Space Weather
Space weather describes changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space. Magnetic fields, radiation, particles and matter, which have been ejected from the Sun, can interact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and surrounding magnetic field to produce a variety of effects.
Space weather notifications
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Aurora forecasts
Northern Hemisphere
No significant enhancements to the auroral oval are expected in the period.
Southern Hemisphere
No significant enhancements to the auroral oval are expected in the period.
Issued at: 13:29 (GMT) on Sat 23 May 2026
Forecast overview
Space Weather Forecast Headline: Increasing Chance of Moderate-class X-ray flares.
Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours
Solar Activity: Solar activity is now Low with only Common-class flares observed in the past 24 hours. There are now eight sunspot regions on the current solar disc. Most appear relatively magnetically simple with a region in the northwest currently the largest spot. A new region has begun to rotate around the southwest limb, though there is lack of detail currently. This is likely the leader of a much larger and more complex region which will continue to rotate onto the visible disk over the next 48 hours. The remaining spots are smaller and simple.
There were no Earth-directed coronal mass ejections observed in the past 24 hours.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar wind showed a slow regime in the period. Speeds were at background levels. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field was Weak. The north-south component was Weak and variable. The net result of the above solar wind measures was for Quiet geomagnetic activity throughout (Kp0-2).
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: No solar radiation storms were observed.
Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary
Solar Activity: A rising Chance of Moderate class flares, due to a returning complex region over the southeastern limb.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections feature in the forecast. Mainly quiet geomagnetic activity is expected throughout, with perhaps a rising slight chance of Minor Geomagnetic Storm G1 at the end of the four days - should a minor fast solar wind materialise.
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: No solar radiation storms are expected.
Issued at: 12:25 (GMT) on Sat 23 May 2026
Solar imagery
SDO AIA-193
This channel highlights the outer atmosphere of the Sun - called the corona - as well as hot flare plasma. Hot active regions, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections will appear bright here. The dark areas - called coronal holes - are places where very little radiation is emitted, yet are the main source of solar wind particles.
Issued at:
SDO AIA-304
This channel is especially good at showing areas where cooler dense plumes of plasma (filaments and prominences) are located above the visible surface of the Sun. Many of these features either can't be seen or appear as dark lines in the other channels. The bright areas show places where the plasma has a high density.
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