Earth & Space Weather

5 Sky Events This Week: Partial Lunar Eclipse, Halley’s Shooting Stars

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By: Andrew Fazekas, 10/15/2013

This image of Halley's comet was taken back in 1986, when it swung by Earth in its 76 year orbit. This week bits of the famous comet will be falling into Earth's atmosphere as shooting stars. Credit: NASA/ESA/Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research

Mars and Regulus. Looking high east at dawn on Wednesday, October 16, check out Mars as it pairs up with Regulus, the lead star of the constellation Leo the lion.  The contrast in color between the orange-hued planet and the sparkling white, 79-light-year distant star is particularly striking with the naked eye or binoculars. What makes it so eye-catching is that the pair will appear to be separated by less than two degrees—equal to only four full moons side by side.

 

Regulus points to ISON.  Skywatchers with backyard telescopes can easily hunt down the much-talked about comet ISON in the pre-dawn skies of October 16 as it passes only two degrees north of the brilliant star Regulus.

 

Earthquake Report for 10/15/2013

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By: USGS

www.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

62 earthquakes

 

    2.7 79km ESE of Whittier, Alaska 2013-10-15 16:25:12 UTC-04:00 5.5 km

    5.0 47km NE of Abapo, Bolivia 2013-10-15 16:13:19 UTC-04:00 33.4 km

    4.8 17km WSW of Nereju, Romania 2013-10-15 15:33:12 UTC-04:00 136.2 km

    5.2 44km NE of Luganville, Vanuatu 2013-10-15 14:49:44 UTC-04:00 135.0 km

    4.6 5km SSE of Panaytayon, Philippines 2013-10-15 13:32:41 UTC-04:00 75.5 km

    4.5 167km N of Dili, East Timor 2013-10-15 13:13:50 UTC-04:00 499.7 km

    2.7 52km ENE of Fallon, Nevada 2013-10-15 12:52:32 UTC-04:00 11.3 km

    2.9 51km WNW of Anchor Point, Alaska 2013-10-15 12:19:54 UTC-04:00 100.0 km

    4.0 Off the coast of Central America 2013-10-15 11:34:49 UTC-04:00 12.8 km

~ Space Weather Update~ WEAK IMPACT, AURORAS ANYWAY

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SCROLL DOWN FOR FIREBALLS: There's something new on Spaceweather.com. Scroll down the page and look for the "All Sky Fireball Network." Every night (even during a government shutdown) NASA scans the skies for meteoritic fireballs. Every morning, we'll be presenting their results from the night before. The data include orbits, velocity, penetration depth in Earth's atmosphere and more.

WEAK IMPACT, AURORAS ANYWAY: As expected, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field this morning, Oct. 15th @ 10:00 UT. Earth was already surrounded by a gusty stream of solar wind when the CME arrived, so the signature of the CME's impact was almost indiscernable. Nevertheless, Arctic sky watchers got an eyeful. The solar wind stream itself fueled a fine display of auroras:

"It was another great night in the Abisko National Park," says aurora tour guide Chad Blakley of Abisko, Sweden. "Our guests from Singapore and India were walking back to the hotel when an amazing corona developed overhead. I can not wait to see what the next few nights have to offer."

Massive M 7.1 earthquake hit Mindanao, Philippines

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By: Chillymanjaro, 10/15/2013

 

Extremely dangerous and deadly earthquake, registered as M 7.1 (USGS/EMSC), struck provinces in Central Visayas and some parts of Mindanao, Philippines on October 15, 2013 at 00:12 UTC. The epicenter was located 2km (1mile) NE of Catigbian, 10km (6miles) SSE of Tibigan and 619km (385miles) SSE of Manila, Philippines at coordinates 9.866°N 124.011°E. USGS measured depth at 20 km, EMSC at only 7 km. Numerous strong aftershocks were reported, as well as deadly landslides. GDACS estimated there are 5 600 343 people living within 100 km radius.

 

Based on theoretical calculations, nearly 3.6 million people should have felt a very strong shaking and 7.6 million people a strong shaking. Strong aftershocks are still striking the greater epicenter area. The death toll has sadly risen to 93. Many of these deaths have occurred in a collapsed hospital (Congressman Castillo Memorial Hospital) at the Loon municipality on Bohol, and due to landslides. - 11:28 UTC by ER.

 

For more on this story visit http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/10/15/massive-m-7-2-earthquake-hit-mindanao-philippines/

Typhoon Nari Huffs, Puffs and Brings Floods to Vietnam

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WSJblog - October 15, 2013

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A man walks among debris of his damaged home after Typhoon Nari tore through the coastal city of Danang on October 15. The typhoon ripped roofs off homes and has sparked heavy rain that could lead to dangerous flooding.

HANOI _ Typhoon Nari hit the coastal city of Danang on Tuesday morning, killing at least five people, knocking down trees, damaging hundreds of houses and sinking dozens of fishing boats. The storm has since weakened and is forecast to be downgraded to a tropical storm later today, but officials say it has triggered heavy rains that may cause dangerous floods — meaning worse could be yet to come.Water levels in local rivers in central Vietnam are rising rapidly and people in central provinces, as well as the Central Highland, should beware of landslides and flash floods, say officials at the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, which monitors severe weather events.

Floods hit Indian state in wake of cyclone

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Aljazeera.com - 15 October 2013

\

Heavy rains in Phailin's wake cause river to overflow, flooding two districts in eastern Odisha state.

At least five people have been killed in the eastern Indian state of Odisha in floods triggered by heavy rains that accompanied a fierce cyclone over the weekend.

The Budhabalanga river is overflowing and has flooded two districts, officials said on Tuesday.

"Five people have died due to flooding in northern Odisha, in Mayurbhanj and Balasore," Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, the state's special relief commissioner, told AFP news agency.

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Earthquake Report for 10/14/2013

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By: USGS

www.earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/

33 earthquakes

 

    2.6 15km WSW of Niland, California 2013-10-14 13:40:46 UTC-04:00 2.5 km

    2.8 99km SW of Anchor Point, Alaska 2013-10-14 12:05:59 UTC-04:00 87.1 km

    2.8 44km NNW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2013-10-14 10:51:21 UTC-04:00 13.0 km

    2.5 36km NW of San Antonio, Puerto Rico 2013-10-14 10:32:27 UTC-04:00 16.0 km

    4.6 15km WSW of Tola, Nicaragua 2013-10-14 09:06:58 UTC-04:00 87.8 km

    3.0 15km WSW of Niland, California 2013-10-14 08:39:20 UTC-04:00 0.9 km

    3.6 15km WSW of Niland, California 2013-10-14 08:38:23 UTC-04:00 1.5 km

    2.7 15km WSW of Niland, California 2013-10-14 08:38:17 UTC-04:00 2.1 km

    2.5 9km ENE of Milpitas, California 2013-10-14 08:30:33 UTC-04:00 6.9 km

Eyes on the Sky: Oct 14 thru Oct 20

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EyesontheSky.org - 10/14/13

Published on Oct 13, 2013

www.eyesonthesky.com A lot going on naked eye this week in the sky! Mars near Regulus, Venus near Antares, and the Earth's shadow dims the Moon for a partial lunar eclipse. Telescopically, look for a dual moon shadow transit on the face of Jupiter during late evening/early morning hours of Friday/Saturday. Plus, where the outer two gas giants may be spotted as well. See what's up in the night sky every week with "Eyes on the Sky" videos, astronomy made easy.

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