020 UR | 2023-Oct-20 | 5.8 LD | 12.9 | 9 | | 2020 FM6 | 2023-Oct-23 | 15.5 LD | 15.9 | 149 | | 2019 HH4 | 2023-Oct-24 | 13.3 LD | 20 | 365 | 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 |  | Getting YouTube comments is essential if you want to beat the algorithm! That’s why you need to buy YouTube comments from RealSocialz.com because they offer real USA comments you can customize. | | 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. | | 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. | |
