MERCURY
See the Mercury Animation mentioned on KOLD NEWS 13 at 10PM on Thursday.
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January 2008
January 31, 2008
Venus and Jupitor Converge!
Well not really...but it looks like it! It's actually called a conjunction according to Richard Kowalski of the Catalina Sky Survey. Check out this story from spaceweather.com. - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan
MORNING SKY ALERT: Set your alarm for dawn. On Friday morning, February 1st, Venus and Jupiter converge in the southeastern sky less than 1 degree apart. It's a spectacular view worth waking up early to see: sky map.
The February 1st alignment kicks off four mornings of beautiful views as the crescent Moon moves in to join Venus and Jupiter over the weekend. Watch them decorate the sunrise on February 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
The photo above is from Ed Erbeck Jr. in Pearce, Cochise County. You can see the two planets close together just above the branch of the tree in the lower left of the photo. This photo was taken on Thursday morning.
NASA SPACECRAFT STREAMS BACK SURPRISES FROM MERCURY
From the NASA Newsroom:
The recent flyby of Mercury by NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft has given scientists an entirely new look at a planet once thought to have characteristics similar to those of Earth's moon. Researchers are amazed by the wealth of images and data that show a unique world with a diversity of geological processes and a very different magnetosphere from the one discovered and sampled more than 30 years ago. After a journey of more than 2 billion miles and three and a half years, NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft made its first flyby on Jan. 14. MESSENGER is the first mission sent to orbit the planet closest to our sun. The spacecraft's cameras and other sophisticated, high-technology instruments collected more than 1,200 images and made other science observations. Data included the first up-close measurements of Mercury since the Mariner 10 spacecraft's third and final flyby on March 16, 1975.
"This flyby allowed us to see a part of the planet never before viewed by spacecraft, and our little craft has returned a gold mine of exciting data," said Sean Solomon, MESSENGER's principal investigator, Carnegie Institution of Washington. "From the perspectives of spacecraft performance and maneuver accuracy, this encounter was near-perfect, and we are delighted that all of the science data are now on the ground."
Unlike the moon, MESSENGER showed that Mercury has huge cliffs with structures snaking up hundreds of miles across the planet's face. These cliffs preserve a record of patterns of fault activity from early in the planet's history. The spacecraft also revealed impact craters that appear very different from lunar craters.Instruments provided a topographic profile of craters and other geological features on the night side of Mercury. The spacecraft also discovered a unique feature that scientists dubbed "The Spider." This formation never has been seen on Mercury before and nothing like it has been observed on the moon. It lies in the middle of a large impact crater called the Caloris basin and consists of more than one hundred narrow, flat-floored troughs radiating from a complex central region.
"The Spider has a crater near its center, but whether that crater is related to the original formation or came later is not clear at this time," said James Head, science team co-investigator at Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Now that MESSENGER has shown scientists the full extent of the Caloris basin, its diameter has been revised upward from the Mariner 10 estimate of 800 miles to perhaps as large as 960 miles from rim to rim. The plains inside the Caloris basin are distinctive and more reflective than the exterior plains. Impact basins on the moon have opposite characteristics.
The magnetosphere and magnetic field of Mercury during the MESSENGER flyby appeared to be different from the Mariner 10 observations. MESSENGER found the planet's magnetic field was generally quiet but showed several signatures indicating significant pressure within the magnetosphere.
Magnetic fields like Earth's and their resulting magnetospheres are generated by electrical dynamos in the form of a liquid metallic outer core deep in the planet's center. Of the four terrestrial planets, only Mercury and Earth exhibit such a phenomenon. The magnetic field deflects the solar wind from the sun, producing a protective bubble around Earth that shields the surface of our planet from those energetic particles and other sources farther out in the galaxy. Similar variations are expected for Mercury's magnetic field, but the precise nature of its field and the time scales for internal changes are unknown. The next two flybys and the yearlong orbital phase will shed more light on these processes.
MESSENGER's suite of instruments also has provided insight into the mineral makeup of the surface terrain and detected ultraviolet emissions from sodium, calcium and hydrogen in Mercury's exosphere. The spacecraft explored the sodium-rich exospheric "tail," which extends more than 25,000 miles from the planet.
"We should keep this treasure trove of data in perspective. With two flybys to come and an intensive orbital mission to follow, we are just getting started to go where no one has been before," said project scientist Ralph McNutt of the Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
January 30, 2008
Seattle Space Needle
Here's the link to the Seattle Space Needle webcam we brought you at 10pm on Wednesday.
CHINA SNOW SHUTS DOWN TRAVEL
China has gotten slammed with snow! While the mountains in the western and northern portions of the country are used to winter weather the high populated eastern and coastal areas are not. The weather service in China is reporting that this is the worst winter weather in over 50 years. And I remind you, that 50 years ago China didn't quite have the sizable cities that they do now.
It is estimated that nearly 78 million people are affect by the severe winter weather. More than 800,000 have been relocated due to the snow. That is about 1/4th the population of the United States! There are reports that 107,000 homes have collapsed under the weight of the snow and almost 400,000 are damaged. At least 24 people have died.
To make matters worse, this time of year is the busiest for travel because of the Chinese New Year. The celebration begins on February 7th. 178 million people travel home of the holidays. That is equal to over half the population of the United States with a population of about 300 million. Many of these travelers are migrant workers that save all year for this one trip home for the holidays. Hundreds of thousands of travelers are stranded on trains and on the road because the infrastructure isn't in place to handle all the snow.
Check out this image at left. This isn't a picture but the image uses infrared and visible light to show the snow in China. The snow is actually the red and orange colors. The blue is the bare ground. The white is clouds. Look how much of the country is covered in snow! The first snow storm hit the area on January 10th and there have been quite a few since them. Numerous power outages because of the weather have worsened because coal deliveries are halted due to snow covered roads. Economic losses are estimated at $3 billion right now and will likely rise before all is said and done.
To get the latest weather news from China check out the Beijing Climate Center.
January 29, 2008
Avalanche Danger!
Not for southeast Arizona, but it's a major problem in the west this year. The western United States from northern Arizona through Colorado, Utah, California all the way up to Montana, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and more have seen big snow! This is a great year for ski resorts but avalanche fatalities have surpassed the national average. As of Tuesday morning, 27 people have died in avalanches in the United States so far this winter. On average 25 people die each year in avalanches in this country. On Tuesday morning, Interstate 90 was shut down about 60 miles east of Seattle because of the threat of avalanches burying traffic. Imagine if I-10 was shut down. Now imagine the headaches this is creating for the major east-west route through the state of Washington.
Check out the reports at avalanche.org. For information on avalanche danger in Arizona and classes that could save your life check out the Kachina Peaks Avalanche Center, Inc.
Stay safe on the slopes! - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan
January 28, 2008
Tired of Hearing that the Airport Represents the Weather in Tucson?
Hi there!
In other cities, the National Weather Service office would ingest data from airports and other sources and redistribute it to you and me, the users.
Recently, Erin, Aaron and I met with the fine meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Tucson. We appreciate them. Without them, we could not do our jobs. While there, we asked them to work on adding more date in real-time to the reports from the Tucson metro area. They agreed to check into it! We'll keep you posted!
Until then, if you'd like to view rainfall information for your neighborhood, check out Rainlog.org. KOLD and the UA have teamed up to bring it your way!
Chuck
Check Out An Asteroid Flying By The Earth Tonight
Asteroid 2007 TU24 will fly by the earth tonight and be visible in the sky for those that want to check it out. It will be 344,000 miles way from the earth, which considering how big the universe is, isn't a great distance at all! You will need a small telescope or binoculars to see the asteroid. It isn't very big and won't be easily seen by the naked eye.
You can check out the chart at for an overview of the asteroid's path. There is a more detailed viewing chart at Sky & Telescope. To break down the times you can see it there is some math involved. I promise it's simple! Where it says Jan 29 0h UT, that is 5 PM Monday evening Arizona time. The "Jan 29" is the the day. Easy enough right? Then the 0h UT means it's midnight in Greenwich, England which is the start point for Universal Time. Arizona is 7 hours behind this time. The next time on the chart at left is "Jan 29 12h UT". That is 5 AM Monday night Arizona Time.
As far as the clouds, there will be some lingering in the skies but there should be enough breaks in the clouds to catch a glimpse of the asteroid. Happy viewing! - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan
Flooding This Monday Morning
Big rain overnight has washes running the morning. Let me know what is going on in your backyard or what detours you had to take on your way to work. And send us your Viewer Views! - First Alert Meteorologist Erin Jordan
