Sunday, July 22, 2007

Dust storms can't power the Rovers

Mars is .25 the size of Earth but has a thin atmosphere. It has dust devils, gets as high temperature wise around 50 F at the equator and has dust storms. One huge storm threatens the Rovers because the sun is blocked out so the solar generators can't store energy for use.

(E.O.A.S.1) Find out how dust storms work on Mars and Earth.
(E.O.A.S.2) Explain how the Rovers can't get power because of th storms (read the article)


"Dust storms could cripple Mars rovers"
(Source: AP, 7/21/07)

Mission scientists worry that nearly a month's worth of storms could
permanently damage or disable the Mars rovers exploring the Red Planet.

A series of severe Martian summer dust storms has blocked 99 percent
of direct sunlight to the rover Opportunity. Its companion, Spirit,
has been affected to a lesser extent. Both rely on solar panels to
charge their batteries.

Scientists believe the storms could continue for several days, or even
weeks.

"We're rooting for our rovers to survive these storms, but they were
never designed for conditions this intense," Alan Stern, associate
administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in a news
release posted Friday on the space agency's Web site.

The rovers will not be able to generate enough power to keep
themselves warm and operating under reduced sunlight for much longer,
NASA said.

Before the dust storms, Opportunity'

s solar panels had been producing
about 700 watt hours of electricity per day. The dust reduced the
daily output to less than 400 watt hours, prompting the rover team to
suspend driving and most observations. On Wednesday, Opportunity's
solar-panel output dropped even further, to 128 watt hours.

The rovers have been exploring Mars since landing in 2004 for a
mission originally planned for three months.

On the Net:
Mars Rovers mission: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

Photo of Martian Rock: http://tinyurl.com/336rul

//end//

Saturday, July 21, 2007

If a meteorite 1/4 mile across struck in the Atlantic Ocean..?

Our oceans make up a major portion of our Earth's surface. A meteorite could fall in the ocean instead of on (E.O.A.S.1) What is the relative fraction ratio earth continents to oceans ?
(E.O.A.S.2) How do tidal waves occur in other ways?
(E.O.A.S.3) Review and compare such a scenario to recent tidal waves?
Question of the Day for Saturday, July 21, 2007
http://www.almanac.com/question/oneanswer.php?questionnumber=12469
By The Old Farmer's Almanac
If a
meteorite 1/4 mile across struck in the Atlantic Ocean, how high would the tidal wave it produced be? (answer). From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Question of the Day (from the... - http://www.almanac.com/question/index.php

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Earthquakes-Shocks Japan

When the crustal plates react or move earthquakes usually occur. Some we can hardly feel while others create devastation and hurt the populace where it strikes. The latest is Japan.
Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Explain how earthquakes occur.
(E.O.A.S.2) Draw how and why sound and movement can destroy during an earthquake


"5 killed, over 500 hurt in Japan quake"
(Source: Associated Press, 7/16/07)

A 6.7-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan's northwest coast on Monday,
killing at least five people and injuring more than 500. The area was
plagued by a series of aftershocks, the strongest of which was
magnitude 5.8.

The quake flattened hundreds of buildings and triggered a fire at a
nuclear power plant.

Five people in their 70s and 80s — four women and one man — died after
being crushed when buildings collapsed on them in the quake, said
Takashi Morita, a spokesman for the National Police Agency in Tokyo.

"I was so scared — the violent shaking went on for 20 seconds," Ritei
Wakatsuki, an employee of convenience store Lawson, told The
Associated Press by telephone from the hard-hit city of Kashiwazaki.
"I almost fainted by the fear of shaking."

Flames and billows of black smoke poured from the Kashiwazaki nuclear
plant, which automatically shut down during the quake. The fire, at an
electrical transformer, was put out shortly after noon and there was
no release of radioactivity or damage to the reactors, said Motoyasu
Tamaki, a Tokyo Electric Power Co. official.

Some 2,000 people in Kashiwazaki were evacuated from their homes, city
official Takashi Otsuka said.

Nearly 300 buildings in the city were destroyed, a fire official said.
The force of the quake buckled seaside roads and bridges, and
one-yard-wide fissures could been seen in the ground along the coastline.

A ceiling collapsed in a gym in Kashiwazaki where about 200 people had
gathered for a badminton tournament, and one person suffered minor
facial injuries, Kyodo reported. The quake also knocked a train car
off the rails while it was stopped at a station. No one was injured.

The Meteorological Agency issued tsunami warnings along the coast of
Niigata prefecture state, but the warnings were later lifted. Waves up
to 20 inches were believed to have hit the coast, but no damage was
reported.

The quake, which hit the region at 10:13 a.m., was centered off the
coast of Niigata, 160 miles northwest of the capital, Tokyo. The
tremor made buildings in Tokyo sway and was also felt in northern and
central Japan.

The agency initially measured the quake at a 6.6 magnitude, but later
revised that up to 6.8. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake
registered 6.7 magnitude.

A series of smaller aftershocks rattled the area, including one with a
5.8 magnitude. Koichi Uhira of the Meteorological Agency warned that
the aftershocks could continue for a week.

Several bullet train services linking Tokyo and northern and
northwestern Japan have been suspended. Officials said water and gas
services for Kashiwazaki'

s 35,000 households were suspended after
reports of gas leaks, reports said. Nearly 24,000 households in the
quake zone were without power as of Monday afternoon.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe interrupted a campaign stop in southern
Japan for upcoming parliamentary elections, rushed back to Tokyo and
announced he would head to the damaged area.

"We want to do all we can to ensure safety ... and to quell everyone's
concerns," said Abe, whose ruling party is trailing in the polls. "I
want to get a picture of what happened and also want everyone to feel
a little bit more secure."

Niigata Airport, which had suspended flights shortly after the quake,
resumed services after finding no damage, Kyodo said.

Japan sits atop four tectonic plates and is one of the world's most
earthquake-prone countries. The last major quake to hit the capital,
Tokyo, killed some 142,000 people in 1923, and experts say the capital
has a 90 percent chance of suffering a major quake in the next 50 years.

In October 2004, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake hit Niigata, killing 40
people and damaging more than 6,000 homes. It was the deadliest to hit
Japan since 1995, when a magnitude-7.2 quake killed 6,433 people in
the western city of Kobe.

//end//

Lightning and Thunderstorm research

These great sparks in the atmosphere are beautiful, deadly and more. They are something we take for granted. But scientists are still trying to search for more clues about their nature. Here is the latest.
Flying Into a Thunderstorm
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/18jul_tc4.htm?list731500LinkStudents
(E.O.A.S.1) Will gain an understanding between lighting and thunderstorms
(E.O.A.S.2) Will communicate in what ways equipment and scientists use devices to discover more about lightning and thunderstorms

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Perseids are coming in August

The best nights for this annual major meteor shower will be for August 11-13. The moon won't hinder the viewing but it is still best to find a dark sky site. However you might see meteors starting August 1 to the 20th.

Remember

(1) Eventhough it is considered one the best meteor shower (mostly because of the numbers and nice weather for viewing ) , don't expect meteors "to rain down over the sky." If you see 1 or 2 each minutes or every few minutes that is not bad

(2) It might be warm weather but it is best to get a lawn chair and even a blanket just in case to look upward and keep yourself comfortable Best to face NE towards constellation Perseus where the meteors seem to stream from.

(3) Use your eyes NOT binoculars (if you do you scan the skies you will miss meteors!).

(4) Meteors may be seen in any part of the sky. If they are Perseids, the "tail" will point back toward Perseus. If they are sporadics, not from this meteor shower, they may non shower oriented or part of other minor meteor showers in the sky at that time.

(5) Best time to see the meteors when the constellation Perseus (looks like a big letter K) rises higher out of the NE. Buy there is an exception (see #6)

(6) (in this url article read above) Earthgrazers are meteors that skim through the higher parts of the atmosphere and don't really plunge downward. They are usually very long, bright and spectacular. A couple of years ago I waited to see if I could observe them in August. Around 9:30 pm, a firecracker like yellow meteor called a fireball (brighter then -3 - like Venus currently) rose up from the East , glowing and almost like throwing off sparks. It traveled for 15 to 20 degrees and then evaportaed. I wrote about it in Sky & Telescope column.

Hope skies are clear for you all. ? let me know

Monday, July 16, 2007

Eclipse path total, hybrids and annular on Google Earth

I found this message on the starry night listserve that I get.
It is a question about using Starry Night software to find eclipse paths.
Here is some additional information I would like to convey.


Goto

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleEarth.html

Solar Eclipses


(1) The
Google Earth (available for MacOS X, Windows and Linux) files, draws the solar eclipses paths across Earth’s surface (calculations by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC).
The northern and southern limits of a solar eclipse path are plotted in pink while the central line is blue.

(2) ( info at )
Google Earth 4 User Guide.
http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/

(3)
Xavier M. Jubier's information says
The "dynamic local circumstances predictions at the click’s location", a feature available with my
interactive Google maps, can’t be implemented as is because the Google Earth client application provides no means of getting the current pointer position.

By clicking on the framed cross-hair cursor always located at the center of the view, you will obtain the local circumstances at that location (have a look at this
sample).
Publish Post
(4) The Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses Database will give you access to every eclipses over the -1999 to +3000 period.

(5) When a link is followed by symbol (earth like globe with swirls) , it means you have
two different files.

(6) The first one is a plain Google Earth file

(7) the symbol, being the second one, is a self-contained Google Earth file with new high resolution satellite image overlays.

(8)
You can then overlay meteorological data files with the eclipse path as well as maps of
* meteor crater from all over the world
* volcanoes
* more

Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Decipher the differences among total, partial, annual eclipses (use the internet)
(E.O.A.S.2) Look at the upcoming eclipse in August 2008. Where does the path travel?
(E.O.A.S.3) Use the Black Sun website to discover 10 interesting facts, pieces of information about eclipses, total eclipses, differences compared to lunar eclipses, total/ hybridss/ annular/partial solar eclipses
(E.O.A.S.4) Watch what happens during a total solar eclipse using You Tube. Write a poem, jingle, draw a picture , do creative writing piece or combination (if you have a good one send to the author of this website and he will post (send your first name and last initial ). The information will not be used in other way , shape or form.



? let me know

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Russian Eclipse Tour 2008: Eclipse sightings > http://eclipse-sightings.blogspot.com/: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/>:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomy League/ Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Subscribe to (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : Eric's Black Sun Eclipse newsletter: Subscribe to (send your email to)<>:Website- http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/blacksun/eclipse.htm: eclipse sightings : Satori Astronomy Website- http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/satoriastronomy/satoriastronomy.htm : Member #2572 IMCA
****


1a. Re: Solar Eclipse Finder?
Posted by: "rylven"
Date: Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:30 am ((PDT))
>
> Starry Night doesn't show the path of totality, but the shadow of the
> Moon can be seen and followed across the surface of the Earth during
> solar eclipses. Be sure to turn on the shadows under Options:Solar
> System:Planets/Moons:Eclipses.
>
> Geoff Gaherty
> Starry Night Software Support
>
http://www.starrynight.com/support/support_trio/index.php?action=ticket_submit
>

Thanks Geoff!

Eclipse path total, hybrids and annular on Google Earth

I found this message on the starry night listserve that I get. It is a question about using Starry Night software to find eclipse paths. Here is some additional information I would like to coonvey.


Goto

http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/SolarEclipsesGoogleEarth.html

Solar Eclipses


(1) The
Google Earth (available for MacOS X, Windows and Linux) files, draw the solar eclipses paths across Earth’s surface (calculations by Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC).
The northern and southern limits of a solar eclipse path are plotted in pink while the central line is blue.

(2) ( info at )
Google Earth 4 User Guide.
http://earth.google.com/userguide/v4/

(3)
Xavier M. Jubier's information says
The "dynamic local circumstances predictions at the click’s location", a feature available with my
interactive Google maps, can’t be implemented as is because the Google Earth client application provides no means of getting the current pointer position.

However, by clicking on the framed cross-hair cursor always located at the center of the view, you will obtain the local circumstances at that location (have a look at this
sample).

(4) The
Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses Database will give you access to every eclipses over the -1999 to +3000 period.

(5) When a link is followed by symbol (earth like globe with swirls) , it means you have
two different files.

(6) The first one is a plain Google Earth file

(7) the symbol, being the second one, is a self-contained Google Earth file with new high resolution satellite image overlays.

(8)
You can then overlay meteorological data files with the eclipse path as well as maps of
* meteor crater from all over the world
* volcanoes
* more

? let me know
Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Russian Eclipse Tour 2008: Eclipse sightings > http://eclipse-sightings.blogspot.com/: E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomy League/ Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Subscribe to (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : Eric's Black Sun Eclipse newsletter: Subscribe to (send your email to)<>:Website- http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/blacksun/eclipse.htm: eclipse sightings : Satori Astronomy Website- http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/satoriastronomy/satoriastronomy.htm : Member #2572 IMCA
****


1a. Re: Solar Eclipse Finder?
Posted by: "rylven"
Date: Sun Jul 15, 2007 4:30 am ((PDT))
>
> Starry Night doesn't show the path of totality, but the shadow of the
> Moon can be seen and followed across the surface of the Earth during
> solar eclipses. Be sure to turn on the shadows under Options:Solar
> System:Planets/Moons:Eclipses.
>
> Geoff Gaherty
> Starry Night Software Support
>
http://www.starrynight.com/support/support_trio/index.php?action=ticket_submit
>

Thanks Geoff!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Extrasolar planets are one of my favorite interests.
This one found has at atmosphere. Now one is found to have water vapor eventhough it is too hot. Closer and closer to maybe finding a planet more like Earth.

SPITZER FINDS WATER VAPOR ON A HOT, ALIEN PLANET
------------------------------------------------
A scorching-hot gas planet beyond our solar system is steaming up with
water vapor, according to new observations from NASA's Spitzer Space
Telescope.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0707/11watervapor/
Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) State how much water vapor is in the Earth's atmosphere and how water vapor helps the Earth and humans.
(E.O.A.S.2) Read the article and what effects of water vapor around this planet

Human Fireworks and Celestial fireworks


There were some fireworks in the sky but these were man made on July 4, 2007.

Here is one photo I took of the fireworks at Louisbourg, KS south of Kansas City, KS .

But the heavens are showing off some fireworks of their own.





Several McNaught pics (taken with my kodak digital- wish I had the canon (my minolta digital died in Dec) were captured then. Here is the best picture of several.

The current comet VZ13 is scooting by Earth so FAST it is difficult for the planetarium program I use to show me the right coordinates at the specific time to post in my telescopic program to catch it!

This also happens with asteroids which fly by close to Earth.

One activity for 7/10/2007 was to learn about comets, compare two comets and look at a comet video. What is nice is I can show this activity here for any one who wants to try it (if you
see this comments appreciated ).

It is quite a contrast of the coloration between
the Great Comet McNaught (January 2007) and the current Comet VZ13.

I had my students at my Talents E.O.A.S course at Johnson County Community College (Overland Park, KS) , use Spaceweather

Activity Objective :
Students will observe and compare/ contrast comet coloration and features by looking at photos and videos of Comet McNaught (January 2007- the brightest comet in 40 years!) and current Comet VZ13 currently 8th magnitude, a non naked eye object meaning you need binoculars or small telescope to see it.

(E.O.A.S.1) What is the color of the Comet McNaught photo (taken by Dr. Flescher
taken during during the brilliant sunset over the western horizon in Shawnee , Kansas on 1/10/2007 . (see below)

Look closely to find it. It was -3 as bright as Venus but because it was close to the Sun, it was difficult to see.I did not have a telephoto lens so this is a regular photo shot. In telescope or binoculars or a camera it was easier to see and would have appeared bigger in the actual photo

(1) What is the color and what does it have pointing towards the upper right?
____________________________________


(2) now look at this picture by
from John Chumack of Yellow Springs, OH taken on spaceweather.com
click on this link
http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&amp;amp;day=11&month=07&year=2007


What color is VZ13?__________________________________________
Compare the two and their features
color structure/features etc
________________________________________________________
McNaught

________________________________________________________

VZ13

________________________________________________________


The scientific reason why VZ13 is this color (see below)

reason why the color for VZ13
"What makes the comet's atmosphere (coma) green? Answer: The coma contains cyanogen (CN), a poisonous gas, and diatomic carbon (C2). Both of these substances glow green when illuminated by sunlight--a process called "resonant fluorescence."


video




(3) This comet is close to the Earth and moving fast. See how fast
There was a very nice animation by
from Vincent Jacques of Breil, France which showed the movement of the comet across the sky and how fast it is going. Click on the author's name and the animation will pop up or

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2007/10jul07/Vincent-JACQUES-anim2_1184006677.gif

Since several had questions about sunspots, I encouraged them to answer, not by me telling them but quiding them to various websites on my EOAS website and blog and others.

They liked looking at the pictures on spaceweather.com with the sunspot animation.

They are learning to take pictures through my telescopes, learned about stormchasing (learned about wallclouds that I videod of two tornadoes I videotaped when I chased on 5/29/2004 and all sorts of weather stuff. They use my stormchaser simulation tomorrow then take more pictures, Later my video when I went into the crater of Mt. St. Helens and volcano stuff, ocean stuff and much more.
It will be interesting to see how many pictures they take.

Star charts for VZ13 at
C/2006 VZ13 (LINEAR) -- is visible in binoculars!

Check out Skyhound's Guide to Comet Chasing for maps at:

http://www.cometchasing.skyhound.com/index.html


Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS


Friday, July 6, 2007

Strange clouds high in the atmosphere

There are strange clouds high in the atmosphere

http://spaceweather.com/nlcs/gallery2007_page7.htm

Here is a gallery of strange clouds that show up many times in the summer. First noticed in the 1800s after the great volcanic Krakatoa volcano explosion, they appear after sunset.
Here is a gallery of some of the best photos

(E.O.A.S.1) Read and compare 5 types of clouds as to shape, how high they form, appearance etc
http://australiasevereweather.com/techniques/moreadv/class.htm
(E.O.A.S.2 ) Compare/ contrats nocticlucent clouds to cumulus, cirrus, stratus or any 3 clouds.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

results Deep Impact probe hitting Comet Temple 7/2005

On July 4, 2005, the Deep Impact probe hit the Comet Temple.

http://deepimpact.umd.edu/


I placed one of my pictures on the website as part of the Deep Impact Program
The comet Tempel is the "star" with the fuzzy haze coma around it
(in the middle on the the left side)

http://deepimpact.umd.edu/amateur/view_gallery.cfm?obsnID=2295

All photos taken with Microobservatory Muskutov 6 inch Robotic telescopes in Amado, Arizona (near Tucson) From the Ground up Microobservatory telescope (I am an astronomy education project consultant with this project that I have worked with at Harvard University
Olathe, KS, USA

click on this link to see other ccd images of the comet before it got struck
http://deepimpact.umd.edu/amateur/gallery_action.cfm?type=CCD,%20CMOS



Students will :
7/3/2007
(E.O.A.S.1) Students will look at the illustration of a comet at
http://deepimpact.umd.edu/gallery/Anatomy2.html

draw Comet Temple and compare it with another (Halley's Comet 1986 or 1910, McNaught 2007 or another comet.

(E.O.A.S.2 ) Name 5 specific ideas learned from the impact. Look at the 22 results (left - click and go down the list) , choose 5 and write about the results .
http://deepimpact.umd.edu/flash/di_science.htm


The Rover on the edge

One of the Mars Rovers is on the edge of Victoria Crater. What a view. Scientists think that getting closer inside the crater might yield invaluable scientific information.
They might try it and seems like them might. But the trip seems tricky. Stay tuned.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
This is for 7/3/2007. If you don't see this image on the link, go to the archives elsewhere on the link area.

7/3/2007 Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Identify some of the geological features they see and compare them to features found on earth.
(E.O.A.S.2) Draw and identify some of those features comparing this Mars feature and Earth's feature.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Evolution of Charles Darwin



Interesting article that I found in the magazine. It was lying around for a long time . Here is the url.

The Evolution of Charles Darwin

The
Evolution of Charles Darwin. A creationist when he visited the Galápagos
.... Join Smithsonian magazine's Online Reader Panel for a chance to win a ...
http://www.
smithsonianmag.com/issues/2005/december/darwin.php.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/issues/2005/december/darwin.php