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Space Phenomena

Space Phenomena

Explore the extraordinary events shaping our universe — from solar eruptions and auroras to supernovae, black holes, gravitational waves and the largest structures in the cosmos.

Observe what is happening. Understand how it works. Explore the science behind it.

45 phenomena across 6 families.

  1. 01
    Observe
    What was detected?
  2. 02
    Measure
    Which instruments recorded it?
  3. 03
    Model
    What does the science indicate?
  4. 04
    Explain
    What does it mean in plain English?

Family 01 · 9 phenomena

Solar & Space Weather

Violent eruptions, magnetic disturbances and charged particles flowing from the Sun and interacting with planetary environments.

Also related (primary family elsewhere): Stellar Flares, Stellar Winds

Explore live space weather

Family 02 · 10 phenomena

Stellar Explosions & Extreme Stars

The most violent stellar events — from exploding stars to ultra-magnetic neutron stars and bursts of radiation across the universe.

Explore how stars live and die

Family 03 · 4 phenomena

Black Holes & Spacetime

Extreme gravity, warped spacetime and some of the most energetic events ever observed.

Also related (primary family elsewhere): Quasars, Active Galactic Nuclei, Hypervelocity Stars

Explore black holes

Family 04 · 8 phenomena

Galaxies & Cosmic Structures

Phenomena operating across millions and billions of light-years — from feeding supermassive black holes to the enormous web connecting galaxies.

Also related (primary family elsewhere): Gravitational Lensing

Explore galaxies

Family 05 · 10 phenomena

Planetary & Solar-System Phenomena

Strange, beautiful and violent events closer to home — across planets, moons, asteroids and the Solar System.

Also related (primary family elsewhere): Auroras, Interstellar Objects, Extreme Exoplanets

Explore the planets

Family 06 · 4 phenomena

Extreme & Unusual Objects

Rare objects and extraordinary cosmic events that challenge our understanding of how the universe works.

Also related (primary family elsewhere): Neutron Stars, Rogue Planets

Explore the universe

Scale

The Cosmic Scale

Space phenomena occur across an extraordinary range of scales — from magnetic eruptions on the Sun to structures spanning billions of light-years.

  1. Scale 1 of 6

    The Sun

    About 1.4 million km across

  2. Scale 2 of 6

    Solar System

    Neptune orbits about 4.5 billion km out

  3. Scale 3 of 6

    Nearby Stars

    The nearest other star is about 4.2 light-years away

  4. Scale 4 of 6

    Milky Way

    About 100,000 light-years across

  5. Scale 5 of 6

    Galaxies

    The Andromeda Galaxy is about 2.5 million light-years away

  6. Scale 6 of 6

    Cosmic Web

    The observable universe is about 93 billion light-years across

Bars use a logarithmic scale from the Sun to the observable universe, so equal steps along the bar mean many times larger, not the same distance. 45 phenomena are catalogued across these scales and families.

Detection

How We Detect the Universe

Scientists observe the universe using many forms of light, particles and gravitational signals.

  1. 01
    Observe
    What can we detect?
  2. 02
    Measure
    What instruments measure it?
  3. 03
    Model
    What does the evidence tell us?
  4. 04
    Explain
    What does it mean?

Light, from lowest to highest energy

  1. Radiolowest energy

    Pulsars, radio bursts, cold gas and distant objects. Radio waves pass through dust and clouds.

  2. Infrared

    Cool objects, dust and star formation. It can see through dust that blocks visible light.

  3. Optical

    What we see with visible light: stars, galaxies, supernova flashes and auroras.

  4. Ultraviolet

    Hot, energetic stars and environments. Earth's atmosphere blocks most of it, so it is observed from space.

  5. X-ray

    Extremely energetic environments, such as gas heated as it falls toward a black hole. Observed from space.

  6. Gamma rayhighest energy

    Some of the universe's most energetic explosions. Observed mainly from space.

Beyond light

  • Gravitational waves

    Ripples in spacetime from mergers of black holes and neutron stars, measured by laser interferometers.

  • Neutrinos

    Nearly massless particles that escape the cores of exploding stars, caught by very large underground or under-ice detectors.

Examples: what reveals what

These are examples of methods that work for each phenomenon, not a claim that every phenomenon is seen in every band.

Live and recent

Space Phenomena Now

What is happening in the universe right now? Where our connected sources have data, it appears here with its real timestamp and source. Where they do not, we say so.

“No verified event” means our connected sources reported none. It does not mean nothing is happening.

Solar flares

Checking connected sources…

Source: NOAA SWPC, GOES X-ray flare list
Geomagnetic activity

Checking connected sources…

Source: NOAA SWPC Kp index, from the latest SpaceWeatherTracker snapshot
Coronal mass ejections

Checking connected sources…

Source: NASA DONKI (CCMC)

Recent space phenomena

Grouped by actual timestamp. Nothing is labelled “Today” unless it happened in the last 24 hours.

Checking connected sources…

MONITORING

Deep-space transients: no connected feed

SpaceWeatherTracker does not currently retrieve data from any source for supernovae, novae, gamma-ray bursts, fast radio bursts or gravitational-wave events, so none are shown as current. That is a gap in what we connect to, not a statement that none are occurring. These services publish them directly:

Historical space phenomena

HISTORICAL

Landmark events with well-documented dates, oldest first. These are records of the past, not current events.

  1. 1908
    June 30, 1908

    Tunguska airburst

    An object exploded in the atmosphere and flattened roughly 2,000 square kilometers of forest.

    Where:
    Near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, Siberia
    How it was detected:
    Eyewitness accounts and air-pressure and seismic records; later expeditions surveyed the fallen trees
    Why it mattered:
    It is the largest impact-related event in recorded history and a key reference for assessing the impact hazard.

    Source: NASA ScienceFireballs and meteorite falls →

  2. 1987
    February 23, 1987

    Supernova 1987A

    The closest supernova seen in modern times, visible without a telescope from the Southern Hemisphere.

    Where:
    Large Magellanic Cloud, about 168,000 light-years away
    How it was detected:
    Neutrino detectors and optical telescopes
    Why it mattered:
    It confirmed that core-collapse supernovae release a burst of neutrinos.

    Source: NASA ScienceSupernovae →

  3. 2004
    December 27, 2004

    Giant flare from magnetar SGR 1806-20

    The brightest burst of gamma rays from beyond the Solar System that instruments had recorded at the time.

    Where:
    In the Milky Way, tens of thousands of light-years away
    How it was detected:
    Multiple X-ray and gamma-ray satellites
    Why it mattered:
    It briefly disturbed Earth's upper atmosphere from across the galaxy.

    Source: NASA ScienceMagnetars →

  4. 2013
    February 15, 2013

    Chelyabinsk airburst

    A roughly 20-meter object exploded in the atmosphere. Its shock wave broke windows across the region.

    Where:
    Over Chelyabinsk, Russia
    How it was detected:
    Eyewitness video, infrasound and satellites
    Why it mattered:
    It was the largest known object to enter Earth's atmosphere in over a century and led to recovered meteorites.

    Source: NASA/JPL CNEOSFireballs and meteorite falls →

  5. 2015
    September 14, 2015

    GW150914: first direct gravitational-wave detection

    Two black holes of roughly 36 and 29 solar masses merged, and LIGO recorded the spacetime ripples.

    Where:
    About 1.3 billion light-years away
    How it was detected:
    The two LIGO detectors in the United States
    Why it mattered:
    It opened gravitational-wave astronomy and confirmed a key prediction of general relativity.

    Source: LIGOGravitational waves →

  6. 2017
    August 17, 2017

    GW170817: two neutron stars merge

    The first gravitational waves from a neutron-star merger, followed by a gamma-ray burst and a kilonova.

    Where:
    Galaxy NGC 4993, about 130 million light-years away
    How it was detected:
    LIGO and Virgo, then Fermi, INTEGRAL and dozens of telescopes
    Why it mattered:
    It confirmed that neutron-star mergers produce short gamma-ray bursts and heavy elements.

    Source: LIGOKilonovae →

  7. 2020
    April 28, 2020

    Radio burst from magnetar SGR 1935+2154

    A radio burst resembling a fast radio burst came from a magnetar in our own galaxy.

    Where:
    Inside the Milky Way
    How it was detected:
    CHIME and STARE2 radio telescopes
    Why it mattered:
    It supports magnetars as a source of at least some fast radio bursts.

    Source: CHIME/FRBFast radio bursts →

  8. 2022
    October 9, 2022

    GRB 221009A: one of the brightest gamma-ray bursts recorded

    A gamma-ray burst so bright that it saturated some detectors and disturbed Earth's upper atmosphere.

    Where:
    A distant galaxy in the direction of Sagitta
    How it was detected:
    Fermi, Swift and many other observatories
    Why it mattered:
    It gave an unusually detailed look at the death of a massive star.

    Source: NASA ScienceGamma-ray bursts →

Featured phenomena

An editorial selection across the six families, in no particular order.

  • Supernovae

    The explosive deaths of massive stars, and of some white dwarfs in binaries.

  • Black Holes

    Regions where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape.

  • Auroras

    Light produced when charged particles from the Sun meet a planet's atmosphere and magnetic field.

  • Gamma-Ray Bursts

    Brief flashes of gamma rays from distant stellar explosions and mergers.

  • Gravitational Waves

    Ripples in spacetime, first detected directly in 2015.

  • Fast Radio Bursts

    Millisecond radio flashes from distant galaxies, with sources still being studied.

  • Rogue Planets

    Planet-mass objects that drift through space without a star.

  • Cosmic Web

    The large-scale network of filaments and voids traced by galaxies and dark matter.

Explore 45 Space Phenomena

Search or filter every phenomenon. Each one belongs to one primary family and may list related families.

Showing 45 of 45 phenomena

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