A multiple targets detection method based on spatial smoothing (MTDSS) is proposed to solve the problem of the source number estimation under the colored noise background. The forward and backward smoothing based on auxiliary vectors which are received data on some specific elements is computed. By the spatial smoothing with auxiliary vectors, the correlated signals are decorrelated, and the colored noise is partially alleviated. The correlation matrix formed from the cross correlations between subarray data and auxiliary vectors is computed. By exploring the second-order statistics property of the covariance matrix, a threshold based on Gerschgorin radii of the smoothing correlation matrix is set to estimate the number of sources. Simulations and experimental results validate that MTDSS has an effective performance under the condition of the colored noise background and coherent sources, and MTDSS is robust with the correlated factor of signals and noise. A multiple targets detection method based on spatial smoothing (MTDSS) is proposed to solve the problem of the source number estimation under the colored noise background. The forward and backward smoothing based on auxiliary vectors which are received data on some specific elements is computed. By the spatial smoothing with auxiliary vectors, the correlated signals are decorrelated, and the colored noise is partially alleviated. The correlation matrix formed from the cross correlations between subarray data and the auxiliary vectors is computed. By exploring the second-order statistics property of the covariance matrix , a threshold based on Gerschgorin radii of the smoothing correlation matrix is ​​set to estimate the number of sources. Simulations and experimental results validate that MTDSS has an effective performance under the condition of the colored noise background and coherent sources, and MTDSS is robust with the correlated factor of signals and noise.