I hope you have a nice Christmas break and a very happy New Year! I have a few updates to share with you.
Sadly, I am sure that you have already heard about the devastating earthquake in Haiti. Last week (Jan. 12), Haiti was hit with a major 7.0 earthquake. Since then, rescue workers and others have been trying to help the people of Haiti. Sadly, many people have been killed, lost their homes, and lost so much more. Unfortunately, the the major 7.0 earthquake is not the only thing that the people of Haiti have to worry about...since the main earthquake on Jan. 12, there have been several aftershocks, measuring as high as 5.9! Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers. They are really having a hard time there, and really could use all of our prayers. Below are some pictures relating to this earthquake.
The above photos were taken from Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com)
Aside from the earthquake in Haiti, there have been some other natural disasters that have impacted people around the world. There has been bad storms/flooding in California, tornadoes in Texas, flooding in the Philippines, and flooding in Egypt. All of these natural disasters have impacted the people and wildlife that live in those areas. Please also keep these people in your prayers.
It's a bird...it's a plane...actually, it's a meteorite!
A doctor was working in his office building in northern Virginia, when something smashed through his roof. He ran to see what it was, and after some help figuring it out, and it was confirmed that it was a meteorite. Remember that a meteorite is a piece of space rock that has passed through the Earth's atmosphere and impacted the surface of the Earth. How fast was it travelling?............................................................................................................................................................................................. probably about a whopping 220mph! Luckily, no one was hurt. Below is a picture of a fragment from the meteorite.
The above photo and the information about this meteorite impact was taken from the Washington Post website (www.washingtonpost.com).
SAVE THE TIGERS!
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said that the tigers living in the wild in China (only about 50 tigers remain) could face extinction if nothing new is done to protect them. Please keep an eye on this and go to the WWF Website for more information and ideas of what you can do to help (www.wwf.org).
The above photo was taken from Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
Comets
Spaceweather.com is reporting that the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has a nice view of a comet approaching the sun. This is not a comet that is currently visible to the unaided eye.
Northern Lights
Check out these beautiful pictures of the northern lights! Remember the northern lights is caused when the particles from solar winds penetrate the Earth's magnetic field. Those charged particles gather around the poles and the energy is given off in the form of light. Since the particles gather around the poles, you can see the northern (or southern) lights if you are at certain latitudes. The following photos show the northern lights in green, however they can come in different colors.
The above pictures (northern lights and comet) were taken from Spaceweather (www.spaceweather.com)
Space Shuttle Missions!
The next shuttle launch is slated to be February 7, 2010 (Space Shuttle Endeavour) at 4:39am. It is going to deliver the final connecting node to the International Space Station (ISS). Unfortunately, we will not be in class at 4:39am, so maybe we can watch a replay of the launch. We will keep an eye on the launch/mission schedule to see if anything changes.
Also, sadly, at the end of this year, the fleet of Space Shuttles will retire. The final Space Shuttle flight is scheduled to be September 16, 2010 with Space Shuttle Discovery. As far as I know, the Air and Space Museum (in DC) will be getting Discovery after the fleet retires.
As sad as I am to see the Space Shuttles retiring, I am excited for all of the new missions and projects that NASA has in store for us. We will definitely keep an eye on this stuff...
Below is a picture of the STS-130 Space Shuttle Endeavour Crew.
The above photo of the STS-130 crew and the information on the launch was taken from NASA (www.nasa.gov).
Finally...ISS Flybys: all information regarding the ISS flybys has been taken from www.spaceweather.com
*all times are for Kensington
Friday, January 22: 5:59:39pm-6:01:55pm NNW 45 degrees (max elevation), with a magnitude of -3.2
Saturday, January 23: 6:20:49pm-6:23:05pm WNW 48 degrees (max elevation), with a magnitude of -3.2
Monday, January 25: 5:31:08pm-5:32:25pm SSW 53 degrees (max elevation), with a magnitude of -3.4
If you get a chance, you should try to check out the ISS flybys!
See you in school!
Keep an eye on the sky...
Ms. T
