The first space hurricane ever was spotted in August 2014, consisting of “an eddy of plasma, a type of superhot, charged gas found throughout the solar system,” reports Business Insider. “And instead of rain, this storm brought showers of electrons.” From the report: In August 2014, satellites observed a swirling mass with a quiet center more than 125 miles above the…
Tag: Rain
Asteroid dust in Chicxulub crater seals deal on dino extinction
Scientists examined rock cores taken from the Chicxulub crater in Mexico, site of the asteroid impact that triggered dinosaur extinction, and found iridium, a telltale sign of asteroids. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/asteroid-dust-iridium-chicxulub-crater-dinosaur-extinction…
What’s the coldest Earth has ever been?
Our planet’s history includes episodes of cold so extreme that glaciers reached sea level in equatorial regions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/whats-coldest-earth-has-ever-been…
Avalanche Warnings Are Issued in Northwest
Two avalanche warnings have been issued for parts of Washington and Oregon as heavier-than-usual rainfall and snowfall is expected to hit part of the West Coast through Monday. From a report: One of the warnings, a Level 4 on a scale of 5, said there was a high avalanche danger for parts of North Cascades National Park by the Canadian border,…
Are Texas Blackouts a Warning About the Follow-on Effects of Climate Change?
This week in America, “continent-spanning winter storms triggered blackouts in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states,” reports the New York Times. But that was just the beginning… One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline. Road networks nationwide were paralyzed and vaccination efforts in 20 states were disrupted. The crisis carries a…
A robot submarine could explore Titan’s deepest sea
A new study of data from NASA’s bountiful Cassini mission shows that Titan’s largest methane sea, Kraken Mare, is at least 1,000 feet – 300 meters – deep near its center. That’s plenty of room for a future robotic submarine to explore. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titans-largest-sea-kraken-mare-is-1000-feet-deep…
What’s the weather like on Titan?
Most of the planets in our solar system have some sort of atmosphere and many have dynamic weather systems. But only one moon in the solar system, Saturn’s large moon Titan, can say the same. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titan-saturns-moon-weather-seasons-methane-rain-storms…
Genesis of blue lightning into the stratosphere detected from ISS
Dark clouds, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, the flashes of intense light followed by a loud crackling and then a low, rolling thunder—who doesn’t love a good summer thunderstorm? We’ve all seen one, heard one, or been completely soaked by one. But how much do we really know about this weather phenomenon? Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-genesis-blue-lightning-stratosphere-iss.html…
The beauty of winter 2021
Enjoy photographs of winter 2021 and all of its beautiful snow and unusual icy shapes! Source: https://earthsky.org/todays-image/the-beauty-of-winter-2021…
Is a solar flare the same thing as a CME?
Solar Cycle 25 is here, and that means – in the years ahead – more solar flares and more coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. People sometimes use the words interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. Here’s the difference. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/is-a-solar-flare-the-same-thing-as-a-cme…