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 space weather is expected, with aurora sightings unlikely.
Southern Hemisphere
No significant space weather is expected, with aurora sightings unlikely.
Issued at: 15:48 (GMT) on Sat 19 Sep 2026
Forecast overview
Space Weather Forecast Headline: Generally quiet Space Weather conditions in the coming days.
Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours
Solar Activity: Solar activity has been Very Low. There are two sunspot regions on the visible disc, both having recently emerged as very small, simple regions; one in the southwest and the other in the far southeast.
There were no Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) observed during the period.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds indicated an ongoing connection to the fast wind of a coronal hole feature. Solar wind speeds varied between 390-450km/s (normal background to Slightly Elevated). The Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) was Weak throughout. The important north-south component also varied Weakly. Geomagnetic activity was Quiet to Unsettled (Kp 0-3).
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: GOES18 >10MeV proton flux was at normal background levels.
Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary
Solar Activity: Solar activity is forecast to remain Very Low or Low.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds are expected to decline to Slow-Ambient speeds either late day 1 (19 Sep) or early day 2 (20 Sep). The next forecast coronal hole sourced fast wind enhancement is expected outside of the current four-day forecast period, most likely arriving 23 or 24 Sep.
No Earth-directed CMEs currently feature in the forecast period.
Geomagnetic activity is forecast to be mostly Quiet throughout the four-day period, with a slight chance of isolated Unsettled intervals.
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: No solar radiation storms are expected through the period.
Issued at: 12:29 (GMT) on Sat 19 Sep 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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