eclipse sighting black hole style

eclipse sighting black hole style
Space telescope Chandra observes remarkable Eclipse Of a Black Hole

Science Daily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070412115254.htm
— Chandra observations of the galaxy NGC 1365 have captured a remarkable eclipse of the supermassive black hole at its center. A dense cloud of gas passed in front of the black hole, which blocked high-energy X-rays from material close to the black hole. This serendipitous alignment allowed astronomers to measure the size of the disk of material around the black hole, a relatively tiny structure on galactic scales

Tornadoes on the ground 4/24/07

I found this on MSN Video and thought you all might be interested in it.
oklahomoa and kansas stormchase caught on video. Pretty good.

Click this link to see the video of the stormchasers observe several tornadoes 4/24/07
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=c45266e3-cd3d-4f56-9780-efd56eddc2ab&f=06/64&fg=email

weather reports 4/24/07

Lightning

a new planet found around red dwarf star yields may be an earth-like

Extrasolar (otherwise known as exoplanets – planets found outside of our solar system have been researched and found since the 1960’s and earlier. The latest is a new planet found around red dwarf star yields may be an earth-like

Students
(E.O.A.S.1) Will learn about how a red star may provide a suitable earth-like planet
(E.O.A.S.2) Will gain information about the wobble effect by which many of the planets are found
(E.O.A.S.3) Will explain more about the “zone of habitability”

There are several links and websites with information about this new found planet around another star (called an Exoplanet). But this article in Astronomy magazine is the best in regards to factual and additional information.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=5471

a new planet found around red dwarf star yields may be an earth-like

Extrasolar (otherwise known as exoplanets – planets found outside of our solar system have been researched and found since the 1960’s and earlier. The latest is a new planet found around red dwarf star yields may be an earth-like

Students
(E.O.A.S.1) Will learn about how a red star may provide a suitable earth-like planet
(E.O.A.S.2) Will gain information about the wobble effect by which many of the planets are found
(E.O.A.S.3) Will explain more about the “zone of habitability”

There are several links and websites with information about this new found planet around another star (called an Exoplanet). But this article in Astronomy magazine is the best in regards to factual and additional information.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=5471

Niagra Falls (USA) is nice but Victoria Falls (S.Africa=) is better

Niagra Falls (USA) is nice but Victoria Falls (S.Africa=) is better

In 2001 before the 2001 eclipse I had a magical experience going near the sensational Victoria Falls in S. Africa from the Zimbabwe side. It is a spectacular site and I really enjoyed my time there videotaping and photographing the falls in absolutely clear sunny weather.

This link is from someone who took views it from the air.
Enjoy

Asteroid flies by close to Earth see movie of it

Small asteroids are important because if they come close and hit the Earth (like one thought to have killed off the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago) it would not be good for us for several reasons.
(****If you don't see this window in the 4/18 issue of spaceweather look in the archives)
(Must have or get Windows Media Player to view)
Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) View the video and sumarize what they see.
(E.O.A.S.2) Describe the steps that would happen if a small or large asteroid would hit in the ocean or on land.
(E.O.A.S.3) Discover more about the theory and validation how an asteroid hit the Earth 65 millions years ago and what possibly happened with the dinosaurs.


See a movie of ASTEROID 2007 HA: Watch this movie. It shows asteroid 2007 HA flying past Earth yesterday 2.5 million kilometers away.
Amateur astronomer Greg Selleck filmed the flyby from his home in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 13th magnitude ( visible with naked eye is 6th magnitude)
the space rock was an easy target for large backyard telescopes.
It is amazing that this asteroid was only discovered 2 days ago by the
MIT's LINEAR special telescopic survey on April 16th.

more on this asteroid
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/db_shm?sstr=2007%20

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Study a chosen link on a topic , analyze , summarize and report it for a presentation.

THIS news center always has a lot of interesting links.

In the News:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/

* Latest Images:
Locust Swarms Develop on the Red Sea Coast
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17610

Floods in Argentina
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17609

Plume at Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17608

Melt Ponds on Greenland's Ice Cap
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17607

Plume at Mount Bagana, Bouganville Island
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17606

Melting Days on Greenland
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17605

Springtime Aerosols over Eastern Asia
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17604

Magnitude 8.1 Earthquake off the Solomon Islands
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17603

* NASA News
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/
- NASA Data Show Earthquakes May Quickly Boost Regional Volcanoes

* Media Alerts
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/
- High-Resolution Images Herald New Era in Earth Sciences
- Snowmelt Monitored in the Baltic Sea Watershed Region in Near Real Time
- Arctic Sea Ice Narrowly Missed Record Low in Winter 2007
- The Global Carbon Budget -- Proper Accounting Means Paying Attention to Inland Waters
- Want to Monitor Climate Change? Pick Up a Penguin!
- Experts Develop Technology to Increase Effectiveness of Tsunami Warning Systems
- University of Alaska-Fairbanks Scientist to Lead Sea Ice Expedition

* Headlines from the press, radio, and television:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Headlines/
- Volcano Eruptions Diminish on Indian Ocean Island
- Climbers Becoming Reluctant Witnesses to Global Warming
- Quake Lifts Solomon Islands Out of Sea
- Reunion Sees 'Colossal' Volcano Eruption, But Population Safe
- Panel: Global Warming a Threat to Earth
- Bleakest Warning Issued on Climate
- Warming Not Behind Hurricane Activity: Forecaster
- Study: Lake Superior Warming Quickly
- Climate Change Threatens a New Dust Bowl
- Winter Arctic Sea Ice Near Record Low
- Study Shows Rich Reforestation After Fires
- 'Rough Guide' Tsunami Warnings on the Way
- Global Warming Driving Australian Fish South: Report
- Barrier Reef Could Have Blocked Tsunami: Scientist
- Forecasters Predict Busy Atlantic Hurricane Season
- NASA: Arctic Meltdown Threatens Ice Cap's Stability

* New Research Highlights
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/Research/




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Comet Lovejoy photo

4/7/2007

I photographed the latest comet Comet Lovejoy.

(near middle of picture hazy star)

Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Compare and contrast this comet ( tail shape, size, distinct nature etc) to the pictures of magnificent Comet McNaught , which we could see in the Northern skies only for a few days in January 2007 before it displayed its huge tail in the Southern Hemisphere.

(E.O.A.S.2) This comet will only reach magnitude 7 (but comets can change, as they are like cats - they are unpredictable, someone said). Compare to the other parts of the magnitude scale and compare it to McNaught, aided eye, Venus and others.

This comet is famous for the fact that it is the FIRST comet to be captured with a digital camera -a canon XT, just like the one I have . I was not in the right place at the right time because the discoverer is in the Southern Hemisphere.

I thought we could not see the comet in the Northern Hemisphere until around 4/15 but I captured it (Black and white here) last night (60 seconds). It has a greenish tint and I am working on a color image and will try to show it soon. It seems to have a slight fan tail shape and the coma (head is distinct ) as you can see. It is about 8th magnitude which as many people know unobservable to the naked eye. We won't be able to see it without a small telescope or binoculars with its closest approach in about a week.

Picture

time taken 4:57 MT 4/07/2007

exposure:60 seconds

Celestial:
Right Ascension: 20h 4.8m
Declination: -30 degrees 55 minutes

More soon

Tvashtar volcano on Jupiter's moon Io

4/7/2007 (if not this date for spaceweather use the archives to search for more information related to this photo
Students will
(E.O.A.S.1) Will compare Tvarish to other volcanoes on earth like Vesuvius in Italy.
(E.O.A.S.2) Will discover which 3 other planets, besides Earth, have active volcanoes on them.
(E.O.A.S.3) Compare and contrast Earth volcanoes , the Tvarish volcano and other solar system volcanoes as to their production of material and additional information.

The New Horizon spacecraft, heading out towards Pluto, snapped a photo of the Tvashtar volcano giving us a show that we normally can't see even with the Hubble or Earth telescopes.
The bluish plume that looks like a dome, is the ejected materials that spews out into space and then drifts back to the landscape of Io which many say looks like a " field of pizza."

explore choose a habitat

Students will

(E.O.A.S.1) Explore a variety of habitats and comparing and contrasting the animals, habits and more

explore choose a habitat
from Planet Earth video series
http://www.nature.org/earth/?src=st2&gclid=CJukmpGTrYsCFSWHPgodDTz1VQ

watch the splendid video series every Sunday on discovery channel
http://www.discovery.com/

Fire Rainbow

4/4/2007
Students will learn about
(EOAS1) weather and clouds
(EOAS2) spectrum
(EOAS3) how light is refracted (bent) by substances and creats different colors


This is truly a phenomenon of ice not fire. But it does deal with light.

June 19, 2006—It looks like a rainbow that's been set on fire, but this phenomenon is as cold as ice.
Known in the weather world as a circumhorizontal arc, this rare sight was caught on film on June 3 as it hung over northern Idaho near the Washington State border

Tornado outbreak March 28, 2007 reports/photos and more

E.O.A.S. objectives
3/28/2007
(E.O.A.S.1)Can you explain why the storms reports are more or less in a straight line path?
(E.O.A.S.2) Can you explain why many hail reports are next to many of the tornado reports? Does the video on birth of a tornado help in this analysis?
(E.O.A.S.3) -What can you learn from the video report by listening and viewing the video?

Some of these tornadoes were during the day while some -tornadoes came during night fall. Stormchasing at night is even more difficult. I once was chasing at night south of Kansas City. I spied what I thought was a wallcloud and it looked like it might drop a tornado. I asked the trooper about it and he said "no it's nothing." Later the storm put a small tornado down just across the Kansas line in Missouri. So I think I knew better but may have not caught it anyway. Here is the latest outbreak with more information, see below.
This photo is a N OAA pic of the reports that I found at this website on MSN .
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17850600/
This link has a nice photo of two tornado funnels on the ground.
A man watches as a tornado crosses the highway east of the Northern Natural Gas Plant in Beaver County, Okla., on Wednesday.
On the same site there is a link window to NBC video March 29: Storm chasers talk with TODAY anchor Matt Lauer about a Texas tornado they recorded.
Also nice interaction video of the birth of a tornado which you can view at the same website above.
(report pic from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17850600/)

Unusual early tornadoes slams New Mexicus see video

I am a stormchaser. I have videotapes 4 tornadoes since 2001and hope to see some this year. Read the latest news of this early tornado. Then find the following information

EOAS1
Students will
(1) Find information about the new and old tornado Fujita scale. Compare the ratings. See if you can estimate what you think the severity of this Clovis storms was by comparing the rating levels.
(2) Follow up : find the Safir Hurricane scale and compare the damage and speeds of the hurricane levels to the tornado scale.
(3) What is the Richter scale? How does this rating help understand earthquakes?
(4) What is the Mohr scale and how does the scale help understand rocks and minerals?

***
Tornadoes Slam Buildings in Southwest
New Mexico Towns Begin Clean-Up After Twisters

By FELICIA FONSECA
AP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (March 24) - When she awoke Saturday, Andrea McLaren found that a stretch of the eastern New Mexico city she calls home had been obliterated by a tornado that flattened houses, snapped telephone poles and even heaved a trailer through a bowling alley
shows twisters in Clovis, New Mexico, part of a storm that damaged homes and other buildings.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/tornadoes-slam-buildings-in-southwest/20070324161209990001

EARTHQUAKES hit Japan

Students
(1) will understand how Earthquakes are created
(2) understand how sound waves topple buildings
(3) how tidal waves are generated and why they can cause damage

Aftershocks Shake Japan a Day After Quake

By SHIZUO KANBAYASHI
AP
KANAZAWA, Japan (March 25) - Aftershocks shook a rural area of coastal central Japan Monday, a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least one person and injured 170 others as it toppled buildings, triggered landslides and generated a small tsunami along the coast.
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/aftershocks-shake-japan-a-day-after/20070324212609990001

Many saw Comet Hale Bopp in 1997 but did you know it's size?

Many people saw Comet Hale Bopp in 1997 but did you know the size of its nucleus' (center) size compared to other comets?

E.O.A.S. Educational objective for this activity: Comet Nucleus size comparisons
E.O.A.S. (Earth, Oceans, Atmosphere and Space) Blog -<http://eoas-dreric1kansas.blogspot.com/>

Science standard:Astronomy/ Earth-Space Science
(1) Students will learn about the astronomical objects in our solar system (comets)
(2) Compare it with fractions and size by drawing or using silly putty or clay
(3) Present their findings to other group.

Most comet nucleus are 3- 5 miles in diameter. Hal Bopp , one of the brightest ones in recent memory appeared in our skies in 1997, was very large.

Observations of this comet with the Hubble space telescope,, was instead 19-25 miles (30-40 kilometers).
The comet or asteroid that struck the Earth 65 million years ago, possibly causing the extinction of the dinosaurs, was probably about 6 to 9 miles (10 to 15 kilometers) across.)
The fact that is was so big and detected earlier in 1995, let scientists to survey the comet much earlier and learn further about its evolution as it came closer to the earth in 1997 when it put on it's great show.
More information at
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1997/08/

The ancients thought the Sun was a big lump of coal

The ancients thought the Sun was a big lump of coal. If that was the case , it would have burnt up in 5000 years. We now know that the dynamics of the sun's generation of the heat and light is much more complicated.
Did you know it takes thousands of years for the heat to come up from the center to go out from the Sun where we see it 9.5 minutes later on earth?

Now here is some of the latest.

Twisted Solution to Sun's Mystery Heat
By Jeanna Bryner“Theorists suggested that twisted, tangled magnetic fields might exist,” said study presenter Leon Golub, senior astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “With the XRT, we can see them clearly for the first time.”
Staff Writer
posted: 21 March 2007
01:16 pm ET
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070321_solarb_update.html

Sea floor records ancient Earth discovered

The crustal plates of our earth's continents lie on top of more molten layer. During the 1900's , there was evidence that the plates of the continents moved apart after being all together in one big plate called Pangea. The upwelling from volcanic action, pushed the continents apart where we have the present day configuration. A theory by the geologist Wegner theorized that happened over the many millions of years but many , even many scientisits, were skeptical. But as more evidence piled up , it became accepted.
I was so interested about the evidence that I did a study in my undergraduate years. It was entitled "The palentological (and biological ) evidence of Continental Drift."
Now here is some currents new evidence.

Sea floor records ancient Earth
A sliver of four billion year old seafloor shows the earliest known evidence of plate tectonics on Earth.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6479289.stm

Whale fossil is found in vineyard
A five million-year-old whale skeleton is uncovered beneath one of Tuscany's most famed vineyards.
The biggest whale fossil ever discovered in Italy has been found in one of the country's finest vineyards. The skeleton appears to be complete and, for the last month, palaeontologists from the University of Florence have been carefully digging around the terraces to extract it in one piece.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6482859.stm

Oregon's new fossil find

Jurassic Crocodile Unearthed in Oregon
By Jeanna Bryner
LiveScience

(March 22) -- The fossil of an ancient amphibious reptile with a crocodile's body and a fish's tail has been unearthed in Oregon. Scientists believe the creature's remains were transported by geologic processes nearly 5,000 miles away from where it originally died more than 100 million years ago.

http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/jurassic-crocodile-unearthed-in-oregon/20070322094109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

eclipse sighting: partial eclipse of the sun pic and more on spaceweather

eclipse sighting: partial eclipse of the sun pic and more on spaceweather
3/22/2007
http://spaceweather.com
Credit & Copyright: Joerg Schoppmeyer
Goa Silhouettes
Explanation: "On Monday, March 19, shortly before the equinox, locations in Asia and the Arctic were favoured by the New Moon's shadow during a partial solar eclipse. Although the view from Goa, India found the eclipsed Sun near the horizon, photographer Joerg Schoppmeyer was still able to capture this lovely image, combining celestial with terrestrial silhouettes. The next eclipse season will begin in late August this year, featuring a total lunar eclipse on August 28, and another partial solar eclipse on September 11. Compared to the March 19th eclipse, the September 11th eclipse will be seen on the other side of our fair planet, from parts of South America and Antarctica."

I was chasing the same day as the stormchaser in Angry Planet

On this day,May 29 2004, I was out near Missouri and caught two tornadoes on video including the big Dearborn tornado that had fatalities. I don't know of anyone else who caught this tornado on video except myself and channel 9 KCMO TV Johnny Rowlins.

Here is more about George's chase that day on May 29 2004,
http://www.stormchaser.ca/Tornadoes/2004_05_29/2004_05_29.html

http://www.stormchaser.ca/

more about the episodes
Angry Planet Television Series
Canada's Outdoor Life Network

Featuring Storm Chaser George Kourounis
and Angry Planet- look for the upcoming episodes on this website
http://www.stormchaser.ca/angryplanet.html

the green flash

Spaceweather.com is an interesting site.
It has a lot of pictures and informatio which you can see everyday.
There are archives of the recent Comet McNaught photos (although I don't understand why some of the pictures get chosen), weather and much more.

Sometimes there are weather related phenomenon like the
green flash
which I have never been able to catch.

anyone ever seen a green flash? I tried in South Africa and other places.
goto spaceweather.com
look around and then find the archives
look for the following date below to see this information (then after look around for dates and photos and more in the past)

spaceweather 2/23/2007
TRIPLE GREEN FLASH: "It was the biggest green flash I've ever seen," says Mila Zinkova of San Francisco who took this picture of the setting sun on Dec. 29Make that three green flashes: "I think we have here three separate flashes that happened to be visible together," says green flash specialist Andy Young. Ordinary green flashes rely on a mirage to magnify tiny differences in the atmospheric refraction of red and green light. In this case, temperature gradients above the water produced a complex mirage and, not one, but three flashes. "Very interesting!"

Mars cave entrances and possible life in frozen seas

'Cave entrances' spotted on Mars



Nasa release on the topography of the south polar region of Mars


Nasa's Odyssey spacecraft is beginning to find some possible reasons to think there may be more opportunities for life on Mars now or in the past. spacecraft have spotted what they think may be seven caves on the surface of Mars.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6461201.stm


Frozen sea may harbour Mars life
Elysium's frozen sea may be one of the best places to look for life
A frozen sea found on Mars is one of the most promising places to look for life on the Red Planet, scientists say.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6310173.stm

Lakes on Saturn's moon Titan

Lakes on Titan, water on Mars?
March 14, 2007 5:33 AM PDT

see picture on website

The Cassini orbiter has recently found evidence of giant lakes on Saturn's mysterious moon, Titan. Plus, new photos from the high-resolution camera orbiting Mars show evidence of water erosion and give a new, animated look at the Mars rovers.
Scientists believe that several dark features near Titan's north pole are lakes that are most likely filled with liquid gases, ethane or methane.
The two gases are the primary components of what Earthlings call natural gas. One lake appears to be bigger than the largest of the Great Lakes on Earth, Lake Superior.
Credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC
http://news.com.com/2300-11397_3-6167043.html?tag=st.gall