Earth & Space Weather

Winter Weather Watch: Clipper System to Bring Midwest Snow

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By: Tom Niziol

Rain/Snow Forecast

First clipper system produces a swath of light to moderate snow across the Upper Midwest and upper Great Lakes Tuesday and Tuesday night. The next clipper brings snow and wind to the Northern Plains Wednesday and the Upper Midwest through Upper Great Lakes Thursday. Localized lake-effect snow on the backside of both systems especially across southwest Michigan. A bit of snow possible across the Appalachians from eastern Tennessee through western North Carolina and north to West Virginia Wednesday.

 

For more on this story visit www.wunderground.com

~Space Weather Update~DECREASING CHANCE OF FLARES

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DECREASING CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters have downgraded the chance of X-flares on Jan. 14th to 15% as giant sunspot AR1944 rotates off the solar disk. The odds on Jan. 15th are even lower: 1%. A spell of quiet appears to be in the offing. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

FROZEN BUBBLES: Science teacher Tom Wagner of Waterloo, Iowa, is an avid photographer of snowflakes. Over the years he has discovered a great way to catch large flakes in mid-air: "I blow a soap bubble and allow the snowflake to land on it," he explains. Once the snowflake is properly corralled, the photography is relatively easy.

Last week when the Polar Vortex descended over Iowa, Wagner went outdoors to capture some more snowflakes. Just one problem: It was so cold outside, the soap bubbles themselves froze:

Space Weather Update~ Solar Wind Speed Intense at 728

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SOLAR WIND: Earth is entering a fast stream of solar wind that could spark auroras at high latitudes. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of geomagnetic storms on Jan. 12th. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

CYGNUS AND THE ISS: This morning, Jan. 12th, a robotic arm on the ISS reached out and snagged Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus supply ship, which reached the ISS on time despite a launch delay last Wednesday caused by stormy space weather. The docking at 8:05 am EST marked the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences.

Only five hours before the docking, the two spacecraft flew over the Netherlands where veteran satellite observer Marco Langbroek was waiting with his camera to take this picture:

"The Cygnus cargoship was too faint to be seen by the naked eye for most of the pass, but around 5:57:05 UTC it briefly flared to mag +2 and the close duo ISS-Cygnus was suddenly and briefly well visible as a result," says Langbroek. "This picture shows the moment when the Cygnus flared."

Why Do Lights Sometimes Appear in the Sky During An Earthquake?

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Smithsonianmag.com - 1/2/14, 
Earthquake lights seen Tagish Lake, in the Yukon Territory, in 1972. Large orbs are visible in the foreground, while smaller ones (highlighted by arrows) are seen higher up. (Photo by Jim Conacher)

or centuries, eyewitnesses have occasionally reported seeing an inexplicable phenomenon minutes before, during or after an earthquake: strange bright lights in the sky.

Volcano Report

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The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program. Updated by 2300 UTC every Wednesday, these notices are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. This is not a comprehensive list of eruptions during the week, but rather a summary of activity that meet selected criteria. Carefully reviewed, detailed reports are published monthly in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network. The World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) website (http://www.wovo.org/) lists the regional volcano observatories that have the most authoritative data for many of these events.
URL: http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
Updated: 1 week 3 days ago

Palena Volcanic Group (Chile) - Report for 18 December-24 December 2013 - NEW

Eyes on the Sky: Jan 13 thru Jan 19

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Eyesonthesky.org - 1/12/14

Published on Jan 12, 2014

www.eyesonthesky.com You've heard of the "Super Moon" but have you seen a "Mini Moon"? This week is the time to look; our nearest natural celestial neighbor reaches apogee mid-week. But before and after then, there's a lot of detail to see on the surface, despite "appearing" full for much of the next 7 days. Look for Pythagoras, Pascal and Brianchon along the edge, plus the hard-to-see Mares Humboltianum and Mare Smythi - both named after men, and the only mare on the Moon that are. All that and more about the Moon, plus where to see the naked eye planets. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy.

What's up in space

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SOLAR WIND: Earth is entering a fast stream of solar wind that could spark auroras at high latitudes. NOAA forecasters estimate a 45% chance of geomagnetic storms on Jan. 12th. Aurora alerts: text, voice.

CYGNUS AND THE ISS: This morning, Jan. 12th, a robotic arm on the ISS reached out and snagged Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus supply ship, which reached the ISS on time despite a launch delay last Wednesday caused by stormy space weather. The docking at 8:05 am EST marked the first successful contracted cargo delivery by Orbital Sciences.

Only five hours before the docking, the two spacecraft flew over the Netherlands where veteran satellite observer Marco Langbroek was waiting with his camera to take this picture:

~ Space Weather Update~ CHANCE OF FLARES

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CHANCE OF FLARES: NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of X-class solar flares on Jan. 11th, most likely from AR1944. The brooding sunspot has been quiet for days, but still poses a threat for strong eruptions. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

 

VENUS AT INFERIOR CONJUNCTION: Today, Jan. 11th, Venus is at inferior conjunction. That means it is passing almost directly between Earth and the sun. With its nightside facing Earth (almost perfectly), Venus looks like an incredibly slender crescent. This morning in Targoviste, Romania, amateur astronomer Maximilian Teodorescu photographed Venus only 5 degrees from the sun:

"Taking extreme care not to point any unfiltered optics at the sun, I started to look for Venus through my 11-inch Celestron telescope," says Teodorescu. "The thin but very large crescent suddenly appeared into the field of view. It was surreal to watch the boiling atmospheric arc of the planet just above the sun in plain day. My wife immortalized the moment by taking a panoramic view from our clear-sky location."

~Space Weather Update~ Growing Quiet?

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GROWING QUIET? Giant sunspot AR1944 has not unleashed a significant flare in more than 48 hours. The growing quiet could be the calm between storms. AR1944 has an unstable 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class flares. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

CME IMPACT: As predicted, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field on Jan. 9th (20:00 UT). The impact was weaker than expected, however, and it failed to produce widespread geomagnetic storms. Nevertheless, some beautiful auroras appeared around the Arctic Circle. Harald Albrigtsen sends this picture from Tromsø, Norway:

It was dark in Norway when the CME arrived, so observers there witnessed a nice display. By the time night fell over North America, however, the lights had faded. US observers saw nothing remarkable.

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