Earth & Space Weather

~ Space Weather Update~ MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSAL ON THE SUN

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MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSAL ON THE SUN: It hasn't happened yet, but it's about to. Data from NASA-supported observatories show that the sun's global magnetic field will flip before the end of 2013. The reversal, which signals the arrival of Solar Maximum, will have ripple effects felt throughout the solar system. Get the full story and a video from Science@NASA. Solar flare alerts: text, voice.

JAPANESE SPACESHIP FLARES: Launched on August 3rd, Japan's unmanned HTV-4 cargo carrier is now chasing the International Space Station around Earth. The two spaceships will rendevous on Friday, August 9th. Meanwhile, skywatchers are enjoying the chase. Gary of Fort Davis, Texas, witnessed a bright flare from the Japanese ship when it flew over his home town two nights ago:

Wildfire rages overnight near Athens

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Weather.Yahoo - AP - 7 August 2013

A firefighter works to extinguish a forest fire in Varibobi, a northwestern suburb of Athens, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013. A large wildfire raged through the suburb burning about four houses. No injuries were reported. (AP Photo/Michail Michailidis)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities announced a series of emergency measures Tuesday to prevent the outbreak of wildfires during a week of high winds and warm temperatures, after firefighters and soldiers spent the night battling a large blaze north of the country's capital.

Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias said the fire risk was "exceptionally critical" for the rest of the week due to strong winds and dry conditions.

Wednesday, Aug 07, 2013 Volcanoes Today, 7 Aug 2013: Popocatépetl, Sakurajima, Chirpoi, Ketoi, Chirinkotan

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volcanodiscovery-Aug 6,2013

Chirpoi (Kurile Islands, Russia): SVERT maintains yellow alert level, but could not obtain satellite data during the past week to determine whether activity continued.

Ketoi (Kurile Islands, Russia): Steam-gas emissions and a thermal anomaly continue to be detected from satellite data when atmospheric conditions allow.

Chirinkotan (Northern Kuriles): A steam and gas plume remains visible sometimes on satellite data, suggesting that activity (lava effusion?) continues.

Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): The volcano has been stepping up its activity again over the past 2 days. Yesterday alone, at least 6 explosions were registered by VAAC Tokyo, with plumes reaching up to 11,000 ft (3,4 km) altitude.

Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Activity has been stable with little changes. The rate of emissions decreased yesterday to about 1-2 per hour, but some small to moderate explosions still occur from time to time, producing ash plumes up to about 1.5 km height.

Eyes on the Sky: Aug 5 thru Aug 11: Perseid Meteor Showers

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Eyesonthesky.com, 8/5/13

 

Published on Aug 4, 2013

www.eyesonthesky.com The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best ones to see all year, because it occurs during warm weather. So later this week, go outside to observe this event as Earth plows into the debris field left over from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Learn where, when and how to best spot the Perseids. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy.

Lazarus Comets Return to Life

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Ras.org.uk- 8/6/13

graveyard main belt small

A team of astronomers from the University of Anitoquia, Medellin, Colombia, have discovered a graveyard of comets. The researchers, led by Anitoquia astronomer Prof. Ignacio Ferrin, describe how some of these objects, inactive for millions of years, have returned to life leading them to name the group the 'Lazarus comets'. The team publish their results in the Oxford University Press journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Comets are amongst the smallest objects in the Solar System, typically a few km across and composed of a mixture of rock and ices. If they come close to the Sun, then some of the ices turn to gas, before being swept back by the light of the Sun and the solar wind to form a characteristic tail of gas and dust.

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Tuesday, Aug 06, 2013 Volcanoes Today, 6 Aug 2013: Karymsky, Tongariro

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volcanodiscovery-Aug 6,2013

Karymsky (Kamchatka): After months with probably only smaller explosive activity, a powerful vulcanian eruption took place last night (22:35 UTC), producing a 3-4 km tall ash plume rising to 20,000 ft (6 km) elevation.
The plume was observed by a helicopter pilot and on satellite imagery drifting east. About 5 hours after the eruption, the plume was 50 miles (80 km) ESE of the volcano.

Tongariro (North Island, New Zealand): During the past two weeks, GeoNet has been recording very small earthquakes beneath the volcano. The quakes were too small to be located but show up on local seismic stations.
GNS Science said the earthquakes could simply be part of the background unrest typical of most active volcanoes. However, in this case they are of interest at this time because there have been so few at Tongariro since November 2012 and potentially could signal changes occurring inside the volcano.

Read More: http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcanoes/today.html
 

Pakistan floods 'leave 58 dead, 66,000 affected'

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France24.com - 5 August, 2013

Damaged vehicles pictured in the aftermath of floods in a residential area of Karachi on August 5, 2013. Monsoon rain and floods have killed at least 58 people across Pakistan and affected tens of thousands of others, officials said Monday, warning of more rain to come.

AFP - Monsoon rain and floods have killed at least 58 people across Pakistan and affected tens of thousands of others, officials said Monday, warning of more rain to come.

"At least 58 people have died, more than 30 others were injured and 66,000 were affected by rain and flooding in Pakistan since July 31," Brigadier Mirza Kamran Zia, operations chief of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told reporters.

Zia said floods were receding and people were returning to their homes, but he warned that more rain than usual was expected this month and next.

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