SPACE VIEW / SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY

Observations and experimental research models: NASA Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), Moon to Mars Space Weather Analysis Office, DONKI.
https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/tools/DONKI/
https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/tools/DONKI/faq/
Public API: https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/DONKI-API/get/CME
NASA's public API moved to this address in September 2026. No API key is used.
Official operational forecasts: https://www.spaceweather.gov/

Original canvas artwork, interface, and interpolation code created for Beforetheoutage.com. No NASA or NOAA logos or third-party model movies are included. The Earth close-up uses the existing D3, TopoJSON and World Atlas distributions with their retained licence notices. NASA data is provided as-is; use does not imply NASA endorsement. DONKI is experimental research data, not an operational warning service.

The service retrieves the last 14 days of M2M_CATALOG reports, caches successful responses for ten minutes, and may retain explicitly labeled cached data for up to six hours on an upstream failure. Browser refresh failures retain the last successful response with its original retrieval time. Each report links to its original NASA record.

Of the current prime analyses (isMostAccurate), the latest completed ENLIL run and its associated geometry are selected. A later run with no Earth-arrival time supersedes an older run with an arrival time. Other planets' arrival times are not used as Earth forecasts. Runs can include several CMEs, which is identified in the event detail. A modeled arrival is not confirmed by this data feed.

The moving front is a top-down schematic. Angular direction and width use reported longitude and half-angle; latitude is listed in details but not represented in this 2D view. This is not a physical ENLIL propagation solution. For a modeled Earth arrival, radial position is linearly interpolated from first observation to the published estimated Earth shock-arrival time. First observation is not the exact launch time. Off-axis fronts may not visually cross Earth in this schematic; the published model estimate is the source for the arrival cue. Object sizes are exaggerated, Earth is fixed in the view, and orbital motion, deflection, acceleration, magnetic fields and interactions between ejections are not simulated.

For reports without an Earth ETA, motion is only a constant measured-speed illustration. It must not be interpreted as an Earth-impact forecast. Missing longitude/width is never substituted with an Earth-directed position. The model's estimated duration is not used as an arrival uncertainty interval. No uncertainty interval is supplied in this feed.

Playback is manually started and can be paused or scrubbed. It pauses when the tab becomes hidden. Arrival rings mark the model time in playback and never assert a confirmed impact or storm severity.

EARTH ORIENTATION
The rotating close-up shows solar illumination at the selected UTC playback time, using the NOAA GML approximate fractional-year, equation-of-time and solar-declination equations, including leap years. It is not a precision ephemeris or a ground-impact model. The crosshair is the subsolar point (Sun overhead); it is not an impact coordinate. The camera follows the Sun-relative view, north up. The surface rotates eastward through the illuminated hemisphere as playback advances. City markers are geographic references only. Daylight city lists are illustrative references, not exposed or affected cities.
https://gml.noaa.gov/grad/solcalc/solareqns.PDF
https://www.spaceweather.gov/phenomena/geomagnetic-storms
The amber arc outside the globe is an illustrative sunward encounter cue at the model ETA, not a reconstructed shock-front orientation or exact magnetopause. DONKI supplies no exact geographic first-contact footprint. The ETA is uncertain; one hour of timing change moves the subsolar longitude roughly 15 degrees. Effects can also occur on the nightside and need not be strongest in the Sun-facing region.

Map software: existing D3 modules (ISC/MIT/Apache-2.0), TopoJSON Client 3.1.0 (ISC), World Atlas 2.0.2 (ISC); public-domain Natural Earth 1:110m land data. Full notices are distributed at /vendor/d3-LICENSE.txt, /vendor/Apache-2.0.txt, /vendor/topojson-client-LICENSE.txt, /vendor/world-atlas-LICENSE.txt. See /globe-licenses.txt for distribution versions and licence links.