Observe > Space weather and the equator
Space weather and the equator
Live activity from the Sun, and why it matters for GPS, radio and satellites across Africa and the Americas.
How to read this
1. Start with the four cards at the top. They use NOAA's official space weather scales: green means quiet, brown means minor to moderate activity, and red means strong or worse.
2. Look at the map to see where space weather matters right now. The dark area is the night side of Earth, and the yellow dot marks where the Sun is directly overhead. The green band follows the magnetic equator, where GPS and satellite signals are most likely to flicker after sunset. Cities turn green when they're in that evening window and brown during the day. Hover over a city to see its local time.
3. Watch for the red dashed outline. It appears only during a strong solar flare and shows the sunlit half of the planet, where shortwave radio blackouts are possible.
4. Check the Kp chart for the past three days. Bars above the dashed line at 5 mean a geomagnetic storm.
5. Read the panel at the bottom for a plan-language summary of what current conditions mean for Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.
The dashboard refreshes itself every five minutes, so you can leave it open and watch the night side move across the map.
About the data
Source:
Map:
Updates:
Licence:
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC): geomagnetic and solar activity scales, the planetary Kp index, GOES satellite X-ray measurements, solar flare reports and solar wind speed.
country outlines from NAtural Earth. Day and night are calculated from the Sun's position at the current time.
live, refreshed every five minutes. Kp values are issued in three-hour blocks.
NOAA data is US government data and free to use, including commercially, with credit to NOAA SWPC. Natural Earth map data is in the public domain.
Keep in mind: The magnetic equator and scintillation zone on the map are approximate, drawn to explain the concept rather than for precise scientific or navigation use. Scintillation is a regular natural effect, not a sign of a space weather event, and it varies by season, being strongest around the March and September equinoxes and weaker around the solstices. Space weather affect places differently depending on location and time of day, so a storm won't affect everywhere equally. City times shown are local solar time based on longitude, which can differ from clock time by up to an hour or so. For operational decisions, such as aviation, maritime navigation or satellite operations, always use NOAA alerts and your national space weather or meteorological service.
Using this in your work?
You're welcome to share or reference it. Please cite:
AstroNoir (2026). Space weather and the equator. Data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center; map data: Natural Earth. [www.astronoir.org/observe/space-weather-and-the-equator]
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