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

Exotic never seen birds in Garden of Eden

Great show called the Garden of Eden on 60 minutes 12/116/2007. Exotic never seen birds and lifeforms in a rainforest of Indonesia are visited. Click on the two video icon on this url at 60 minutes to see a review of these beautiful and strange creatures.


(E.O.A.S.blog)1 (12/15/2007) Students will learn understand and learn how newly discovered life forms can be discovered on Earth evenwhile some are dying off

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

walrurses are dying as their habitat and lifestyle changes fro, global warming

Global warming is changing habitats where animals live. Many like these walrurses are dying as their habitat and lifestyle changes. Article includes photo of injured walrus.

http://rhodeisland.cox.net/cci/newsnational/national?_mode=view&_state=maximized&view=article&id=D8THF33G1&_action=validatearticle
12/15/2007

(E.O.A.S.blog) 1 Students will gain a better understand of the cause and effects of climate changes on living organisms.

Great Geminids Meteor Shower:Best since 2002 Geminids & 2001 Leonids

What a show! I headed south to Powell observatory (20 minutes away from Olathe KS ) near Kansas City ( where I could view all around from almost horizon to horizon. I was glad I did.

The sky was very clear. I camped out with my sleeping bag, deck chair and pad and red light. I surprised no one else was there. That's too bad.

I saw a -2 Geminid (brightness of Venus) right away. The meteors just started falling all around in every direction. From 1:38- 3:19 I saw 45 meteors ranging from -4 mag to 4 magnitude (it was that clear). Unfortunetly while many were bright they were almost all white which is strange because many Geminids are usually yellow.

Most were bright, without tails (trains) and were 5-15 degrees long.
Several times two would appear right after another. There was a yellow one however that left a 0.75 second train. Most (like many Geminids) were 0.5 second in duration although a few were faster.

I actually would have seen more but I always plot the information about each meteor (for the American Meteor Society) so I can send the data in. Each plot takes 30 or so seconds to turn on red light and write.

Clouds and fog moved in but stayed away. I left earlier to go back as I had school the next day to teach and I was cold even though I had bundled up and it was in 20 to 30 degrees.I wanted to stay longer but my legs were getting frozen (it was 20 degrees ) eventhough I was in a sleeping bag.

This 2007 shower ranked up with the 2002 Geminid shower when I saw 50 bright and more colorful meteors in around 2 hours. The 2001 Leonids was even better but the meteors were fainter on the average.
Probably one of the top ten showers I have ever seen (since 1963).
(see spaceweather.com for photos of Geminids including an all sky camera shot of over hundred meteors (look for 12/16 in archives if not on main page).
Next up Quadrantids January 3-4.

Dr.Eric

Geminid Meteor shower tonight & tusks show evidence of blast from past

Geminids meteor shower is tonight/ tomorow morning. I collect meteorites, watch meteor showers and am interested in meteoritic events past andpresent. I saw this article "Mammoth tusks show up meteorite shower" and that got me curious. It's not from "rag newspaper" but a magazine named Nature.
I give a lot of credit to this guy you made the connection. Seeing the tiny holes after going for a hunch and checking for magetism was incredible. Read more

http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071212/full/news.2007.372.html

12/13/2007
(E.O.A.S.blog) 1 Students will gain an understanding of observational evidence that can lead to further possible discovers in astronomy (and other sciences).

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 -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador: #2572 IMCA

The Geminids are coming, the Geminids are coming

The Geminids are coming! Didn't Paul Revere, (the famous astronomer) coin this phrase? Not!

But nevertheless- rain, ice, sleet is here right now (Tuesday) here in Olathe, KS .

Tomorrow (Wed) partly cloudy and 37 F and party cloudy and sunny for Thurday.

Means it look good or half decent for viewing the Geminid meteor shower starting Thurday night (see previous post).
The Geminids are coming Thursday night to Saturday morning. (see the info story at this link
Best Meteor Shower of 2007 Peaks Dec. 13
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/071207-ns-geminids.html

Meanwhile here is a photo of a Leonid meteor in 2006 that Kelly from Tonganoxie, KS sent to me (I have less bright ones on my photos).

Sunspots are not dark and they are not spots

Using his telescope Galileo saw sunspots . This changed an assumption that the Sun was "perfect." His observations also damaged his eyes.

Sunspots are not actually dark. These patches of "magnetic storms" are just cooler then the sun's very hot surface. Thus they appear dark.

The best way to see them for most people with out telescopes and the right filters to block out the glare is a orbiting telescope called SOHO. At the SOHO website

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

you can click on the sunspot area and see a huge current sunspot.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/sunspots/

Over time you will see the sunspot(s) move towards the right.
What does that mean?

12/10/2007
(E.O.A.S.blog)1 Students will look at the sunspots and compare their size to that of Earth's and Jupiter's size.
(E.O.A.S.blog)2 Students will draw conclusion about the Sun's temperature compared to the surface of the Sun and what the Sun does over time (which is like what happens to the Earth every day).
http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/

The Solar corona - why is it so hot?

Scientists have never understood why the atmosphere of the Sun (corona), has a temperature that rises to millions of degrees. Now there is a better understanding of the cause.
The Sun produces many X-ray Jets that heat the Solar Corona

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/06dec_xrayjets.htm

12/07/07
(E.O.A.S.)1 Students will gain a better understanding of the heating process around the sun and how the solar corona has become so hot compared to the sun surface etc

Volcanoes that formed on the Moon

Especially in the last number year, there has been a lot of speculation how and when our Moon was formed and evolved. Was it created by itself or part of Earth ? Now there is more interesting information that gives us a better understanding about Earth and Moon.

solar system volcanoes
12/6/07 Student will learn about the evolution of our Solar system, moons, planets and other physical characteristics

Moon Formed Volcanoes Early, Rock Study Shows
Mason Inman
for National Geographic News
December 5, 2007
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071205-moon-volcanoes.html

Catch the International Space Station (ISS) 4th-6th

Check out information to view where the for International Space Station (ISS) will be viewable in your area as well as help to look for constellations, comets (several in the sky that can be viewed naked eye (1) or other telescopically.

Goto Heavenabove website link.

http://www.heavens-above.com/

The giant International Space Station (ISS) is flying over many US towns and cities during the evening hours of Dec. 3rd-6th. Now I know there is a link there in the ISS section to see a map of where the ISS will move in the sky (blue- white light) and that is helpful.

One activity that I invented for my summer students is to :
(1) Look at and make a print out of what the evening sky looks at on a present date.
(2) Then change the date parameters to their birthdate and if they can remember their time, and do a similar printout.
(3) Have the students compare/ contrast the constellations, planets , stars that are visible.

12/3/07 (E.O.A.S.)1 Students wilI compare/ contrast the constellations, planets , stars that are visible.
12/3/07 (E.O.A.S.)2 Students wilI learn to find and identify man manned spacecraft moving in the sky.

You think it is hot on Earth- Life is Hell if you lived on Venus

If you go out and look in the East before sunrise you will see a very bright "white star." It's actually the planet Venus, the 2nd planet from our Sun. Clouds reflect much of the light but also make it impossible to take look at the surface of Venus. These clouds are not made of water vapor but sulphuric acid. But that's not all.

The carbon dioxide rich atmosphere traps much of the heat. Basicly this conditon creates a runaway Greenhouse gas condition in which all the heat which enter through the clouds is trapped. The temperature is over 700 Fahrenheit so it is like"Hell on Venus."

Two Russian Venera spacecraft did land on the surface and sent back photos of the surface which instantly told us how arid this desolate planet is. But we did not know why it is so dry. Now we have answers.

Europe's Venus Express spacecraft has communicated an important discovery: the solar wind dries out Venus. Unlike Earth, Venus has no global magnetic field to deflect particles from the sun. When radiation from the Sun called "solar wind" hits Venus, it decreases the upper atmosphere. Hydrogen and oxygen atoms fly into space, removing water from Venus. The process makes conditions even hotter and worse by making the climate dryer planet.
Here is further information.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Venus_Express/SEM0G373R8F_0.html

Photos from the surface of Venus, what the Venusian clouds look like and more interesting photos at

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-venus.html


planets weather 12/3/2007 (E.O.A.S)1 : Students will discover information about other planets and compare/ contrast the conditions/ characteristics to that of Earth

Nice comet animation

This latest photo is an animation of Comet Holmes using two images. The animation shows how far the comet moves in 45 minutes. See it at this archive link on Spaceweather.com (above). It is a great website with loads of photos and interesting weather and astronomy information.

Unfortunetly it is not, in many cases, a real good learning tool for education beyond being "Eye Candy." I do activities that I create using Spaceweather and Astronomy Picture of the Day in my summer computer earth-space camp. When I have time I will post more (there are some in this blogs archives).

These Jellyfish are huge and trouble

I saw and videotaped poisonous Box jellyfish in Capetown, S.Africa aquarium and other places but never this size as related in this article. This kind is pesky in its own way.

Invasion of Jellyfish Envelops Japan In Ocean of Slime
The Wall Street Journal ^ | November 27, 2007 | By Sebastian Moffett
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1931506/posts

Nice picture here
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0119_060119_jellyfish.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomura's_jellyfish


Invasion of Jellyfish Envelops Japan In Ocean of Slime
Skip to comments. Invasion of Jellyfish Envelops Japan In Ocean of Slime · The Wall Street Journal ^ | November 27, 2007 | By Sebastian Moffett ...
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1931506/posts
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060818-jellyfish-spain.html

Geminids meteor shower 12/13/07

The Geminids is usually the best meteor shower along with the August Perseids during the year. The moon will be setting early after sunset so that will make observing more meteors. The meteor shower has many bright meteors and sometime trails called trains. Many are yellow. With bright ones and fainter ones you might see 60 per minute if you are looking at a dark sky site. (For me I never see that many no matter as I am busy writing down information about each meteor as fast as I can so I can back to watching after shutting off my red light ). I do this for research for the Meteor Society. Then I have a record of what I do too for the Meteor Observer Award for the Astronomical League.

Due to the meteor swarms orbit and orientation, the Geminid meteor shower rates rise slower than they fall (better before the peak for those in Asia it is early hours of Sat morning (where it will be the best).
In N .America , the Geminids will peak on 9-10 pm Thursday Dec 13th and onward through the night to dawn on Friday morning (12am-6am).Friday evening (if you want to try) will start well early in evening then decline as it goes towards later part of the evening and morning.

During the early evening you might also see some meteors called Earthgrazers that show early and skim through the tops of the atmosphere. These are usually very bright and long. I saw a very bright Perseid earthgrazer a couple of years ago during the Perseids and it rose from the East like a big orange firecracker , sparkling along its path

Many meteor showers are associated with comets which have left the meteoroids in their wake and "shower " us at certain times of the year. This one however is known to associated with not a comet but an asteroid called Phaethon. It is possibly an ancient dead comet that has and keep leaving more particles in its wake easy December.

The weather can still be mild so it is a great time to see some bright meteors. Use a lawn chair and take a sleeping bag and also bundle up with sweater, jacket etc

? let know

Good luck.

Rainbow cloud over Colorado

I have seen clouds like this within the last few months but did not have my camera handy. In any here is a a great photo posted 11/25/2007 (if not this date look in archives).
An Iridescent Cloud Over Colorado
Credit & Copyright: August Allen
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Catch Comet Holmes, other comets get an award and cool pin

Happy Thanksgiving day. Do you like astronomy? Are you interesting in observing and getting awards for your interesting endeavors? Contact you local astronomy club or the Astronomical League (http://www.astroleague.org/)
or me .
Those trying for comet silver and gold awards, amateur astronomers and other sky observers (see link below) can contact me for more information as I am the coordinator.
There are also many awards you can go dealing with meteors, constellations, telescope use and more.

Read: http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/comet/comet.htm

What to do? observe / sketch or photograph 12 comets (see more below)
what do you get? a cool Comet Plaque (suitable for framing) and our cool comet obs award pic

I also have a (free) comet newsletter to find out more information.

Comet Holmes has lessened in brightness but still great in scopes and binocs. It is still quite large around the diameter of moon angular wise. I think it is around 5 mag or so. At the side is one of the best photos I took of Comet McNaught in January. We had just 4 days to view this splendid sight. (in the middle above the reddish hued sky on the bottom.)
My pics and more coming soon.

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical 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:E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -:State of Kansas-JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador

PLANETS FOUND FORMING IN PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER

One of my interests is extrasolar planets (planets beyond our system). This latest news describes possible planet formation around the Pleidies, a pretty little star cluster (that looks like a minuture big dipper) in constellation Taurus. Find the Pliedes with your telescope or binoculars.


PLANETS FOUND FORMING IN PLEIADES STAR CLUSTER
----------------------------------------------
Rocky terrestrial planets, perhaps like Earth, Mars or Venus, appear to be
forming or to have recently formed around a star in the Pleiades ("seven
sisters") star cluster, the result of "monster collisions" of planets or
planetary embryos.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/15pleiades/

HUBBLE ZOOMS IN ON HEART OF MYSTERIOUS COMET HOLMES

The comet has decreased to 3rd magnitude and supposedly someone said it has lost its color evenwhile it has grown in size (to our Sun). In the sky, this translates to the size of the moon higher in the sky. I will post more of my photos tomorrow. Meanwhile latest news on Hubble spying the comet

HUBBLE ZOOMS IN ON HEART OF MYSTERIOUS COMET HOLMES
---------------------------------------------------
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has probed the bright core of Comet
17P/Holmes, which, to the delight of sky watchers, mysteriously brightened
by nearly a millionfold in a 24-hour period last month.

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0711/15cometholmes/

onight comet Holmes is in front of several stars.

Tonight comet Holmes is in front of several stars. Comet Holmes large fragment broke off and disintegrated into tiny dust particles which scattered to create the bubble we see. Catch the comet this week before full moon. Information suggest that the comet bubble cloud will expand in weeks (and months?) but will grow fainter as it continues to expand.
I will try to post more of my pics tomorrow.

more info at
Comet Holmes Now Bigger Than the Sun

Friday, November 16, 2007
By Robert Roy Britt
"The offset nature of the coma, seen in ground-based images, suggests "a large fragment broke off and subsequently disintegrated into tiny dust particles after moving away from the main nucleus," Hubble astronomers said in a statement Thursday."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311868,00.html

Leonid Meteor shower Sunday 11/18 morning

The famous Leonid meteor shower will appear this Sunday morning.
Look for meteors streaming out from the sickle in the constellation Leo s it rises from the NE.
This will not be a great year as the Earth will not hit the major meteoric parts of the stream but it is supposed to be better in Asia.
You may see some bright ones however with trails called "trains."
I will post what I see. If anyone takes photos or see some good fireballs let me know .

My latest picture of CometHolmes Bubble

60 exposure to highlight outer bubble.That over exposes the inner part though.
Map to find the Comet see it below.

It has been about 2 weeks when the comet Holmes erupted.

It has been about 2 weeks when the comet Holmes erupted. Finally I have some pics of several to post. Taken on 11/04/07 are 5 of my pictures taken in collage style of the surprising comet Holmes.
all 8 seconds long exp.
Top left with red filter
Top- right with green filter
Bottom- left with blue filter
Bottom- right with infra red filter
center - clear filter


Holmes amazing its tranformation and links to pics and more

First it was amazing what this comet did by exploding and zooming from 17 to magnitude 2.5 in a very short time (1 million times in brightness increase it was said).

Second it is amazing that this comet show has lasted so long as I thought it would fade away quite rapidly and not put on such a show for this length of time.
It has been a lot of fun to watch, observe and photograph.

There was another article in the Kansas City star recently from another AP press article entitled " Comet Explodes , interest booms," from a Knoxville, TN source and photo. So it is really good that our newspaper and now other are posting and telling people about this comet. I can't say the same for the inability of the press to post information about the Great Comet McNaught in January before it went too close to the sun and went below the equator.( We only had four good days after sunset to look and the comet though bright was more difficult to see as it was low on the horizon but still....)



The beautiful photo of Holmes and its fan tail
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071110.html
***
another beautiful photo in Apod of Comet Holmes with the tail at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071105.html
I received more information about its creation from the author (see the following below- with other links below that)
*
Hello,

thank you very much for all of your compliments and congratulations!
I got to much mails, contacting each of you.

The photo of comet Holmes is an average of 42 single shots (each 1 min) taken with an ccd camera ST 2000XM. For processing I used CCD-Soft, RegiStax and Photoshop (for individual masks)
Optic: 600mm f/6

Best regards
Sebastian Voltmer

***

Meanwhile comet expansion animation at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html

***
Holmes shell expansion
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071103.html

**
Golden color photo
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html

**
first good look and report
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html
***
Nov 10 (if not seen that day look in archives)
http://www.spaceweather.com/
also more
(1) another nice photo of the tail of Holmes splitting off,
(2) good information about a theory about what made the brightness eruptions and

and this very cool
(3) if you have 3 D red and blue glasses
a 3d photo of the comet

***

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical 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 : : 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: #2572 IMCA

Hailstorm

Nice photos of hailstorms result spanish speaking country. Look at the size of the hailstones and the damage holes in buildings.

My photo collage of comet Holmes

It has been about 2 weeks when the comet erupted. Finally I have some pics of several to post. Taken on 11/04/07 are 5 of my pictures taken in collage style of the surprising comet Holmes.
all 8 seconds long exp.
Top left with red filter
Top- right with green filter
Bottom- left with blue filter
Bottom- right with infra red filter
center - clear filter

Holmes amazing its tranformation and links to pics and more

First it was amazing what this comet did by exploding and zooming from 17 to magnitude 2.5 in a very short time.
Second it is amazing that this comet show has lasted so long as I thought it would fade away quite rapidly and not put on such a show for this length of time.
It has been a lot of fun to watch, observe and photograph.
There was another article in the Kansas City star recently from another AP press article entitled " Comet Explodes , interest booms," from a Knoville, TN source and photo. So it is really good that our newspaper and now other are posting and telling people about this comet. I can't say the same for the inability of the press to post information about Comet McNaught in January before it went too close to the sun and went below the equator.



The beautiful photo of Holmes and its fan tail
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071110.html
***
another beautiful photo in Apod of Comet Holmes with the tail at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071105.html
I received more information about its creation from the author (see the following below- with other links below that)
*
Hello,

thank you very much for all of your compliments and congratulations!
I got to much mails, contacting each of you.

The photo of comet Holmes is an average of 42 single shots (each 1 min) taken with an ccd camera ST 2000XM. For processing I used CCD-Soft, RegiStax and Photoshop (for individual masks)
Optic: 600mm f/6

Best regards
Sebastian Voltmer

***

Meanwhile comet expansion animation at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071030.html

***
Holmes shell expansion
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071103.html

**
Golden color photo
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071029.html

**
first good look and report
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071026.html

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS: Lat 38.834, Lon -94.778: Comet Observers Award Coordinator- Astronomical 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 : : 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: #2572 IMCA

Fires from Space

These winds comet every year. The people know its coming. All it takes is a spark. Fires from space as seen. I wonder why the people don't try a little preventive measures before the fact?

lightning: don't take a leak, clean your teeth or jog with ipod

Incredible news items about weather and lightning

Which do you find most incredible and why?
(1) , (2) or (3)
**
Biker's penis hit by lightning
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22478688-23109,00.html
By staff writers
September 25, 2007 11:12am
Article from:

Font size: + -
Send this article: Print Email


AN Croatian motorbike rider was knocked unconscious when lightning struck his penis during a roadside toilet break.

Metro.co.uk reported Ante Djindjic, 29, escaped relatively unscathed from the incident, suffering only light burns to his chest and arms.
He said: "I don't remember what happened. One minute I was taking a leak and the next thing I knew I was in hospital.

"Doctors said the lightning went through my body and because I was wearing rubber boots it earthed itself through my penis."

"Thankfully, the doctors said that there would be no lasting effects, and my penis will function normally eventually."
That's just as long as lightning doesn't stike in the same place twice.

**
Lightning exits from woman's bum

A Croatian woman was left with a severely burned anus after a lightning strike which entered through her mouth left her body through her bottom. picked by mitzuzake 2 weeks ago

Lightning exits from woman's bum
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
What Natasha Timarovic's bottom may have looked like


A Croatian woman was left with a severely burned anus after a lightning strike which entered through her mouth left her body through her bottom.
The lightning reportedly struck Natasha Timarovic's building as she was cleaning her teeth – with her mouth to the tap, sending the current through her body.

And as she was wearing rubber-soled shoes, the lightning bolt was unable to earth through her feet – so it took the next easiest route, and came out of her rectum.
It then earthed itself via her moist shower curtain.
'It was incredibly painful, I felt it pass through my torso and then I don't remember much at all,' Timarovic said.
A medic told local news station 24 Sata: 'Instead of earthing through her feet, it appears the electricity shot out of her backside… if she had not been wearing the shoes she would probably have been killed.'
The medic described the incident as 'bizarre, but not impossible.'

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=20883

**
A Jogger Wearing iPod Struck by Lightning

A man wearing his iPod during a thunderstorm was hurled eight feet into the air when lightning hit a tree close by. The 37-year-old Canadian jogger was taken to a Vancouver hospital with burned parts of body, blown-out eardrums and fracture of a lower jaw. The burns covering the man's chest, neck and ear coincided with the positions of his iPod earphones he was wearing at the moment of the lightning strike.

http://www.infoniac.com/offbeat-news/a-jogger-wearing-ipod-struck-by-lightning.html

Comet 17P/Holmes brightens 500000 times to reach mag 2.5

Another unexpected surprise for a comet. Comet Holmes has brightened to 2.5 magnitude while over Europe. It is Perseus in the Northeast sky as the constellation rises tonight.

The moon is hindering the process with filmy clouds here in Kansas but I think I see it .
It is on a line from the brightest star in Perseus (called ) and yellow Capella (brightest star in Auriga). It is .25 way down (to Capella ) and to the left.

Catch it as who knows how long this outburst will last.

Space Weather News for Oct. 24, 2007
http://spaceweather.com

ERUPTING COMET: Astronomers in Japan and Europe report that Comet 17P/Holmes is undergoing a spectacular eruption. The 17th-magnitude comet has brightened by a factor of five hundred thousand or more during the past 24 hours becoming a naked eye object in the evening sky. This may signify a breakup of the comet's core or a rich vein of ice suddenly exposed to sunlight--no one knows. Look for a yellow 2.5th-magnitude fuzzball in the constellation Perseus after sunset. ("2.5th magnitude" means a little dimmer than the stars of the Big Dipper.) At present the comet looks more like a star than a comet; it does not have a discernable tail, but it might grow one as the outburst continues. Visit http://spaceweather.com for a sky map, photos and updates.

It's too bad the Moon is at the same distance each month

If the moon was the same distance (at new Moon time ) each month and traveled in the same area, we would have total solar eclipses each month. But since the Moon traveles differently we experience a total solar eclipse only rarely. In example of how this works is this months Full moon.
10/23/2007
BIG FULL MOON: This week's full Moon is the biggest full Moon of 2007. It's no illusion. Some full Moons are genuinely larger than others and Thursday night's will be a whopper. Why? Read the answer below.
http://www.spaceweather.com/

More teachers in space finally

NASA halted the TIS program after the Challenger disaster. Politicians and other were able to go aboard and take a ride and that rip. Barbara Morgan finally got the chance after 20 something years. Now more will be going.
Space
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/5234228.html

Oct. 22, 2007, 9:59AM
2 teacher-astronauts assigned to 2008 mission

By MARK CARREAU
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle TOOLS


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Two more of NASA's classroom teachers turned astronauts have been assigned to their first spaceflights.
Ricky Arnold and Joe Acaba, who left teaching posts three years ago to join NASA's astronaut corps, are among seven astronauts assigned to the same assembly mission to the international space station. Scheduled for the fall of 2008, the mission will deliver the last of four solar power modules to the orbital outpost.
Their assignment, announced on Friday, comes of the heels of NASA astronaut Barbara Morgan's August shuttle flight. Morgan, who served as the backup to NASA's teacher-in-space Christa McAuliffe, flew after a 21-year wait. McAuliffe was among seven astronauts that perhished in the 1986 Challenger explosion.
Morgan,who resumed her teaching duties in McCall, Idaho, after the tragedy, was invited by NASA to train as a professional astronaut in 1998. A half-dozen years later, the space agency selected three more teachers to train for spaceflight.
Acaba joined the space agency after five years of teaching high school and middle school math and science in Florida.
Arnold was selected for astronaut training after teaching math and science in Romania, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
Astronaut Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, who joined NASA's astronaut corps as a high school astronomy and science instructor in Vancouver, Wash., awaits her first spaceflight assignment.

The Orionids (October) and May Aquarids have meteor showers produced from the trails of Halley's Comet.

by Dr.Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com)
The Orionids (October) and May Aquarids have meteor showers produced from the trails of Halley's Comet.
I have not observed Orionids in many years. Of course I missed the outburst in 2006. But I decided to try just in case another
outburst came about. Not much of show for 2 hours worth of week on 2 nights. I would have stayed out longer but
I did see 2 fireballs on Friday. Overall they were bland in color, no trails and were
brigher then expected.
No meteors on the photos though. Better luck with Leonids.



date 10/20/07
location Olathe, KS
weather clear
visibility: 5.5
S-sporadic
O-Orionid length
time color degrees magnitude duration

3:55 O white 3 2 0.5
4:27 blue 7 3 0.5
4:29 O white 5 2 0.5
4:36 O white yellow 20 -2 0.75
4:51 O white 10 -2 0.75


date 10/21/07
location Olathe, KS
weather 10% light clouds4:17-5
visibility: 5 hazy
4:12 O white 10 0 0.5
4:17 O white 6 2 0.5
4:17 O white 10 0 0.5
4:21 O white 3 1 0.5
4:34 O white 5 1 0.5

additional: no train - trails
rates down from burst in 2006

http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/gallery_21oct06.htm

The Orionids (October) and May Aquarids have meteor showers produced from the trails of Halley's Comet.

by Dr.Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com)
The Orionids (October) and May Aquarids have meteor showers produced from the trails of Halley's Comet.
I have not observed Orionids in many years. Of course I missed the outburst in 2006. But I decided to try just in case another
outburst came about. Not much of show for 2 hours worth of week on 2 nights. I would have stayed out longer but
I did see 2 fireballs on Friday. Overall they were bland in color, no trails and were
brigher then expected.
No meteors on the photos though. Better luck with Leonids.



date 10/20/07
location Olathe, KS
weather clear
visibility: 5.5
S-sporadic
O-Orionid length
time color degrees magnitude duration

3:55 O white 3 2 0.5
4:27 blue 7 3 0.5
4:29 O white 5 2 0.5
4:36 O white yellow 20 -2 0.75
4:51 O white 10 -2 0.75


date 10/21/07
location Olathe, KS
weather 10% light clouds4:17-5
visibility: 5 hazy
4:12 O white 10 0 0.5
4:17 O white 6 2 0.5
4:17 O white 10 0 0.5
4:21 O white 3 1 0.5
4:34 O white 5 1 0.5

additional: no train - trails
rates down from burst in 2006

http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/gallery_21oct06.htm

Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1) is still difficult to see

amateur astronomers , comet hunters and potential comet observer awardees

I'd like to see more people trying for our two comet awards. You must be a member of the Astronomical League or a member of a club that has an affiliation to AL.
With the silver award you get a great looking comet award pin and an award certificate suitable for framing.
pin example

http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/satoriastronomy/cometaward.htm

Both the silver and gold certificates include beautiful photos of Comet Hal Bopp and Hayutake ( they were graciously provided by the late ASKC member Vic Winters).

I have tried 3 times but have not observed or photographed this supriseing new Comet Loneos.
There are 3 thing reasons Comet Loneos is difficult to view and photograph:
(1) Instead of rising higher in the sky Comet Loneos is going parallel to the horizon. Eventhough it is near south of Arcturus and below still difficult.
(2) eventhough it is around magnitude 6 and may rise to 4, it sets soon after sunset.
(3) the greenish color makes it difficult to view in the starry background compared to like Comet McNaught last January which was gold-white.
Close approach is in a few days. Keep watching and trying.
New pics on spaceweather my friend Tunc from Turkey (great eclipse photographer too).
Keep watching spaceweather, Apod and try to catch it yourself.
If others find it, let me know and cirumstances.
if you can see or photograph this one, you can add it to the 10 comet observations.
Remember 2 can be before 1/1/2001.
Observations and data of 12 for the silver award can be either regular photos, ccd pictures of sketches.
To see a sample of my silver award page and 3 examples, see
http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/satoriastronomy/cometaward.htm
? let me know

Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com), Olathe, KS 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
**
Sometimes are predicatable and appear on a regular schedule. Some like Comet McNaught last January surprised us from out of the "blue." Here is another new mystery comet. Catch it while you can and if you can

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2007/20oct07/pmheden1.jpgob.
It's Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1).
10/26/07
Last night in Turkey, Tunç Tezel tried the procedure and was rewarded as follows:


Photo details: Canon EOS 5D, 400 mm lens, f/5.6, ISO 3200, 30s.
The bush in the foreground highlights one problem with this pretty green comet: it is very close to the horizon and sets soon after nightfall. This makes the comet a potentially challenging target.
A backyard telescope reveals much more than a camera alone. P-M Hedén of Vallentuna, Sweden, took this picture

http://www.spaceweather.com/swpod2007/20oct07/pmheden1.jpg

on October 18th using his 3-inch refractor. "This is a very nice comet," he says. "I estimate its magnitude as +6.5." Comet LONEOS will brighten further perhaps to 4th magnitude on Oct 29th when it approaches the sun almost as close as the planet Mercury. Stay tuned for updates.
more images: from Peter Heinzen near Raron, Switzerland
LONEOS links: sky map, ephemeris, 3D orbit

Going to Titan take an umbrella

Scientists new Saturn's moon Titan was different. Close inspection showed we could not see the surface due to orange layer around it. The Cassini probe that landed a probe on its surface revealed more.

new comet LONEOS is getting brighter but still difficult to see

This new comet is getting brighter but still difficult to see as it is so close to the horizon (I have not seen it yet but when I do I will post a pic)

Meanwhile here nice animation of the current 8th magnitude COMET LONEOS
http://spaceweather.com
10/13/2007 (if not this date go to archives)
COMET LONEOS: Comet LONEOS (C/2007 F1) is plunging toward the sun and solar heating is doing its work: pieces of the 8th-magnitude comet are boiling off. "We were surprised to see blobs moving in the tail," report Filipe Alves, Jan Lameer and Jose Ribeiro at the AstroQueyras Observatory in the French Alps. This 24-minute time-lapse movie shows the view through the observatory's 30-inch telescope on Oct. 12th:


Comet LONEOS makes its closest approach to the sun--just outside the orbit of Mercury--on Oct. 29th. At that time it may become faintly visible to the unaided eye, a 4th magnitude fuzzball with an increasingly active tail. Amateur astronomers, ready your telescopes! [sky map] [ephemeris] [3D orbit]

AL Gold comet award winner also writes
More: "This comet is so close to the horizon, it is almost too low for my equipment," says astrophotographer Mike Holloway of Van Buren, Arkansas. "How low? I ask my neighbor across the field to keep his cows penned up so they don't block the view. Well maybe not quite that bad! I did manage to capture this image on Oct. 11th using a 5-inch refracting telescope."

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

looking inside the crater of a comet

Blasting a comet was a great feat (I thought the landing on Saturn's moon Titan was an even better feat) but this was magnificent. Now more information.

NASA Science News for September 26, 2007

Two years ago, NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft blasted a hole in Comet Tempel 1, offering researchers their first look inside a comet. One small problem: The cloud of debris was so thick no one could clearly see the crater. But now the dust has cleared and another NASA spacecraft is returning to the scene to examine the hole Deep Impact wrought.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/26sep_next.htm?list731500

Check out our RSS feed at

There is a chance of Northern Lights tonight

Here is an aurora alert tool to look at and watch if auroras are coming

http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlkop/auralert.html

rare small comet foundSome

Some comets return from the their journey around the sun on a periodic basis every few years like Halley's (every 76 or so years since around 240BC). This small one was found recently with a space telescope.

SOHO Mission Discovers Rare Comet


http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/soho/soho_periodic_comet.html

SOHO Mission Discovers Rare Comet
Stuart Clark
European Space Agency
September 26,2007

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has discovered a rare
periodic comet. SOHO has already discovered more than 1,350 comets
during its mission, but this is the first time one of its discoveries
officially has been designated periodic.

Many of the comets SOHO has discovered are believed to be periodic,
meaning they follow their orbits around the sun more than twice and have
orbital periods of less than 200 years. Thousands of comets have been
seen by astronomers, but only around 190 are classified as periodic. The
most famous periodic comet is Halley's Comet, which returns every 76
years. It most recently passed close to the sun in 1986.

SOHO's new find has a much smaller orbit than Halley's Comet. It takes
the comet approximately four years to travel once around the sun. It was
first seen in September 1999 and then again in September 2003. In 2005,
German PhD student Sebastian Hoenig realized that the two comets were so
similar in orbit that they might actually be the same object. To test
his theory, he calculated a combined orbit for the comet and
consequently predicted that it would return on Sept. 11, 2007. Hoenig's
prediction proved to be extremely accurate -- the comet reappeared in
SOHO's Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph camera right on
schedule and has now been given the official designation of P/2007 R5
(SOHO). Credit for the original discovery and recovery of the object
goes to Terry Lovejoy (Australia, 1999), Kazimieras Cernis (Lithuania,
2003) and Bo Zhou (China, 2007).

A puzzling aspect to P/2007 R5 (SOHO) is that it does not look exactly
like a comet. It has no visible tail or coma of dust and gas, as is
traditionally associated with the phenomena. Initially, this led some
scientists to wonder if the object was actually an asteroid, a chunk of
space-rock, rather than a chunk of space-ice. However, P/2007 R5 (SOHO)
did exhibit some characteristics consistent with a comet. As scientists
watched the object pass close to the sun, drawing to within 4.9 million
miles, or around 5% of the distance between the Earth and the sun, they
saw it brighten by a factor of around a million, which is common
behavior for a comet.

"It is quite possibly an extinct comet nucleus of some kind," says Karl
Battams of the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, who runs SOHO's
comet discovery program. Extinct comets have expelled most of their
volatile ices and retain little to form a tail or coma. They are
theorized to be common objects among the celestial bodies orbiting close
to the sun.

This comet faded as quickly as it brightened, and soon became too faint
for SOHO's instruments to see. Estimates show that P/2007 R5 (SOHO) is
probably only 100 to 200 yards in diameter. Given how small and faint
this object is, and how close it still is to the sun, it is an extremely
difficult target for observers on Earth to pick out in the sky.

Now we know for certain that P/2007 R5 (SOHO) is there, astronomers will
be watching closely for it during its next return in September 2011.

SOHO is a cooperative project between the European Space Agency and NASA.

Stuart Clark
European Space Agency

Cave Skylights Spotted on Mars

Someday astronauts will land on Mars. If so placing habitats underground in caves may solve some problems. This article and photos shows some possible caves

Cave Skylights Spotted on Mars
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/21sep_caves.htm

object that fell in Peru is confirmed to be a meteorite

http://www.livinginperu.com/news/4758

Astrophysicist in Peru Identifies Properties in Meteorite

(LIP-ir) -- Peru's La Republica newspaper reported today that Ronald Woodman, director of Peru's Geophysical Institute, stated that the meteorite which landed in Puno on Saturday had high levels of iron.

In addition, Woodman stated that astrophysicist José Ishitsuka of Peru's Geophysics Institute, had collected samples of the meteorite and had confirmed that it contained a high degree of iron.

"The specialist José Ishitsuka has confirmed, after analyzing pieces of the object, that it is a meteorite with a high degree of iron and (contains) magnetic properties, characteristic of these objects," explained Woodman.

It was reported that Ishitsuka retrieved a 3-inch magnetic fragment of the meteorite and has based his conclusion after studying its properties.

On Satruday September 15 the townspeople of Carancas, Peru reported to have seen the sky momentarily light up and have heard a loud crashing noise in the afternoon.

Upon further investigation the townspeople found a 17 meter (55 foot) wide and 5 meter (16 foot) deep crater in the earth. The crash site is approximately 6 miles from Lake Titicaca.

On September 18 volcanologist for Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute (INGEMMET), Luisa Macedo, confirmed that it had indeed been a meteorite and classified it as a chondrite.

suspected object and crater possible meteorite it is a mystery

There was a big crater but sulfur smell is weird.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/suspected-meteorite-blamed-for-illness/20070918132109990001

meteorite crashed into Peru. But it smelled like sulfur so the jury is still out what this thing was. It happened before a year or two ago and possibly someone is trying to get some headlines and get people to hunt for meteorites there.

Volcano Tungurahua erupted spectacularly

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
if not 9/18/2007 look at archives
Volcano Tungurahua erupted spectacularly last year. Pictured above, molten rock so hot it glows visibly pours down the sides of the 5,000-meter high Tungurahua, while a cloud of dark ash is seen being ejected toward the left. Wispy white clouds flow around the lava-lit peak, while a star-lit sky shines in the distance. The above image was captured last year as ash fell around the adventurous photographer. Located in Ecuador, Tungurahua has become active roughly every 90 years since for the last 1,300 years. Volcano Tungurahua has started erupting again this year and continues erupting at a lower lever even today.

how things work

Great site for learning what else-how things work
http://science.howstuffworks.com/

Cloud Appreciation Society

Many admire the clouds but here is a beautiful website that displays many more

Lunar eclipse from South pole

Lunar eclipse from the South Pole
Sept 7 (if you are not looking at 9/7/07 go to archives)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Mars Rover Opportunity set to travel into crater

The two little rovers are still like Energizer bunnies. Even with a huge Martian duststorm, these two, now after a hibernation mode, continue to WORK way after their original date of commission. Next part of this Mission Impossible, the rover Opportunity will stroll into a big crater and investigate what can be seen inside .
more

if not Sept 4, go to archives

Felix comes ashore and an American complains

A big hurricane is bearing down on Central American. However an American has to complain that he has not gotten enough dives in during his vacation. Geeez.
Notice the eye of the storm (little dot) in the picture from outer space. That is the calm area of the storm but it won't be for long on much of the shore.
Felix May Hit as Category 5 Hurricane

By ESTEBAN FELIX,
AP
Posted: 2007-09-04 06:22:09
Filed Under: World News
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (Sept. 4) -- Forecasters said Tuesday that Hurricane Felix could strengthen into a Category 5 monster just as it makes landfall near the Nicaragua-Honduras border, home to thousands of stranded Miskito Indians.
http://news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/felix-may-hit-as-category-5-hurricane/20070901152509990001

Surprise meteor shower results

I heard that there might be a suprise meteor shower called the Aurigids on the morning of 9/1/2007. It was possible due to an old comet trail.

While the projections to see it were West of the Rockies, I decided to take a chance in Olathe, KS (near Kansas City, KS).
From 1-2 am I saw nothing but the bright moon. I then went to sleep after setting the alarm. hoping to get up at 4:30 am.
The alarm did not go off but I got up with surprise at 5:55 am. I got dressed, took out the lawn chair and then starred upward to see if I could catch any Aurigid "falling stars."
Within minutes, I saw a bright yellow one. In the next 30 minutes before it got too light, I saw 4 Aurigids.
Here are the results and the plot map I drew where the meteors sped across the sky and additional information.


aurigids 9/1/07 Olathe. KS Dr. Eric Flescher (kcstarguy@aol.com)
s or Aurigid time color magnitude length degrees duration
1 A 6:01 Yellow 1 6 0.25
2 A 6:11 white 2 10 0.5
3 A 6:19 white 3 20 0.5
4 A 6:19 yellow 2.5 11 0.5

Amazing sprite lightning videos

A few years ago when some of my students and I were researching enigma projects, a student mentioned SPRITES which I never heard of . We soon found out more. Sprites shoot up from the tops of big thunderclouds.
Here is an amazing 2 videos of these enigmatic sprites. Great videos a must see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper-atmospheric_lightning

http://www.spaceweather.com/

sprite movie August 24

Rate how dark the eclipse will get 8/28/2007

Unlike a total solar eclipse which can be seen in a narrow zone,
lunar eclipses can be seen over much of the Earth's sky.
This oneis is in the morning sky Tuesday morning but try to see it.
Post your favorite pics and videoclips here
more info here http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/OH2007.html

rate how dark you think it is using this Danjon scale and post / send me your report (here) along with name, location and rating
http://members.aol.com/kcstarguy/blacksun/lunar.htm

Clear skies to all!!!

Hurricane forms nears Caribbean

A hurricane is a big heat engine, fueled by moist ocean waters.

Deadly Storm Bears Down on Caribbean

By JONATHAN M. KATZ,

AP

Posted: 2007-08-18 18:22:22

Filed Under: Natural Disaster, World News

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Aug. 18) - Alarmed tourists jammed Caribbean airports for flights out of Hurricane Dean's path Saturday as the monster storm began sweeping past the Dominican Republic and Haiti and threatened to engulf Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Alaska volcano now very active again

Alaska Volcano Poised for Huge Eruption

By JAMES HALPIN,
AP
Posted: 2007-08-18 05:43:21
Filed Under: Science News
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Aug. 17) - One of Alaska's most active volcanoes could be working toward a massive eruption that could affect air travel but was not expected to threaten any of the towns in the area, scientists said Thursday
http://news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/alaska-volcano-poised-for-huge-eruption/20070817163809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001


also check out this fantastic site
http://volcano.und.edu/

Perseid meteor shower coming tonight/ before dawn

Friday night/morning was great and Saturday night and morning was even better.
(see my account of Sat night./ sunday morning below).

Perseid meteor shower Sunday tonight and to morning (dawn) started at 10pm. Meteors will be from all over but Perseids stream from the constellation Perseus in the NE. Good luck tonight.

See the International Space Station (ISS) connected to the Endeavour space shuttle (see the captured image through a telescope).
http://www.spaceweather.com/

Log into Heavens above to find out where and when to glimpse the International Space Station (ISS). (also Iridium flares, comets and much more)
http://heavens-above.com/
(you must register for free)
ASKC@yahoogroups.com
****
Eric Flescher's account

Observation/ Where: Louisbourg Observatory (20 minutes south of Kansas City)
Sky condition: to magnitude 6 (less hazy then last night)
Time: 9:51pm - 2:45 am
Meteors seen=24: (I was also plotting each meteor's information as I have done for years which means I missed a few here and there while doing that)
The meteors were seen in all parts of the sky
Many people from the 4 presentations afterwards noticed some of the meteors starting as soon as 9:30 pm
Sat night/ morning like Friday night/ morning had a good display or brighter meteors far better then the last 5 years of my recent observations.

Colors: 11 (white), 10 (yellow), 1 (white -blue), 1 (white -yellow)
Sporadics: 13 (1 possible Kappa Cygnid -see more below)
Perseids: 11 '
Magnitude: -2 (1), 0 (4), 1 (5) , 2 (7) , 3 (5), 4 (2) -
Lengths of meteors: 0-5 degrees (7), 6-10 (6), 11-15 (3), 16-20 (7) , 21-30 (1)
Number of meteors with train/trails: 2 (.75 second trains)
Average duration per second: 0.5 per second
Best of night :
Bright yellow fireball (not a Perseid but most likely a Kappa Cygnid) at 12:26 am , going 20 degrees and ending with a terminal mini blast explosion (mini bolide?)

? let me know

Perseid meteor observations near Kansas City

I started observing the Perseids 11:57pm after arriving at Powell Observatory, Louisbourg (20 minutes south of Kansas City) around 11:30.

Sky a little hazy, nice Milky Way and at least 6th magnitude.
Can't ask for a better observing night warm. Started out humid but when the humidity and temperature dropped a bit, it was even more comfortable, downright a great way to observe the Perseids laying on my lawnchair.

No moon helped.

This was the nicest year of Perseids for last 3-4 years (last years I have felt the shower has been on the putrid side).
Two days before maximum, I saw 10 Perseids, 8 sporadics (2 possible Kappa Cygnids).
No fireballs but there were two -1 magnitudes.
12 of them were 2nd magnitude or better.
6 were under 3rd magnitude.
11 were white and 6 yellow. 1 was white-blue.
One had a train (trail).

So things look good for good Perseid shower Sat and Sunday night and mornings.

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 -

Bacteria from Shark's Mouth and other creatures is a danger too

While listening to the Discovery Channel , Shark week episode, it was said that people can die from the bite not just the gash and loss of blood but bacteria. These bacteria can kill a victim.

This article talks about a komada dragon but it could just have been akin to what may happen to someone bitten by a shark
Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Will identify how bacteria can help and harm our bodies.
(E.O.A.S.1) Will identify and compare how a komoda dragon and shark can inflict harm through bacteria.

More living fossil evidence

I heard about this living fossil in the 1960's. Then more were found . Now more interesting fossil evidence.

* Ancestor of the "living fossil" sheds new light:
Zoologists called it the find of the century in
1938: a fish thought to have been extinct since
dinosaurs roamed. A new discovery may help complete
the story.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070801_coelacanth.h

Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Understand how fossils are created
(E.O.A.S.2 ) Analyze article and state at least one reason why the article is important
(E.O.A.S.3) What structures with the fish make it important?

Perseid meteor shower this weekend

The moon won't be a factor so you will see many faint and bright. Some might even have trails called "trains" that twist in the upper atmospheric winds.

Don't exect io to rain meteors .

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//

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

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?list731500Students
(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

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

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!