Live
Live view of the Sun in 193 Å (extreme ultraviolet) — courtesy NASA SDO. Updated every 15 minutes.

Live status — NASA DONKI

Active — Elevated Solar Activity

Moderate (M-class) solar flares or a G1+ geomagnetic storm have been observed recently. The Sun is restless but Earth is not under threat — astronauts and high-latitude radio operators are the only people who feel real effects.

Latest flare
M6.9
2 h ago
Peak Kp (7 d)
Quiet
Below storm threshold
Last CME
13 h ago
last 7 days

Data from NASA DONKI + SDO. Page rebuilds every 6 hours.

Space Weather Today: Live Solar Flares, Geomagnetic Storms & Cosmic Activity

What is happening in space right now? Solar activity is elevated — moderate flares or a minor geomagnetic storm have been observed recently. Above is a live view of the Sun, refreshed every fifteen minutes by NASA SDO. Below, a three-night aurora forecast from NOAA and today's Astronomy Picture of the Day. All space-weather data on this page is pulled live from NASA DONKI and rebuilt every six hours.

Aurora Forecast — Next 3 Nights

Based on NOAA's predicted planetary K-index, aggregated to the strongest reading expected during each upcoming night (UTC).

Tonight

2026-08-25

Poor

Max Kp 1.7

Poor viewing

Visible only from far-northern latitudes — Alaska, northern Canada, Iceland, Norway.

Tomorrow

2026-08-26

Poor

Max Kp 1.7

Poor viewing

Visible only from far-northern latitudes — Alaska, northern Canada, Iceland, Norway.

Thursday

2026-08-27

Fair

Max Kp 4.0

Fair viewing

Visible from US/Canada border states and Scotland under dark, clear skies.

Source: NOAA SWPC planetary K-index forecast. Clear, dark skies and a north-facing horizon are required even on a “Good” night.

Today's Cosmic Image — NASA APOD

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, served by Goddard Space Flight Center every day since 1995.

Earth's Shadow Visualized with Lunar Eclipses

2026-08-25 · © Tim Martin

What’s creating this giant hole in space? This is not a black hole — it’s a shadow. It’s Earth’s shadow. Since at least the time of Aristotle, people have noted that Earth's dark shadow on the Moon during a partial lunar eclipse is circular -- although never a whole circle. Using modern digital technology, though, the images of multiple lunar eclipses can be combined to show Earth's complete shadow. The featured image compilation by a perseistent astrophotographer is constructed from 22 years of lunar eclipses. The Moon is not eclipsed every month (moon-th) because the Moon's orbit is slightly tilted relative to Earth's orbit. Close inspection of some lunar eclipse images shows a faint blue band where Earth’s atmosphere filters out more red sunlight than blue. Later this week, a new lunar eclipse will occur and will be best visible in parts of North and South America, Europe,…

Read the full explanation on NASA APOD →

Latest Cosmic Headlines

Updated every 6 h

Headlines via the Spaceflight News API — NASA, ESA, SpaceNews & more.

See all space news

Recent Solar Flares (Last 7 Days)

Flares are classified by X-ray peak flux — A and B are background, C is common, M is moderate, X is extreme. M-class and X-class flares can disturb radio communications and trigger geomagnetic storms when paired with an Earth-directed CME.

ClassBegin (UTC)Source RegionInstruments
M6.9Aug 25, 2026, 09:32 UTCN03E05AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.8Aug 25, 2026, 06:30 UTCN04E13AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.0Aug 25, 2026, 03:55 UTCN04E14AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.9Aug 25, 2026, 01:04 UTCN03E12AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.7Aug 24, 2026, 18:51 UTCN03E13AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.6Aug 21, 2026, 09:09 UTCN04W88AR14507GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M2.9Aug 20, 2026, 15:52 UTCN03E72AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M8.1Aug 20, 2026, 11:32 UTCN05E80AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.8Aug 20, 2026, 07:31 UTCN03E77AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0
M1.0Aug 19, 2026, 18:24 UTCN05E85AR14513GOES-P: EXIS 1.0-8.0

Source: NASA DONKI /FLR endpoint. Times shown in UTC.

Current & Recent Geomagnetic Storms

The Kp index measures disturbance of Earth’s magnetic field on a 0–9 scale. NOAA’s G-scale starts at Kp 5 (G1, minor) and tops out at Kp 9 (G5, extreme). Strong storms make aurora visible at lower latitudes and can degrade GPS and HF radio.

No geomagnetic storms recorded by NASA in the last 7 days. Earth’s magnetosphere has been quiet.

Source: NASA DONKI /GST endpoint. Kp values reported by NASA aggregate multiple ground-based magnetometer networks.

Recent Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

A CME is a cloud of magnetized plasma flung from the Sun. Earth-directed CMEs are the main driver of geomagnetic storms, but most CMEs miss us entirely — the Sun is a sphere and Earth is a small target.

  • Aug 24, 2026, 22:36 UTC (14 h ago)

    242 km/s

    Source: N03E13 · AR14513

    Faint, slow CME first seen to the NE by SOHO LASCO C2 beginning at 2026-08-24T22:36Z, as well as by STEREO A COR2 in later frames. The source of this event is a gradual M1.7 flare from Active Region 14513 (N03E13) seen peaking at 2026-08-24T19:36Z. Field line opening and Westward moving dimming is seen in SDO AIA 193 in association with this flare, likely suggesting Westward deflection.

  • Aug 24, 2026, 20:36 UTC (16 h ago)

    365 km/s

    Source: —

    CME first seen to the Northwest by SOHO LASCO C2 beginning at 2026-08-24T20:36Z. This CME is blocked by the pylon in SOHO LASCO C3 and GOES CCOR-1 and is not seen in STEREO A COR2 due to a data gap from 2026-08-24T19:09Z to 2026-08-24T23:38Z. The source of this event likely originates beyond the Western limb as field line opening is seen in SDO AIA 171, 193 and GOES SUVI 284 beginning at 2026-08-24T19:46Z from beyond the NW limb.

  • Aug 24, 2026, 14:09 UTC (22 h ago)

    327 km/s

    Source: —

    CME visible to the west in STEREO A COR2. The potential source may be beyond the west limb as seen from the point of view of STEREO A EUV imagery. An eruption is visible beyond the limb in STEREO A EUV 304 imagery starting around 2026-08-24T12:45Z. Moving field lines are also visible in STEREO A EUV 195.

  • Aug 24, 2026, 10:23 UTC (1 d ago)

    439 km/s

    Source: N10W120

    CME visible to the NW in STEREO A COR2 and GOES CCOR-1 imagery. The CME is partially obscured by the pylon in GOES CCOR-1 imagery. The CME is not visible in SOHO LASCO C2/C3 in real-time due to a data gap. The source is likely an eruption seen around N10W120 in STEREO A EUV 195/304 starting at 2026-08-24T09:25Z. Dimming and post-eruptive arcades are best seen in STEREO A EUV 195. Moving field lines are also visible on the NW limb in SDO AIA 171/193 imagery.

Source: NASA DONKI /CME endpoint. Notes are NASA forecaster summaries.

How to Read the Live Features

Live View of the Sun (193 Å)

The Sun image at the top of this page is taken at 193 Ångströms — a wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light invisible to the human eye. What you see is the solar corona, the Sun's million-degree outer atmosphere, glowing with iron ions stripped of most of their electrons. The bright loops are magnetic-field structures trapping plasma; the dark patches are coronal holes, where field lines open into space and accelerate the solar wind. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has been refreshing this image every fifteen minutes since 2010.

About Today's APOD

The Astronomy Picture of the Day is one of the oldest features on the internet — NASA has published a single, captioned image of the cosmos every day since June 16, 1995. The selection ranges from professional Hubble and JWST imagery to amateur deep-sky photography and the occasional video. The brief caption is written by astronomers Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell at Goddard Space Flight Center. We pull today's image and the first part of its explanation; the full caption is on apod.nasa.gov.

Reading the Aurora Forecast

The aurora forecast cards rate each of the next three nights from Poor to Excellent based on the planetary K-index — a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic disturbance. Higher Kp pushes the auroral oval to lower latitudes. At Kp 3 only Alaska and northern Scandinavia see anything; at Kp 5 the northern US and Scotland come into view; at Kp 7+ the show reaches the mid-latitudes. Latitude is the dominant factor: a “Fair” night in Tromsø is a guaranteed display, while the same Kp at the US/Canada border requires dark skies and a clear northern horizon.

What Is Space Weather, Astronomically?

"Space weather" is shorthand for the constantly changing conditions in the volume of space between the Sun and Earth — and across our magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. The Sun drives almost all of it. Three phenomena dominate the daily weather report: solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and the geomagnetic storms they can trigger here at home.

A solar flare is a sudden burst of electromagnetic radiation released when magnetic field lines on the Sun snap and reconnect. Energy that built up over hours is released in minutes — mostly as X-rays and ultraviolet light. That radiation reaches Earth at the speed of light, taking about eight minutes. NASA and NOAA classify flares by their peak X-ray flux: A and B classes are background noise; C is common and harmless to Earth; M is moderate and can cause brief radio blackouts; X is the most intense, capable of triggering wide-area radio interference and, if paired with a CME, strong geomagnetic storms.

A coronal mass ejection is something larger and slower: a billion-ton cloud of plasma and magnetic field hurled into the solar wind. CMEs travel between roughly 250 and 3,000 kilometres per second and take 15 hours to 4 days to reach Earth. Most miss us. Some pass through us and, depending on the magnetic alignment, can pour energy into the magnetosphere and cause a geomagnetic storm.

A geomagnetic storm is what happens when an Earth-directed CME, or a fast solar-wind stream from a coronal hole, disturbs Earth’s magnetic field. The disturbance is measured by the Kp index (planetary K, 0–9). At Kp 5 and above, NOAA assigns a G-scale rating (G1 minor through G5 extreme). Strong storms can degrade GPS positioning, disrupt HF radio used by aviation and shortwave broadcasters, and — most visibly — push the aurora down from the polar circles to mid-latitudes.

Solar Flare Classification (A, B, C, M, X)

Each letter represents an order of magnitude in peak X-ray flux measured by GOES satellites. Within each class, a number from 1 to 9 indicates where in that decade the flare falls — e.g. M5 is five times stronger than M1, and X1 is ten times stronger than M1.

  • AThe quietest end of the scale — solar background. Undetectable to anyone not running an X-ray sensor in space.
  • BSlightly above background. No effects on Earth. NASA reports these but they pass without notice.
  • CCommon, especially near solar maximum. Few noticeable effects on Earth — perhaps a faint, brief degradation of HF radio on the sunlit side.
  • MModerate. Can cause brief radio blackouts in polar regions and minor radiation events at high altitude. Often paired with CMEs that may produce minor geomagnetic storms.
  • XExtreme. Wide-area HF radio blackouts on the sunlit hemisphere, possible GPS errors, and strong geomagnetic storms if an Earth-directed CME follows. The strongest recorded flare (Nov 4, 2003) is estimated at roughly X45.

Geomagnetic Storm Scale (G1 – G5)

NOAA’s G-scale translates the Kp index into plain-language severity. Higher numbers mean stronger storm currents, brighter and lower-latitude aurora, and more disruption to radio, GPS, and (at the extreme end) power grids.

LevelKpEffect
G1 — Minor5Weak power-grid fluctuations; aurora visible at high latitudes (northern Canada, Scandinavia).
G2 — Moderate6HF radio fading at high latitudes; aurora visible as far south as the northern US states.
G3 — Strong7Surface charging on satellites; intermittent GPS errors; aurora visible in mid-latitude states.
G4 — Severe8Possible widespread voltage control problems; GPS degraded for hours; aurora as far south as Alabama.
G5 — Extreme9Possible grid blackouts, transformer damage, HF radio out for days. Aurora visible near the equator. Rare — the May 2024 Gannon Storm reached G5.

Space Weather in Astrology Tradition

Classical astrology does not have a concept of "solar flare" — the X-ray sensor that lets us measure them only went into orbit in the 1970s. But the Sun has always been central to the system. In Western astrology, the Sun governs vitality, identity, the conscious self, and the will. Periods when the Sun is, astronomically, more active are sometimes read by modern astrologers as a thematic amplification of that solar archetype: a season for clarity about who you are and what you actually want.

A common modern pairing is to read active space weather alongside other transits — particularly Mercury retrograde — as a "double-amplified" reflection period: the Sun stirring up identity questions while Mercury asks you to review what you’ve already said and built. Some astrologers also align CMEs with the more dramatic, change-the-channel transits (Uranus stations, eclipses), reading them as symbolic invitations to release what no longer fits.

None of this is predictive. The honest framing is that space weather is a measurable astronomical phenomenon, and the astrology layer is a reflective tradition that pairs an external rhythm with internal practice. A C-class flare is not "going to" do anything to your week. But the act of noticing solar activity, in tradition, can be a useful anchor for asking: where am I overheating right now, and what wants to slow down?

What Space Weather Does Not Mean

Space weather is a real, measurable phenomenon — and like astrology, it is surrounded by overclaims. None of the following are supported by current science.

"Solar flares cause earthquakes."

No scientifically established connection. Studies looking for correlations between solar activity and seismic events consistently find no causal mechanism and no statistically robust relationship. Earthquakes are driven by tectonic stress; solar flares are electromagnetic phenomena. The two are not physically coupled.

"Geomagnetic storms make people irritable."

Weak and inconclusive science. A handful of older epidemiological studies report tiny statistical associations with things like headaches, hospital admissions, or heart-rate variability, but the effects are small, inconsistent, and contested. There is no established mechanism by which a geomagnetic storm at the magnetosphere alters human mood.

"Space weather is dangerous to humans on Earth."

For almost everyone, no. Earth’s atmosphere absorbs the X-ray and UV burst from flares, and the magnetosphere deflects most of the charged particles from CMEs. The genuine risk groups are astronauts (especially on spacewalks), high-altitude polar-route pilots and aircrew (slightly elevated radiation dose on the strongest events), and operators of GPS- or HF-radio-dependent systems.

"Solar flares are part of an astrology prediction."

No — they are astronomy, not astrology. Flares can be measured, classified, and predicted within statistical bounds. The astrological framing on this page is a tradition layered on top of that astronomy — a way of paying reflective attention, not a forecast about your life.

How to Follow Space Weather (Trusted Sources)

We pull this page from NASA DONKI on a 6-hour cycle. If you want real-time updates or aurora alerts, these are the primary feeds the rest of the field uses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is space weather affecting me right now?

Somewhat — solar activity is elevated. M-class flares or a G1+ geomagnetic storm have been recorded recently, but this is normal background activity for an active Sun. The most recent solar flare on file was class M6.9. For people on the ground, even strong space weather rarely produces direct health effects — Earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere shield us. The exceptions are astronauts, high-altitude pilots on polar routes, and radio/GPS-dependent systems.

What is the difference between a solar flare and a CME?

A solar flare is a sudden burst of electromagnetic radiation (mostly X-rays and UV) from the Sun’s surface — it arrives at Earth in about eight minutes. A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a cloud of plasma and magnetic field hurled into space; it travels much slower (one to four days to reach Earth) and is what actually drives most geomagnetic storms and auroras. Flares and CMEs often happen together, but not always.

Can solar flares affect my mood?

There is no strong scientific evidence that solar flares or geomagnetic storms directly affect human mood. A small body of older research has suggested very weak statistical correlations with things like headaches or sleep disruption, but the effects (if real) are tiny and disputed. In Western astrology tradition, periods of heightened solar activity are sometimes treated as a symbolic invitation to slow down — but that is reflective framing, not measured cause and effect.

What is the strongest solar flare ever recorded?

The strongest flare in the modern monitoring era is the November 4, 2003 event, estimated at roughly X45 (the X-ray sensor saturated, so the exact peak is reconstructed). For comparison, anything above X10 is considered an extreme event. The 1859 "Carrington Event" is believed to have been even larger, but predates direct X-ray measurement.

Are we in solar maximum or solar minimum?

Solar Cycle 25 peaked around 2024–2026 — we are at or near solar maximum right now. That is why X-class flares, CMEs, and visible aurora at lower latitudes have all been more common in the last two years. Activity will gradually decline through the late 2020s before the next minimum.

How often do X-class flares happen?

During solar maximum, X-class flares typically occur a few times per month. During solar minimum, they may go many months between events. Solar Cycle 25 has produced an unusually high number of X-class flares for a moderate-amplitude cycle.

Can I see geomagnetic storms?

Yes — geomagnetic storms produce the aurora borealis (north) and aurora australis (south). During the strongest storms (G4 or G5), aurora can be visible at mid-latitudes, sometimes as far south as the northern United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of central Europe. NOAA SWPC and apps like "My Aurora Forecast" can warn you when conditions are favorable.

Is space weather connected to astrology?

Astronomically, no — there is no measured causal link between solar flares and the symbolic systems of Western astrology. In tradition, however, many astrologers treat heightened solar activity as a thematic echo of the Sun’s archetypal role (vitality, ego, identity) and pair it with transits like Mercury retrograde to suggest a reflective, slow-down period. We label that clearly as tradition, not prediction.

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This page is editorial. Live space weather data comes from NASA DONKI. The astrology framing is traditional Western symbolism, presented as reflective practice — not prediction. See our AI disclosure for editorial standards.