Tag: earth

2016 will have an extra second added to the end of it…

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Sorry to tell you HTHT Followers, 2016 will have an extra second added to the end of it!

Many of our favorite celebrities and scientists have passed away, the planet is becoming warmer everyday, and now, scientists will be adding an extra second onto 2016 on New Years Eve.

As you finally count down the end of 2016, you’ll have to make it past 11:59:60, thanks to the addition of an extra ‘leap second’. The extra second in the last minute of the year, means the final minute of 2016 will last for 61 seconds. These leap seconds are added to make up for the fact that Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing down, and to make sure that our precise clocks remain in sync with how long a day lasts on Earth.

“This extra second, or leap second, makes it possible to align astronomical time, which is irregular and determined by Earth’s rotation, with Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) which is extremely stable and has been determined by atomic clocks since 1967,” explained the Paris Observatory in France, which houses the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), responsible for synchronizing time.

So why do we need leap seconds at all?

The same reason that we add leap days to certain years. 2016 may have felt extra long because this year had a leap day and now a leap second!

Earth’s rotation fluctuates slightly year to year, sometimes getting longer, sometimes shorter. The spin is also influenced by geological events such as strong earthquakes, and even the freezing and melting of ice sheets. So by adding a leap day or leap seconds we can accommodate for those fluctuations caused by Earth’s rotations.

If there were no leap seconds, we would find ourselves to be 2 or 3 minutes out of sync with the position of the Sun by the year 2100.

Image Source: Pixabay.com

 

So if you want to ring in the New Year 2017 off at the right time….

make sure you adjust for that extra leap second!

NASA Video Show’s the Moon Between Spaceship and Earth!

To view the footage, please visit: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nasa-spaceship-captures-epic-shot-of-moon-passing-072105645.html

The image shows the moon passing between the NASA climate observatory and Earth. It was captured by a NASA camera on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory on July 16, 2015 over the space of five hours. In the image it shows the fully illuminated ‘dark side’ of the Moon that is not visible from Earth.

The images were acquired by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite, which orbits about 1 million miles from Earth.

To view the image, please visit: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nasa-spaceship-captures-epic-shot-of-moon-passing-072105645.html

Why It’s Best to Watch A Total Solar Eclipse from 39,000 FT!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Joe Rao, an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York, discovered that an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Anchorage to Honolulu would be passing directly through the path of last night’s total solar eclipse.

After months of emailing back and forth with Alaska Airlines to get the flight pushed back by 25 minutes, they finally agreed. “We recognize our customer’s passions,” Chase Craig, Alaska’s director of onboard brand experience, said in a release. Being above the clouds is one of the major perks to seeing an eclipse from cruising altitude. Rao says, “You also get a chance to see the moon’s shadow sweeping across the landscape. At 37,000 feet, that’s a dramatic sight to see.”

What’s the different between a Solar and a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun, and the Earth’s shadow obscures the moon or a portion of it. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or a portion of the Sun.

Image Source: Pixabay.com- Solar Eclipse

Upcoming 5 Total Solar Eclipses

Dates Path of the eclipse
Mar 8 / Mar 9, 2016
Aug 21, 2017
Jul 2, 2019
Dec 14, 2020
Dec 4, 2021

Source: timeanddate.com

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/lucky-airline-passengers-see-total-solar-eclipse-plane-180110520–abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html

What Will You Do With Your “Leap Second”?

June 30 will be the longest day in three years, because you’ll get one extra second in your day—a leap second. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service adds a leap second every few years to keep the clocks we use to measure official time and the speed of Earth’s rotation in sync. The addition will mean that the last minute of June will have 61 seconds; while 23:59:59 usually becomes 00:00:00, the leap second will ensure the time becomes 23:59:60. How will you spend your extra second today? Check out this video by National Geographic for more information about the “leap second”!

Asteroid 2004 BL86 Coming Close to Earth!

Get excited sky watchers! There is an asteroid that will be flying by very close to Earth tonight, January 26, 2015! Asteroid 2004 BL86 will come about 745,000 miles from Earth. That is equivalent to about 3 times as far away as the moon is from Earth. This event will not pose any threat to hitting our planet but it will give researchers a chance to observe a major asteroid up close! According to NASA, “Asteroid 2004 BL86 is big — about a third of a mile (a half-kilometer) in size. It will be the closest known asteroid this large to pass near Earth until 2027, when an asteroid called 1999 AN10 flies by.” The best chance at viewing this astronomical event will be from 8pm EST Monday until 1am EST on Tuesday, but it will not be observable by the naked eye. A telescope or binoculars may just do the trick however. OR if you don’t own any of that equipment, no worries! You can watch the event from the comfort of your own computer screen.

Here is the link to the 2004 BL86 asteroid event: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2014/12/06/potentially-hazardous-asteroid-357439-2004-bl86-close-encounter-online-event-26-jan-2015/

The September Equinox of the Northern Hemisphere Approches

 

As the September Equinox approaches it is important to understand how the equinoxes were discovered and how to prepare for the astronomical event.

Our human ancestors spent much more time outdoors than humans now a days. They learned to track the patterns of the sun and eventually used it to tell time and the seasons. They built elaborate observatories in order to track the sun’s progress throughout the year.

Because Earth doesn’t orbit upright, but instead is tilted on its axis by 23 1/2 degrees, Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun’s light and warmth most directly. We have an equinox in the spring and fall, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis and Earth’s orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun. Earth’s two hemispheres are receiving the sun’s rays equally now. Night and day are approximately equal in length.

 

So how do we prepare for this astronomical event, on the day of the autumnal equinox, at sunrise/sunset, go outside to your yard or other favorite site for watching the sky and you will be able to decipher the cardinal directions. The sun will rise at due East and set at due West! If it is a clear morning/evening, be prepared for some amazing views as well!

The 2014 September equinox occurs on September 22, at 9:29 p.m. in the central United States.

Last Lunar Eclipse until 2014

Look in the western sky Saturday morning before dawn, and if the weather is clear and you’re in the right place, you will be rewarded with the last lunar eclipse of 2011.

For just under an hour, the disk of the full moon will almost disappear, turning a dark, rusty red.  The catch for Americans is that you’ll miss almost everything unless you’re west of the Mississippi.  Totality — when the moon is completely consumed by Earth’s shadow — begins at 6:06 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, and ends at 6:57 a.m. Even on the Pacific coast, dawn will start to brighten the sky before the eclipse is over.

Still, if you happen to be up, a lunar eclipse can be a quiet, refreshing experience.  Depending on the atmospheric conditions where you are, the moon may turn a rich orange, or it may become hard to pick out in the sky. The reddish hue comes from sunlight that is bent by Earth’s atmosphere. As happens during a vivid sunrise or sunset, most colors other than red are absorbed by the air. Read More

Did You Know?
A lunar eclipse takes place when the moon, following its orbit around us, passes directly behind Earth as seen from the sun.  It is the opposite of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. Since the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, the bodies do not align perfectly during most months — but the rules of orbital mechanics are such that in any given year, there will be at least two and no more than seven solar or lunar eclipses.

See Google’s Lunar Eclipse “Doodle” from June 2011

Rare Video Captured By NASA: Huge Solar Flare Explosion!

 

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Though the energy released is not heading directly at the Earth, it may cause some atmospheric disturbance on Wednesday or Thursday night, enough to cause some spectacular auroras and possibly disrupt some satellites, NASA reports.

See the explosion:


Minor Earthquake

Many of you don’t know this but there were reports of a minor earthquake that ROCKED Mars Hill Elementary School!! Well…it wasn’t a real earthquake but Dinosaur Dan presented a great program there called Funomena that deals with some of earth’s natural events. Along with the earthquake, there were volcanic eruptions and of course tornadoes in a tube! Luckily, no one was hurt and everyone had a great time learning about the earth!