While we didn’t have the best view of the Northern Lights around here last week when the big geomagnetic storm was hitting the Earth, some in the southern hemisphere certainly enjoyed the aurora.  In fact an astronaut on the International Space Station took photos of the Southern Lights between Australia and Antarctica.  The green hues and expansive vista are out of this world. 

Courtesy: NASA, taken by Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers

Posted under astronomy, Space

If you live in the central Wisconsin area, be sure to pick up a copy of the “Best Of” City Pages this week. Our very own Brian Niznansky won “Favorite Weather Forecaster”. Three cheers! He does a great job for StormTrak9.

We receive a lot of viewer pictures here at the weather center. I like to display them on TV and sometimes we post a few in the weather blog. I just had to post this one because it is such a perfect scene. It was sent in by Pete & Karen in the Pickerel area, and no the picture is not from Pickerel Lake (although it would be interesting to see such a big sailing ship on an inland lake). They were apparently out on Green Bay fishing when the big ship passed by. Now I wish I could see something like that when I am out fishing. It looks like a perfect day with the calm water perfectly reflecting the light blue sky.

From the calm waters of Green Bay to the sky, here is another bit of eye candy for you: cool time lapse videos from the International Space Station. It is so interesting to see the northern lights from space. If you would like to see some images from a bit farther out in the “unseen” galaxy and universe, check out this expert series from Newscientist.

Of course I cover space topics from time-to-time in the blog because it interests me and a few years ago a couple people mentioned that they liked to hear about the latest exploration news. I balance this with the fact that many blog experts suggest that a blog should stick to a few well-defined subjects. Since there are so many other things going on in the world of science, weather, technology, alternative energy, and AGW (all things that interest me and I write about often), I was thinking about dropping the space news. That is, unless we get a handful of comments telling us to keep posting about it. So let your opinion be known – add a comment.

In recent space news, the most interesting development is a political one. NASA’s budget is shrinking and human space exploration is getting the business side of the axe. Before more programs are dropped many of what I would call the “old guard” are lobbying congress to bolster funding. Which again makes me wonder why there is such a fuss about retiring the space shuttle when the X-37B is performing quite nicely in space right now. Meanwhile, NASA keeps reaching out to private space firms for ideas and products – which is a good thing in my view. If the federal government cannot afford to build their own space capsules and rockets then let the private sector get it done. In this recent article we find out how many commercial space businesses ARE getting things done. Someone has to get it done because remaining on this planet is getting dangerous – as explained by Stephen Hawking.

Lastly, here is an fascinating  story about some “living” cells that might have arrived from a distant galaxy. I think the odds are that they came from the earth, but I won’t rule out something extraterrestrial.

Have a fine weekend! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space, Viewer pictures

Not one, not two but maybe three…. yes we are watching three areas in the Tropics.  It was a slow start to the Hurricane season but like I mentioned earlier this week Sept is usually the most active month and there is still a good chance to see more storms fire up.  As of right now we have Hurricane Danielle, Tropical Storm Frank and an area that will likely become our next tropical depression. See the map below:

There is also an area of low pressure off the Louisiana coast that has caused flooding around New Orleans.  They were seeing rain rates at an inch per hour.  Off course tomorrow marks the devastating anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.  This statement from the National Weather Service office in New Orleans was written the day before the hurricane made landfall. It really hits home to just how terrible a Natural Disaster Katrina was.  What are building process that has been.

Our first major Hurricane, Hurricane Danielle luckily had no impact to the US.  It also missed Bermuda pushing to the East of the British Isle.  So thankfully she was a powerful storm that didn’t cause destruction.  She did cause issues through from rip currents.  Over 70 people were rescued in Brevard county with one surfer drowning.  There was also over 100 rescues in Virgina Beach. 

Now all eyes are on Earl.  He could atleast brush close to the Eastern Seaboard but only has about a 20% chance of making a landfall on the US.  IT has been stuck in the current of Danielle but will begin to break free and track more westward than north like its predecessor.  It will pass just to the North of the Leeward Islands and the Caribbean but shouldn’t make any landfalls.  Still tropical storm force winds, and high surf  will be issues for the islands through the beginningof the week.  It should then track towards the north and run mainly parallel to the East Coast. 

On a different subject…. I mentioned earlier about seeing the International Space Station in the night sky.  Saturday nights viewings are at 8:17 for 4 minutes and at 9:54 for 1 minute.  Sunday night you can see the ISS at 8:46 pm.  For all viewing look towards the WNW.  For a complete list of all the times you can check out that link. 

Meteorologsit Kristen Connolly

Posted under Hurricanes, Space, Tropics

Happy Independence Day Weekend! It looks like nice weather will prevail from today through Sunday. I can’t rule out a stray shower at some point during the weekend, but most locations should be dry. The humidity will be low and the winds will be light. It is all good and fine except for the ongoing drought. We REALLY need rain but it doesn’t look like any in the forecast until the middle of next week at the earliest. I am calling for a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms on Tuesday and a 40 percent chance Thursday evening into Friday. Looks like I will have to spend some time watering the garden today.

Space News:

A little update on the Mars Spirit Rover. If you remember, it got stuck in the Martian sand about a month ago and engineers are still working on ways to get it out. In order to accomplish this the Rover team here on earth has created very similar conditions in the lab. They will test different maneuvers to figure out if it is possible to get Spirit unstuck. I am sad to see the Rover stuck, with the possibility of its mission ending, but it has had a very long and productive life.

A different Mars mission found out that snow and ice form and fall from Martian cloudsmuch like they do on earth. While most people were watching the Phoenix lander dig in the dirt, a Canadian built LIDAR was scanning the sky. The instrument confirmed the expected hydrologic cycle of the Red planet.

It is gettting crowded in space! The record for number of humans in orbit around the earth is 13 and coming up in about a week this record will be tied. In fact, there will be a new record for the number of people in one space habitat. There will be 13 people in the ISS for a short period of time as new equipment is delivered. Now maybe 13 people does not sound like that much. It is a far cry from the predictions of 3 or 4 decades ago, but it is progress. It will be interesting when the space population reaches 20, and then 50, and then over 100. It is interesting to guess when these milestones will be hit. A big help will be private space tourism. If Bigelow Aerospace is successful with its inflatable space hotels then the 20 person mark could be reached in 2 to 3 years. The main obstacle right now is economics. The worldwide recession is crimping budgets and might delay any dreams of taking a vacation to space. Related: Here is an article speculating on what is the “future of human spaceflight”.

Lastly, the largest commercial satellite ever built was launched into space this week. It is an S-band communications satellite called Terrestar-1. It is meant to provide data and voice service to handheld smart-phones. That’s pretty exciting, as long as it is reasonably priced. It will make internet access more reliable for smart phones.

Have a fine Friday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Space