A new type of cloud has been discovered

It doesn't happen very often that new clouds are discovered. But this one is new one for the weather record books

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

Famous Leonid meteor show morning of Nov 17

Most likely the weather here in Kansas/Missouri will be rainy and cloudy. Maybe there will be some clearings.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/10nov_leonids2009.htm?list1285438

Another good article by Joe Rao whom I was with in 1998 during the Caribbean eclipse is here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33589356

Beautiful blue Sun

The blue sun in a different light shows us much.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091104.html

Mars changed from a warm planet into a colder one, now some news

Long ago, something bad happened to Mars, transforming a warm and hospitable world into the cold, seemingly lifeless desert we view today. Many scientists believe the Red Planet lost most of its atmospher. A new NASA mission named MAVEN is specifically designed to answer some questions about the series of events.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/06nov_maven.htm?list1285438

Mysterious rift in Africa likely to Create New Ocean

Something new in Africa may occur.
http://webmail.aol.com/28878/aol-1/en-us/Suite.aspx

Barophiles are extreme organisms that might help us

More about life in the extremes
http://www.khurak.net/barophiles-003809/

Surprising small asteroid hits

The asteroid "hit" took astronomers completely by surprise with
50 kton of TNT (two to three times more powerful than World War II-era atomic bombs). Apparently there was little news of it spread around the world for some reason (I only heard about it briefly) when it hit in Indonesia in the atmosphere.
See the smoke trail of the blast and a new video too by using links!
10/28/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the Spaceweather page lower portion)
http://www.spaceweather.com/

Crab Nebula further revealed

This supernova (exploding star) was so bright in 1054 that the Chinese recorded that it happened. Today we have different views of this phenomenon.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091025.html

Mysterious trails from above are Martian Dustdevils trails

Dustdevils are found on Earth rising from the surface. However on Mars they are taller sometimes rising to 8 km (do you know how many miles this is?) into the thin Martian air. Read more

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap091021.html

Learning about weather resource here

http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/svr/torn/dgr/sch.rxml



http://www.stormtrack.org/library/faq/

lunar lander and no wings

NASA Science News for October 15, 2009

How do you fly on a world with no atmosphere? Wings won't work and neither do propellers. The space agency is perfecting the art of "airless flying" using a prototype lunar lander at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15oct_lunarlander.htm?list731500

The Moon is a big sponge

The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out
by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains
on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO
instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how
water is likely being created on the lunar surface.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM8TBYRA0G_index_0.html

vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system

NASA's IBEX spacecraft has discovered a vast, glowing ribbon at the edge of the solar system. One mission scientist calls the discovery "shocking" and says theorists are "working like crazy" to explain the finding.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/15oct_ibex.htm?list731500

Are Hummingbirds Still Present?

Last couple of years I have seen hummies starting 8/22 for a month but not this year. Here is info about reports and more FYI.

http://webmail.aol.com/28200/aol/en-us/Suite.aspx

NOW Where Are Hummingbirds Still Present? Please Let Us Know!
The coldest air of the season is moving across the continent now. Most hummingbirds have already abandoned the northern states and the Canadian provinces, but some scattered sightings are still being made. When did you see your last hummingbird of the season? Are hummingbirds still present where you live?

Please Report Your Hummingbird Observations:
1) PLEASE REPORT NOW if you are still seeing hummingbirds.
2) Please submit a FINAL REPORT for the date you last saw a hummingbird. CAREFUL! Do not use today's date. Our goal is to show when and where hummingbirds are present. Therefore, date your final report for the last date a hummingbird was present. DON'T WORRY: If you should report a "final" hummingbird, and then see one again, simply report again. Your final report will appear on the map.

You Can Report Your Sightings Here:
http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings

Migration Map: (Showing fewer and fewer hummingbirds!)
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/humm_fall2009.html

Meteor Crater Arizona

8/11/2009 APOD
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Free charting/planetarium software

One printable star chart that I have found interesting is at
http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052

Another more interactive simple charting program is at
http://www.philharrington.net/tuba.htm

For a really deep, printable atlas, there is triatlas at

http://www.uv.es/jrtorres/index.html

If all you need is a monthly one page chart,
http://www.skymaps.com/

For planetarium programs, one of the best free ones find more at
Cartes du Ciel.
Hallo Northern Sky,
Celestia, and
Stellarium are also not too bad.

National Parks TV documentary

If you have been to one or more national parks then fine on your local PBS station and find and view this brilliant documentary. Movies, photos and information give an appreciation for how the National Parks were developed.

Ice seen in Martian craters produced by meteorites

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_martianice.htm?list1285438

water found on the moon

Using instruments on three separate spacecraft, scientists have discovered water molecules in the polar regions of the Moon.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/24sep_moonwater.htm?list731500

A new found planet : First rocky extrasolarplanet

The mass of this new planet indicates it is not a gas giant but is rocky like our first 4 planets in our solar system. Now the quest is to find a rocky planet farther away from a star similar to Earth.
9/23/2009
(if not this date go to this link/website and then go to archives link which is on the APOD Spaceweather page lower portion)

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

toba super volcano almost wiped out human race

The eruption went 20 miles in air (Mt. St.Helens went 10 miles)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toba_catastrophe_theory

Newfound Planet Orbits Backward

Another strange planet is found
By Jeanna Bryner and Robert Roy Britt
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090812-backward-planet.html

a space telescope sees how two worlds collided thousands years ago

Space telescopes view past collision

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090810-planet-smash.html

Beautiful galaxies in space

Star islands in space are beautiful to look through small and bigger telescopes.
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Perseids what a hype and what a bust

I've been watching meteors for years so I guess when the skies are clear, whether cold or warm, I will try, as I have done over the years despite the hype. The hype of the Perseid meteor shower, this year , was nerve racking.

It was clear over Kansas for the most part but the Moon was keeping many of the faint ones. I don't care about seeing the faint ones, all I look forward is a few bright ones to remember.
I only could compare this Perseid hype to Comet Kohoutek when much is expected but little if nothing is delivered. Not only were two maximum dates expected but the extra bombardment was supposed to happen either later evening and/or early morning. This was compounded by observers seeing a lot (which led me to believe what are they smoking anyway) or literally nothing (my case).
A human eye can see so much and when the hype media says 100- 200 meteors per hour these are expectations not realizations. You are not going to go out and see fireballs falling around you. If you are lucky you can see one or two bring ones or some every few minutes at the peak.
I gave it a go one more time.
In Olathe, KS (near Kansas City), the Moon was finally setting a little lower so that the sky was darker in the area of the NE and the constellatioin Perseus. It was far better than last years Full Moon but up until now seeing the meteors was still disconcerting. However supposedly there was to be another "spike". So instead of going to bed, I go out my sleeping bag and waited, again.

In an hour , with clear skies, all I saw was 8 Perseids. But all except one was pretty bright.
The best was a short yellow Perseid at zero magnitude (not quite a fireball) , that left a nice 0.75 train (smoke trail). There were 2 fireballs (yellow and yellow-white) at -2 that were 25 degrees long and pretty. So at least I saw something.

But an all sky camera can see much more over time. Ths spectacular photo shows dozens. There is on that stands out and I wish the author would have said more how bright this particular wide bright one was.
8/14/09
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://spaceweather.com/