Auroras seen by Astronauts 200 miles above Earth

I've seen aurora before in the skies above Michigan, Maine and looking out through a window on a jet over Buffalo, NY looking toward Canada. The astronauts aboard the International Space Station took some recent pictures from their loft 200 miles above the Earth!

2/10/2008 (not this date go to archives)
http://www.spaceweather.com/

also to see more photos and to learn more see
http://www.exploratorium.edu/auroras/

(E.O.A.S.blog) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
Earth Atmosphere 2/10/08 Students will learn about about Earth- Space phenomenon and gain an understanding of what the causes are

That was close! asteroid flies by Earth

That was close. Yesterday, newly discovered asteroid 2008 CT1 flew past Earth only 72,000 miles (0.3 lunar distances) away on 2/5/08. If it struck the 13-meter wide space rock ( size to a school bus) probably would have exploded in the atmosphere and showering an ocean with meteorites.

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008%20CT1;orb=1

more coming close near us in the near future

http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2008%20CT1;orb=1

Tornadoes in February do occur: Latest outbreak

Colder months still breed tornadic weather . At least six tornadoes touched down between Oxford, Miss., and Jackson, Tenn., said a National Weather Service spokesman.

http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/15227643/detail.html

TN TWISTER SHORT VIDEO- in right pane (shows funnel)

nice pop window How tornadoes form (video slide show- which I have seen before but well done) and more
Tornado touchdown near Arlington, 25 miles northeast of downtown Memphis. It knocked out a radio tower for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
nice picture of tornado

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=7827503

http://weather.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/02/06/tragic-february-tornado-outbreak/

Monday 2/4/08 dawn celestial spectacle

On 2/1/08, Venus and Jupiter were very close together. I could not see it here in Kansas due to the clouds but others saw it.

I did photograph the pair with the Moon on 2/2/08. Taken with my canon digital rebel XT around 6:00 pm CT.
At this day, the planets were farther apart (then 2/1) but the Moon was more in view.

The planets and moon will look like this on Monday morning at dawn. Have a look at dawn.
(spaceweather 2/4/08 illustration)

A radar image shows TU24, an 250 meters across asteroid

A radar image shows TU24, an 250 meters across asteroid, found 3 months ago, as it flew by Earth on January 29. It passed beyond the moon but if it would havehit us would have produced a magnitude 7 earthquake or a sizable tidal wave. These NEOs (Near Earth Object) asteroids are difficult to detect as they travel fast and they are small. Scientist now think they are potentially dangerous and are on the look out.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
1/30/2008 (if not this date use archives)
1/30/2008
(E.O.A.S.blog) 1 -Students will gain a better understanding of how scientific instruments, devices, probes, spacecraft can assist with a better understanding of our universe.

Robotic eyes on Mars and in Martian skies look for signs of water

Robotic eyes on Mars (the two Mars rovers) and in Martian skies (current spaceprobes around Mars taking high resolution photos are trying to unlocking further secrets about Mars past and whether is has or still has signs of water. The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express has returned superb views of the Terby crater on Mars. This area is of great scientific interest for finding out whether water was in the pst or is now on the planet.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMSEWEMKBF_index_0.html

technology mars (E.O.A.S.blog)1 http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
1/25/08 Students will gain a better understanding of how scientific instruments, devices, probes, spacecraft can assist with a better understanding of our universe.

Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewan APOD

Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewan, Canada APOD 1/22/2008*
Beautiful photo of Shelf Cloud Over Saskatchewan by Jeff Kerr shows a beautifully orange lit shelf cloud on August, 2001.
Nice explanation of the weather activity and how this formation differs from wall clouds.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

(*if not 1/22/2008 look in archives for the date)
Also thunderstorm development over Kansas time lapse on Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZXW2IIziMM&NR=1
more
a nice photo of a lenticular cloud over Hawaii
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050821.html
http://sa1.star.uclan.ac.uk/~prn/lenticular/clouds.html
also nice webpage about different type of clouds
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/cldtyp/home.rxml

Hurrican Ivan from the Space Station

Spectacular pictures of the hurricane taken from the ISS (International Space Station). Shows the swirling vortex type clouds around the center of the hurricane called the "eye".

If not 1/13/2008, use the archives.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

(E.O.A.S.blog1) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
1/13/2008
Students will learn more about meteorlogical phenomenon and events by observing from above the Earth (International Space Station / Space Shuttle / Spacecraft

Asteroid flying by Earth 1/10/08, another may hit Mars 1/30/08

Asteroid 2005 WJ56 will fly past Earth on January 10, only 2.6 million miles
away. This kilometer-wide space rock will be close enough for experienced amateur astronomers to photograph as it flies by. It the constellation Taurus looking like an 11th magnitude star.

The asteroid 2005 WJ56 ephermis / coordinates are here

Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase V
2008 01 05 07 27.69 +62 27.3 0.0465 1.019 140.0 38.3 12.9
2008 01 10 05 10.08 +21 52.3 0.0281 1.008 149.4 29.8 11.6
2008 01 15 03 54.39 -28 53.9 0.0418 0.995 105.3 72.4 13.6

Also

Astronomers say asteroid 2007 WD5. , 160 feet (50 meters) across, has
a chance of striking Mars on January 30. The power and energy would be similar to the
1908 Tunguska blast in Siberia, where a mysterious object now thought to be a
stony asteroid or old comet core exploded about 7 miles above the landscape and destroyed trees over the 810
square miles (2,100 square km) landscape. A chance is , 1 in 350 or better of a hit .
While it might strike near the equator, the Mars Rovers are not in danger as they are outside of the impact area.
If it punches Mars, the hole would be the size of the Meteor Crater in Arizona.

When my wife and I visited the crater a few years ago, I took a video and photographed aseries of pictures of the inside of the crater. I created a Quicktime VR panorma movie with it
Click on my website page Meteor crater and Mt. St. Helens panorama

http://members.aol.com/kcstormguy/stormsatori/panoramas.htm

Then click on the the Meteor Crater two-pane pictures and you will then see a little circle. Click and drag your mouse clockwise and you will see the whole inside of the crater.
I also did one for time when I helicoptered into the crater of Mt. St. Helens in 1988 and made a panorama. That way you can see the insides of two different craters, one volcanic and one a meteor crater and compare the two.

Astronmers have never seen an asteroid hit Mars but we did have a spectacular view of parts of a comet hit Jupiter in 1994. If a hit is immenent, this should be interesting to watch as when I watched the Comet Shoemaker- Levy
plough into Jupiter in 1994 when I was working on an astronomy project at Harvard U. Here is a a Hubble picture of one piece of the comet hitting Jupiter and the fireball seen (infra-red taken with a NASA KECK space telescope- bottom left on Jupiter photo).

http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/top20.html

Tiny frogs and turtles have dropped from the sky but now igaunas were dropping.

Tiny frogs and turtles have dropped from the sky ( in recent weather events) but now igaunas were dropping. No these lizards had not had too much beer or too much to eat. Iquanas like turtles are cold blooded and like to warm themselves in the Sun to keep their temperature up. Then there was a cold snap in Miami and literally these creatures started dropping to the ground when the temperature became to lower. They seemed dead but once put in the Sun and warmed up, they were "alive" again.

http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/365463.html

1/7/2008 (E.O.A.S.blog1) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
Students will learn about cold and warm blooded organisms, their differences and how they live.

Black Smokers, Giant Tube worms and Hydrothermal vents Oh My!

In 1977 I learned about a special community of organisms within a very strange ecosystem. Found in the waters near the Galapagos Islands, There was no light, the water had a scalding temperatures profile due to nearby hydrothermal sea vents/ volcanic vents. And there were strange creatures that have never been seen before in this once thought inhospitable environment.

http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/quests/hydroventwq.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_smoker

http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/expeditions/blacksmokers/

http://www.extremescience.com/deepcreat5.htm

Then scientists took an even closer look. These Black Smokers (seen in this picture from a Wikipedia ) are created when superheated water breaks through the Earth's crust and works its way into the water. The superheated water is full of minerals including sulfides which produce these mountainous hills. But that is not all.

There were giant creatures called Tube Worms much larger (up to 8ft long ) then ever seen. What is even stranger is that these huge worms don't have a mouth or a stomach. When small, the bacteria enters their mouth. Over time the mouth and gut disappear. The bacteria then live inside the worms. The red part of the worms are red because of hemoglobin passing through. The whitish part below is like an armor that protects the worm. It can go inside the white armor like substance when in danger.

The bacteria convert the chemicals in the hot water and the worms use it to live and grow. This process is called "chemosynthesis" and is also a symbiotic relationship which means the worms and bacteria help each other for their common good. It works like this:

(1) The insides of the worms are lined with bacteria that oxidize (break down) the H₂S (hydrogen sulfide) turning it into usable nutrients for the worms;

(2) The bacteria are helped in this relationship because the worms deliver blood containing hemoglobin ( the chemical that gives our blood the red color).

(3) This helps the bacteria to break down the sulfides which are they absorbed and used by the worms. (Another symbiotic relationship is ants and aphids . The ants care for the aphids and the aphids give off a liquid which the ants collect and eat).

Other creatures like shrimps and crabs live in this dark, deep pressure environment with hot water.

What I did not understand is if the water is scalding and so hot, how could the worms and other creatures survive?
I discovered that deep pressure allows the water to become superhot beyond boiling of water while under the ground. When the water escapes, the less pressurization and extreme cold of the water makes the environment close by more hospitable for the creatures. The farther away from the vent, the cooler the water.

But scientist also began to understand how certain creatures like these tube worms, shrimp, crabs and others actually thrived in the high pressure, the high temperatures. These extremophiles may give us clues how life began on Earth, how might life evolve and still be on Mars, under the ice of Jupiter's moon Europa or other places.

This is only one facet of where extremophiles live. They are in the colored chemical pools in Yellowstone National Park (I will post pictures soon) , in the Antarctic and other places on Earth. Stay tuned.

1/7/08
(E.O.A.S.blog1) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
Students will learn about lifeforms that thrive in inhospitable environments and have a different ecosystems compared to the ones we normally know and underststand.

I saw the beautiful planet Saturn and its ring system a few nights ago

from http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/rings/#faq

I saw the beautiful planet Saturn and its ring system a few nights ago at Powell Obervatory in Louisbourg, KS (south of Kansas City) through the 30 inch telescope. Galileo discovered it with his small telescope hundreds of years ago and each time I see it is still wonderful.
While I watched, I knew Saturn isn't the only planet with rings. But these other celestial rings are more difficult to see.
Here is a picture of Jupiter's ring first discovered in 1979
There is also now new evidence that these rings are created by meteoroids crashing into the small Jupiter's nearby moons.(if not 1/6/2007 go to archives). http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
"The same year, most of the important observations of Jupiter's rings were provided by Voyager 2 after it went into the shadow of the giant planet and looked back toward the sun and saw a system of three rings. In this image from NASA, the spacecraft captured a faint outer ring, apparently made up of fine, microscopic particles. This was named the gossamer ring.

Do you know which other planets have rings? More later

1/6/2008
(E.O.A.S.blog 1) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
Students will discover information about other planets and compare/ contrast the conditions/ characteristics to that of Earth

Top 10 Strangest Natural disasters- have you heard of these?

Amy
Thanks very much for sending me the information so that I could view Top 10 strangest natural disasters in human history.
I thought I would share it with others on this blog
http://www.hurricaneinsurance.com/blog/2008/top-10-strangest-natural-disasters-in-human-history/

I remember the incident with #1 in the newspaper.

I have known about the #2 Tunguska for years.
It seems that most likely yes a low density asteroid or comet. An artist drew what he thought happened via the accounts.
Find it at
http://www.psi.edu/projects/siberia/siberia.html

I had heard about #3. The Volcano has much press and there were even nice shows about what they think happened (History channel?). Did not hear about #5 but know about #6.
About #7 I have heard about the eruption in 1902 and was there in 1998 before we saw the total eclipse in that Caribbean that year.
The volcano was omnipresent up from the bay and we could go through some of the ruins still near the harbor.

As a stormchaser, I have known about that great Tri-state tornado. Never heard of #9 but I think I had heard about #10.
thanks Happy new Year to all!!

***
Hi Eric,

We just posted an article " Top 10 Strangest Natural Disasters in Human History " ( http://www.hurricaneinsurance.com/blog/2008/top-10-strangest-natural-disasters-in-human-history/). I thought I'd bring it to your attention just in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Either way, thanks for your time! Happy New Year!

Amy S Quin

Best space discoveries of 2007 and more EOAS news

Here is a listing of best discoveries of 2007 from space.com. Check out this space links and others

best Space discoveries of 2007
http://www.space.com/bestimg/index.php?cat=astronomy2007

First stars were much darker
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071203-dark-stars.html

Mars clouds have less water
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071206-mars-air.html

nice list of meteor showers
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteor_shower

more about the Aurigid meteor shower of Sept. 1
http://www.mahalo.com/Aurigid_Meteor_Shower

I watched the Quadrantid meteor shower on the ground in Olathe, KS (1/4/08) while astronomers saw it from the air.

I watched the Quadrantid meteor shower on the ground in Olathe, KS (1/4/08) while astronomers saw the meteor shower in the air. I saw several nice Quadrantid fireballs and a possible stationary one during the morning hours 5:30-6:30 as there were clouds before.

Meanwhile 2008 Quadrantid meteor shower peaked around 0200 UTC on Friday, Jan. 4th. That is the initial report from astronomers who flew a research airplane north of the Arctic Circle for an uninterrupted view of the shower. The team, led by Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute, witnessed many bright Quadrantids among an "amazing display" of aurora borealis; this is a typical view through the starboard window:

http://quadrantid.seti.org/
http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/quadrantids/quadrantids.html
comet was seen in 1490
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrantids

very nice list ing of meteor showers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_showers

Deep Impact probe 3 flybys

The Deep Impact probe made the first of three flybys designed to use the planet's gravity to hurtle the spacecraft toward comet Hartley 2 for a 2010 meeting.

NASA initially wanted Deep Impact's second act to be an exploration of comet 85P/Boethin in 2008. But to scientists' surprise, a bevy of ground and space telescopes were unable to spot it this fall. Astronomers believe the comet may have shattered into specks too small to be seen from Earth.

more

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iXcT-G5FBXVaLqjIqwz4kQQrPDfQD8TSQDTO0

1/1/2008
(E.O.A.S.blog1) http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
(1) Students will learn how spacecraft use gravity assist to fly to other celestial objects and the reason for doing that
(2) Students will learn about the Deep Impact program and the recent hit with comet Tempel

Parade magazine best photos

Take a look at these nice photos (animals, natural wonders etc).

http://www.parade.com/celebrate

Star of Bethlehem wasn't a comet -what else could it have been?

A few years ago, I researched the subject of the Star of Bethlehem for a presentation I was doing in Kansas City, KS. I pointed to 10 different possibitilies, omens, events, astronomical phenomenon. My presentation was entitled "The 10 Myths of the Star of Bethlehem".

12/28/2007 http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
(E.O.A.S.blog1) Students will learn how and what ways astronomical events, objects and phenomenon influence history, politics, religion etc

It wasn't Halley's Comet which appeared in sky 12BC ( was late and nearer to 2 BC) Besides comets were bad omens and mostly associated with dread. .

http://clioaudio.com/2007/12/24/nero-and-the-comets-of-doom/

This nice account tries to explain comet as the "Star" (blog info on 12/23/2007)
http://www.sciencemusings.com/2007/12/star-of-bethlehem.html

another

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2007/12/25/news0558.htm

Mark Kidger of the European Space Agency (as did I ) that while a Triple Conjuction in 7BC was good (an forthcoming omen), the conjunction of 2 BC was a possibly better or best fit.

Going back in time, with my Imac Macintosh computer and Starry Night Pro software, I simulated this conjunction. There it was in 2BC. I concluded that it was this conjunction after looking at a host of other possibilities.

But lately Kidger and others have surmised that this date may have been too late for the "Star". So that led to something in between.

Now the suggestion turned to a possibility of a nova star in 5 BC. This is in the realm of one of my ten possibilities.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.christmas25dec25,0,822279.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout

Astronomers are still looking for this Nova that the Chinese might have noted and that might have been a good candidate.

Happy holidays!

Solar prominences in special shapes= what a coincidence

Solar prominences are ionized super heated clouds of hydrogen twisted and lifted aloft by solar magnetic fields. They can often be seen with special choronographs (light blocking telescope) and during total solar eclipses. They are common, but how often do they twist into this shape (on 12/25/2007).
see at Http://spaceweather.com

Enjoy.
12/25/2007 http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/
(E.O.A.S.blog1) Students will learn about the Sun and sun-like storms called Prominences and how magnetic forces affect these storms

If no 12/25/2007 try archives

Happy holidays!!
Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Nature's Greatest Spectacle- 2008 & 2009 Total Eclipse- Winco Eclipse Tours, Inc.:www.eclipsetrips.com: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical League / Astronomical Society of Kansas, KC, MO-Louisburg,KS: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm: Comet Observers Blog: http://cometobservers.blogspot.com/:Subscribe to Comet Observers newsletter (send your email to):CometObserversAwardAL-subscribe@yahoogroups.com : : 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:

did you know that the Earth is closest to the Sun this time of the year?

Longest Night of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere. But did you know that the Earth is closest to the Sun this time of the year? Many people think during this time the Earth that we are colder because the Earth is farther away. Not so!!! It is the angle of the Sun that makes it cooler for Northern Hemisphere (tilted away from Sun) and hotter in the Southern Hemisphere (tilted towards the SUN).



12/24/2007
(E.O.A.S.blog1) Students will learn about the cause of effect of distance and angle of the Sun for the Northern and Southern Hemisphere of Earth during March and December.

More at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

Discovery by Mars Rover find unusual white Silica Rich Soil.

Most all photos from above and on Mars have shown mostly reddish- orange soil and rocks. However the rover Spirit took photos of whitish material of which the main ingredient is most likely quartz and glass. Soil like this has never been found on Mars before. Similar soil on Earth usually means it was created either by volcanic steam or a hot spring. Possibly hot water saturated with the whitish silica deposited the strange colored soil. Living microbes, like those in many of the hot pools in Yellowstone National Park, , are very comfortable in these environmental hot spots. Possibly as in Yellowstone, small life forms may have once thrived in ancient Martian pools. Analysis of these white soils might tell us more.

(E.O.A.S.blog1) Students will study heat loving life forms (called extremofiles) that inhabit Yellowstone National Park, study other extreme (hot, cold, acidic etc) forms of life and relate such information to possible life forms on other planets and moons.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071218.html

Ever see a moon or sun halo? well this is a MOILANEN ARC

An Ice Halo was seen above Oslo, Norway, Dec. 16, 2007. Diamond dust like ice crystals drifting through the air caught the rays of the sun and transformed ordinary sunbeams like prisms yielding sparkling luminous arcs, V's, and pillars--collectively known as halos. Oslo resident Steinar Midtskogen took picture using his Nikon D70:
See it at http://spaceweather.com

If not 12/22/07, go to archives

(E.O.A.S.blog1) 12/22/07 Students will gain an understanding how water droplets and ice crystals in the sky /clouds produce halos, rainbows and more effects.
http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

Asteroid on track for possible Mars hit late January

Asteroid on track for possible Mars hit is another main attention getter lately besides the fact that Mars is bright and it is very close to Earth.
Researchers say the object, about 160 feet across, (size of one that hit Siberia in 1908) has an unusually good chance of plowing into the planet Jan. 30. But there is sitll more that needed to study it before then.

(E.O.A.S.blog1) Students will gain a better understanding how scientists search, find and ascertain how asteroids might

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-mars21dec21,0,6729483.story?coll=la-home-center

Do you know know anything about snow?

Yeah it is white and sometimes fluffy or heavy and you have have shoveled it lately maybe?
Learn about different kind of snowflakes and more .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/weather/resource/3827.html?detoured=1

Tonight (12/18/07) Mars will be closest to Earth than it will for many years

Mars the Red Planet Shines Bright.
Tonight (12/18/07) Mars will be closest to Earth than it will for many years. In 2003 , it was even closer and we had special observing sessions at our observatory when thousands came out to take a peak. But this still a treat. Yoy can also see the rotation of Mars in this video and more about the two Mars Rovers are doing as they extend their remarkable journey over Mars.

12/18/2007 (E.O.A.S.blog1 ) Students will observe Mars and understand why Mars positioning , most of the time , is much farther from the Earth.
By SPACE.com Staff
posted: 18 December 2007
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/071218-mars-close.html