Are you enjoying your break so far? How about all of the snow that we got!!! We got SO much snow! I am sure that you guys enjoyed going outside and sledding, making snowmen, having snowball fights, etc! Enjoy it while you can, it is not often that we get this much snow!
Speaking of our blizzard, check out this photo taken from NASA's Aqua Satellite. This photo shows all of the snow. I found this picture on NASA's website (www.nasa.gov).
You can see the snow from space! Well, with over 20 inches of snow, you would think that it could be seen from space! What a neat picture...I thought I would share it with you guys. I have checked the weather for the next week, and it does not look like there is any more snow in the near future. Looks like rain on Christmas...we should still have some snow left over though, so it looks like we will have a white Christmas!
View the ISS
The International Space Station (ISS) is making another series of flybys over our area. Below are the times listed for Kensington. If you want to find the times for another location, visit the Satellite Tracker website (http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys). Remember, the lower the number for the magnitude, the brighter the object appears to be!
Wednesday, December 23: 6:35:30am-6:37:47am NNW, 54 degrees (max elevation), -3.5 magnitude
Thursday, December 24: 6:57:15am-6:59:25am WNW, 38 degrees (max elevation), -2.8 magnitude
Friday, December 25: 5:46:42am-5:48:58am NNE, 50 degrees (max elevation), -3.3 magnitude
Saturday, December 26: 6:08:02am-6:10:14am W, 42 degrees (max elevation), -3.0 magnitude
I know it is early in the morning, but if you happen to be up early, and the sky is clear, take advantage of the opportunity to view the ISS. Make sure to wave to the astronauts! :)
If you go to the Satellite Tracker website, you can see that there are other visible satellites (sometimes including a space hotel room...no joke! No one is actually in there though, it is just a model).
Mount Mayon Erupting
A volcano in the Philippines is currently under extreme watch, as it is likely to erupt at any time. Mount Mayon is a stratovolcano (or composite volcano)...what does that mean 7th and 8th graders? How is it formed? What types of eruptions are generally associated with this type of volcano? Right now, we are currently keeping an eye on Mount Mayon. Many people who live near the volcano have had to be evacuated until it is safe for them to return to their homes. What kinds of warning signs do you think scientists are seeing? Think about what we learned in class. Below is a link to a news video about the volcano. I have tried to attach it, but can not seem to get it to correctly attach.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/world-15749633/volcano-threatens-to-erupt-17256392
Below is a photo taken from a NASA satellite image. Can you spot the volcano?
The above photo of Mount Mayon and the information about the expected eruption was taken from Yahoo! News (www.news.yahoo.com)
Oil Spill
According to the Associated Press (AP), there has been an oil spill in Alaska. Apparently, the spill has been caused by a leak or break in a pipeline. It is still being investigated as to the actual cause of the spill, so more on that when it becomes available. What do you think can happen as a result of an oil spill? What impact does it have? Who do you think is responsible for such oil spills? If the pipeline broke, is someone responsible for that? If not, who should be responsible for the cost of the clean-up? We will keep an eye on what becomes of this oil spill. The information from this news story was taken from the Associated Press (www.ap.org)
Solar Flares and Sunspots
Although we may have been really cold here, but the sun has been on fire (literally!). The sun has been producing sunspots and solar flares, which now belong to the Solar Cycle 24. Remember, the sun is on an 11 year cycle. Recently, we were in a deep solar minimum (very low solar activity), and now we are beginning to come out of our solar minimum and move towards solar maximum (in a few years). We will keep an eye on the solar activity, but if you want to look yourself, spaceweather.com has great up to date information on solar activity. Remember, spaceweather.com is a really, really good website...i strongly recommend it!
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) has taken the following picture of the sun. All of the circled items are either sunspots and solar flares. The below photo was taken from spaceweather.com.
Ok, well that is all for now. I hope you all enjoy the snow! Have a very blessed Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year! Enjoy the break, and make sure to relax! See you all in 2 weeks!
Keep an eye to the sky!
Ms. T
