On Christmas day, many sky watchers will be wondering what that brilliant silvery “star” is hovering just above the waxing gibbous moon. It’s not a start (or Santa returning to the North Pole), but the largest planet in our solar system, Jupiter. What a way to end the more »
On the morning of September 10th, 2012, an amateur astronomer detected an explosion causing a huge fireball on Jupiter.
“Bows and flows of angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air;” we’ve looked at clouds that way. But the interface between clouds and clear air isn’t as well-defined as these imaginative shapes might lead us to believe. Detecting that hazy line can help scientists to better understand the processes that lead to cloud formation, which is important for good weather forecasts and climate modeling. Now atmospheric scientists from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom have designed a sunlight-measuring tool that uses the natural swinging and spinning of a rising weather balloon to distinguish clouds from clear air and may provide higher-resolution measurements of cloud boundaries than is currently possible.
As the crew of the final space shuttle flight prepares to return home early Thursday morning, ground teams at Mission Control in Houston is preparing to support their entry and landing at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. Among the teams at Mission Control is the National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG), which has provided landing weather support for all 135 shuttle missions.
After a brief pause caused by the endangered Houston toad, wildfire cleanup in Bastrop County continues.
On the morning of New Year’s Eve an estimated 10 to 20 tons of dead herring washed up on the beach in Troms, Norway puzzling researchers and residents. No one knows exactly what’s happened but there are many theories. Some say the herring may have been trapped more »
More than 40 birds were found dead along US 64 in Bloomfield, NM. Wildlife biologist John Kendall said most likely they were hit by a large truck.
Researchers found 10,000 square miles of seabed releasing huge plumes of methane gas. The methane fields are on a scale not seen before with emissions are going directly into the atmosphere causing global climate changes.
A Wal-Mart parking lot is the scene where thousands of migratory birds died on impact when mistaking the parking lot for a body of water. They plummeted to their death in what wildlife experts called the worst downing ever seen.
A comet 200 years wide is sailing toward the sun where it will be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15 or Dec. 16. Solar glare from the sun will hide the event from human eyes, but NASA and ESA spacecraft should have a perfect view.
A bright red super-sized lunar eclipse is coming to North America Saturday morning, December 10th. Wake up and enjoy the show.
Strong wind storms are wrecking havoc in many parts of the world: Canada, United States, New Zealand, Finland, Sri Lanka, Scotland, and Norway. Senior Meteorologist at TWS calls these events a once in a decade event and are monitoring the situations closely.
Thousands of flesh-eating piranhas have invaded a popular beach with tourists in western Brazil and have bitten at least 15 unwary swimmers.