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The Carrington flare of September 1st, 1859 is likely by far the largest solar flare observed so far. But is it the largest flare the Sun can unleash? Indirect evidence suggests superflares may happen a few times in a millennium. Is there a looming space weather threat that eclipses even […]

The extreme solar flare on September 1st, 1859 remains the ultimate benchmark for extreme space weather. The brilliant ribbons of light snaking through a gargantuan sunspot group, spotted independently by British astronomers Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson, were the first solar flare ever observed. Less than 24 hours later the […]

About twenty years ago our skies were frequently adorned by colorful aurora displays far into the mid and even low geographic latitudes. People were seeing aurora far south of the typical polar and subpolar regions where auroras typically reside. Then the auroras dried up. And did not return. For nearly […]

The brilliant meteor that lit up and rocked the US Northwest with sonic booms on August 14th very likely resulted in a meteorite fall. Data from eyewitnesses, cameras, space-based sensors, and even weather radars confirm the meteor most likely dropped meteorites. The fireball as seen from Airway Heights, WA. A […]

A brilliant meteor lit up the sky above the US Northwest around 1 am on August 14th. This is a major event that potentially dropped meteorites. Eyewitness reports The fireball was seen across the US Northwest and SW Canada. It was described as brilliant, brighter than the full moon. Its […]

There is a unique chance for observers of the upcoming total solar eclipse on August 12th to spot a bright meteor from the Perseids during totality. Total solar eclipses are rare, but far more rare are eclipses coinciding with major meteor shower peaks. This is an exceptional chance! AI-generated view […]

The Perseid meteor shower is making the headlines, and for a good reason: their return in 2026 is one of the best in years. The moon is out of the sky, leaving dark skies for observers to fully enjoy the celestial fireworks. So what’s happening and what to do so […]

Want to see the 2025 Geminid meteor shower? Here are my top 10 tips to best see it (after 25+ years of observing): Bright Geminid meteor just above the southern horizon. Krvavec, Slovenia. December 14th, 2022. Photo: Jure Atanackov. Bonus tip: The Moon wil not be a major problem. The […]

Each year in autumn Earth drifts through the debris stream of comet 2P/Encke. Most years, we see only a few bright streaks lighting up the autumn sky. But every so often, around Halloween, the Taurids return in force — sending a swarm of cosmic stones our way, producing a dazzling […]

Every autumn, as nights grow longer and pumpkins glow on porches, the Taurid meteor shower lights up the sky with slow, dramatic fireballs — nature’s own Halloween fireworks. Unlike the fleeting streaks of the Perseids or Geminids, Taurids are famous for their brightness and brilliance. When one of these slow-moving […]

It has been a roller coaster ride of anti-establishment ranting, textbook selection bias and straight up grifters giving society cognitive cancer. It is a shame, as a visit by an alien comet is in itself an extraordinary event. A visitor from another solar system, a time capsule carrying with it […]

Here come the Halloween fireballs! This is a Taurid resonant meteoroid swarm return year any we may be in for a spectacle of bright meteors and fireballs. Here is how to see and photograph them. Halloween fireballs occasionally make the news, dazzling astronomers and casual witnesses alike. Are the Taurids […]

The approaching comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is stirring up excitement as it approaches peak brightness. Bright comets are especially well seen in binoculars. They may display beautiful long straight gas tails, curved dust tails, both sometimes with intricate detail. The coma may glow in distinct green or blue-green, sometimes yellowish […]

A bright comet is on track to become visible with the naked eye later this autumn. Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) is heading for a fairly close encounter with the Sun and the Earth in the second half of October 2025. It may become quite bright and a beautiful sight in […]

Imagine your sky filled with bright aurora for an entire night, from dusk until dawn. And the next night too. And the next one. For over a week. It may sound unbelievable, but it actually happened. This is the extreme aurora of 10-19 September 1770. From 10 to 19 September […]

In early September 1859, the skies across much of the world lit up with blood-red and emerald curtains of aurora. People thought cities were ablaze, or that dawn had broken hours early. At the same time, telegraph operators were shocked, paper ignited, and messages were sent without batteries as the […]

This is a descriptive guide on what aurora looks like deep in the middle latitudes at different storm levels, based on my 25+ years of experience in observing aurora from Slovenia at 45°N geomagnetic latitude (MLAT). Locations with similar geomagnetic latitude – and therefore similar aurora visibility in the northern […]

When people speak of the Carrington Event of 1859, they usually recall the dramatic solar flare observed on September 1st and the immense geomagnetic storm that followed. Just three days before the legendary Carrington storm, on 28 August 1859 the Earth was struck by another great geomagnetic disturbance — itself […]

Early on August 21st, 2025 an active region on the far side of the Sun launched a very fast full-halo CME. This was one of the fastest CMEs of Solar Cycle 25 so far. An Earth-directed CME of such magnitude is capable of producing a severe (G4) to extreme (G5) […]

Severni sij razveseljuje s široko barvno paleto in naborom oblik in struktur. Med njimi je prav neverjetno tudi senca, ki jo Zemlja meče v vesolje. Res, Zemljina senca se vidi v severnem siju. Kako se Zemljina senca vidi v severnem siju Na velikih višinah (nad 200 km) severni sij sestavljata […]

V noči iz 10. na 11. maj 2024 je naše nebo razsvetlil osupljiv severni sij, daleč najlepši in najsvetlejši v več kot 20 letih. V želji po ponovitvi spektakla je pogosto vprašanje: kako pogosti so veliki geomagnetni viharji in kdaj lahko pričakujemo ponovitev tega izjemnega nebesnega spektakla? Kako izjemen? Jakost […]