Earth Watch Report – Saturday May 19th, 2012

Earthquakes

 

RSOE EDIS

 

Date/Time (UTC)	Magnitude	Area	Country	State/Prov./Gov.	Location	Risk			Source	Details
19.05.2012 09:40:48	2.3	North America	United States	California	Junction Ranch				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 10:20:28	3.1	Asia	Turkey		Alakilise				EMSC
19.05.2012 09:15:39	2.5	Europe	Greece		Tzamalaiika				EMSC
19.05.2012 08:50:39	2.3	North America	United States	Hawaii	Papaloa				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 07:45:36	2.2	North America	United States	California	Watermans Corner				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:16:04	3.2	Asia	Turkey		Isikli				EMSC
19.05.2012 08:12:53	4.3	Asia	Russia	Kamchatskaya Oblast'	Nikol’skoye				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:16:30	4.3	Europe	Russia		Nikol’skoye				EMSC
19.05.2012 08:16:51	4.9	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Uyuod				EMSC
19.05.2012 07:35:34	4.9	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia	North Sulawesi	Uyuod				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 06:45:39	2.1	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 06:20:37	3.4	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	El Coco				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 08:17:13	3.1	Asia	Azerbaijan		Qimir				EMSC
19.05.2012 05:20:57	4.1	Pacific Ocean	Fiji		Vuluna				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 06:05:25	4.1	Pacific Ocean – East	Fiji		Vuluna				EMSC
19.05.2012 04:40:52	2.0	North America	United States	California	Harvard				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 04:35:25	4.3	Indonesian archipelago	Papua New Guinea		Gorendo				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 05:01:31	4.3	Indonesian Archipelago	Papua New Guinea		Gorendo				EMSC
19.05.2012 06:05:46	3.7	Asia	Azerbaijan		Azgilli				EMSC
19.05.2012 04:15:28	4.6	Asia	Japan	Kagoshima-ken	Nakanoshima				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 05:02:53	4.6	Asia	Japan		Nakanoshima				EMSC
19.05.2012 03:55:30	3.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 04:00:24	2.7	Europe	Albania		Gadurove				EMSC
19.05.2012 03:50:51	2.3	North America	United States	Alaska	Ferry				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 04:41:13	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 07:10:35	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Bakir				EMSC
19.05.2012 02:55:34	3.4	Asia	Turkey		Cavus				EMSC
19.05.2012 02:56:00	3.7	Asia	Turkey		Agarti				EMSC
19.05.2012 02:56:21	2.7	Europe	Greece		Stavloi				EMSC
19.05.2012 02:30:42	4.8	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 02:56:40	5.0	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi				EMSC
19.05.2012 02:57:00	2.6	Europe	Serbia		Ostrikovac				EMSC
19.05.2012 01:25:37	2.5	North America	United States	Hawaii	Päpa‘ikou				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 01:20:34	2.7	North America	United States	Alaska	McKinley Park				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 01:50:33	2.6	Asia	Turkey		Mollakasim				EMSC
19.05.2012 01:50:54	2.7	Asia	Turkey		Dogantepe				EMSC
19.05.2012 00:55:30	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Lowell Point				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 00:45:29	3.0	Europe	Greece		Mandria Korona				EMSC
18.05.2012 23:55:54	4.7	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 00:45:52	4.9	Asia	Japan		Tadakoshi				EMSC
18.05.2012 23:45:22	5.2	Asia	Japan		Aneyoshi				EMSC
18.05.2012 23:46:35	5.0	Asia	Japan	Iwate-ken	Aneyoshi				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 01:35:42	2.3	North America	Canada	British Columbia	Princeton				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 23:10:34	3.5	North America	United States	Alaska	Kantishna				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 22:50:49	2.7	North America	United States	Alaska	Chickaloon				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 22:51:11	2.6	North America	United States	Alaska	Kantishna				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 23:45:41	3.2	Europe	Croatia		Domine				EMSC
18.05.2012 22:40:31	2.8	Europe	Italy		Corte Motta				EMSC
18.05.2012 22:40:49	3.0	Europe	Albania		Ternova e Madhe				EMSC
18.05.2012 21:40:57	2.2	North America	United States	California	Portal Inn				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 20:25:33	2.0	North America	United States	Alaska	Ninilchik				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 21:25:55	4.4	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Siota				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 21:35:35	4.5	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Siota				EMSC
18.05.2012 19:40:41	2.2	North America	United States	Alaska	Paxson				USGS-RSOE
19.05.2012 02:57:24	2.0	North America	United States	California	Monola				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:20:39	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	‘Ainapö				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:15:46	2.0	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 20:40:42	4.6	Indonesian archipelago	Indonesia		Makalehi				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 21:35:56	4.6	Indonesian Archipelago	Indonesia		Makalehi				EMSC
18.05.2012 18:55:40	3.1	North America	United States	California	Monola				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:00:43	3.0	North America	United States	California	Monola				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:41:03	3.4	Caribbean	Dominican Republic	Provincia de La Altagracia	Cabo Engano				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:30:33	3.1	Europe	Greece		Mandrini				EMSC
18.05.2012 19:30:54	2.5	Europe	Greece		Vithisma				EMSC
18.05.2012 18:31:10	2.0	North America	United States	California	Arrowhead Equestrian Estates				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 18:30:31	3.1	Europe	Greece		Pera Meria				EMSC
18.05.2012 17:45:40	3.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Karluk				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 22:41:11	4.9	Australia & New-Zealand	New Zealand		Hicks Bay				EMSC
18.05.2012 17:30:59	2.3	North America	United States	Hawaii	Volcano				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 18:32:15	3.0	Pacific Ocean	New Zealand	Woodville County	Halswell				GEONET
18.05.2012 17:05:43	4.8	Asia	Azerbaijan	Zaqatala Rayonu	Sabunchu				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 17:30:31	4.8	Asia	Azerbaijan		Agdam Qalal				EMSC
18.05.2012 16:35:40	2.7	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Cucapa Mestizo				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 16:25:31	4.6	South-America	Argentina		Salar de Pocitos				EMSC
18.05.2012 15:45:42	4.6	Atlantic Ocean	Argentina	Provincia de Salta	Salar de Pocitos				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 15:25:33	5.1	Africa	Algeria		Sidi Djelloul				EMSC
18.05.2012 15:25:53	4.7	Asia	Afghanistan		Golakheyl				EMSC
18.05.2012 15:05:53	4.8	Asia	Afghanistan	Kabul Province	Zero Tangeh				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 15:26:16	2.9	Asia	Turkey		Sultaniye				EMSC
18.05.2012 14:05:37	4.7	Asia	Russia	Sakhalinskaya Oblast'	(( Vasil’yevo ))				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 14:25:29	4.8	Europe	Russia		(( Vasil’yevo ))				EMSC
18.05.2012 13:45:43	4.6	Asia	Japan	Chiba-ken	Sukayama				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 14:25:50	4.6	Asia	Japan		Sukayama				EMSC
18.05.2012 14:20:33	4.4	Asia	Russia	Kamchatskaya Oblast'	Baza				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 14:26:12	4.4	Europe	Russia		Baza				EMSC
18.05.2012 12:40:36	3.6	North America	United States	California	Desert Sands Mobile Home Park				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 12:40:57	4.0	Asia	Azerbaijan	Saki Rayonu	Bas Goynuk				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 13:20:29	3.9	Asia	Azerbaijan		Baltali				EMSC
18.05.2012 11:20:25	2.3	Asia	Turkey		Sihlar				EMSC
18.05.2012 10:40:35	2.9	Middle America	Mexico	Estado de Baja California	Canon de Guadalupe				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 11:20:50	3.6	Asia	Turkey		Mollakasim				EMSC
18.05.2012 10:40:56	4.9	Asia	Japan	Ibaraki-ken	Sakai				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 11:21:10	4.9	Asia	Japan		Kurihashi				EMSC
19.05.2012 00:51:19	2.5	North America	United States	Idaho	Forney				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:31:33	2.8	North America	United States	Alaska	Atka				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 19:26:04	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Sanak				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 23:35:42	4.1	North America	Canada		Inuvik				USGS-RSOE
18.05.2012 23:46:03	4.1	North-America	Canada		Inuvik				EMSC
18.05.2012 19:26:26	2.9	North America	United States	Alaska	Hospital Valley				USGS-RSOE

 

 

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Volcanic Activity

 Sakurajima Volcano

Eruptions  continue  in Japan’s Sakurajima  Volcano.  This   footage  shows activity  captured  by remote feed

Blasts Continue to Menace People Near Mexican Volcano May 18, 2012

“It was spectacular. But of course, it makes you worry about everyone living nearby.” — Vulcanologist Raul Arambula.

Fresh blasts from Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano spewed fiery rock and caustic ash over residents around the Mexico City suburb of Puebla, already on edge after weeks of ongoing eruption.Ash soared 2.5 miles into the sky during early Saturday’s explosion, forcing a local airport to close.

Residents of the nearby village of Santiago Xalitzintla rushed into the town square during the middle of the night as terrifying rumblings and blasts caused buildings to shudder.

Last week residents in eastern parts of Mexico City were provided with face masks to protect them against ash raining over the region from Popocatepetl’s blasts.

Prevailing winds have so far spared the capital district from significant ash falls.

Popocatepetl has become increasingly active during 2012.

A major eruption in 2000 forced 50,000 people to evacuate in three states that surround the towering mountain.

Photo: CENAPRED

Satellite Spies New Lava Flow on Active Volcano

OurAmazingPlanet Staff and NASA Report – May 18, 2012 03:15 PM ET

A new lava flow was spotted on Bagana volcano by a NASA satellite on May 16. CREDIT: NASA View full size image

Bagana volcano is one of the most active in Papua New Guinea, but it is remote, and so poorly monitored.

Located on the mountainous spine of Bougainville Island, it is both far from any cities or large towns and is hard to reach due to the rough terrain around it. Satellites are the best way for volcanologists to keep an eye on the active peak, which has an elevation of 5,741 feet (1,750 meters).

The volcano emits gases (including water vapor and sulfur dioxide) almost continuously, and frequently spits up thick lava flows.

Bagana volcano seen in the context of its surroundings.
CREDIT: NASA

View full size image

A natural-color image taken by NASA’s

Supervolcano Drilling Plan Gets Go-Ahead

Edwin Cartlidge
ScienceInsider

© Armageddon Online.org

Rome – A project to drill deep into the heart of a “supervolcano” in southern Italy has finally received the green light, despite claims that the drilling would put the population of Naples at risk of small earthquakes or an explosion. Yesterday, Italian news agency ANSA quoted project coordinator Giuseppe De Natale of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology as saying that the office of Naples mayor Luigi de Magistris has approved the drilling of a pilot hole 500 meters deep.

The Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project was set up by an international collaboration of scientists to assess the risks posed by the Campi Flegrei caldera, a geological formation just a few kilometers to the west of Naples that formed over thousands of years following the collapse of several volcanoes. Researchers believe that if it erupted, Campi Flegrei could have global repercussions, potentially killing millions of people and having a major effect on the climate, but that such massive eruptions are extremely rare.

The project’s organizers originally intended to bore a 4-kilometer-deep well in the area of the caldera late in 2009, but the plan was put on hold by then-mayor Rosa Russo Iervolino after scientists expressed concerns about the risks.

Among the critics was Benedetto De Vivo, a geochemist at the University of Naples, who told Science in 2010that the drilling might cause seismic activity or generate an explosion if it allowed the high-pressure supercritical fluids expected to exist at depths of about 3 kilometers or more to come into contact with magma inside the caldera. “Nobody can say how bad this explosion would be, but it could put at risk some of the surrounding population,” he said. De Vivo added that he didn’t understand why the well was to be located on the grounds of the former Bagnoli steel mill, on the western outskirts of Naples, and not farther west. (De Vivo did not state that the study might trigger an eruption of the supervolcano.)

Collaboration member Ulrich Harms of the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam said at the time that if the drilling is done in a controlled way, “there is no risk to the public.” He pointed out that many multikilometer wells have been drilled around the world in order to extract geothermal energy, and that these have not caused explosions. He believes the project makes scientific sense: “It’s not clear if there is a volcanic risk, but it cannot be excluded, and this is why it is better to get more of an idea.”

De Natale told ANSA that drilling the pilot well should start “within a few months,” the time needed to “reorganize with the company that won the contract,” and that a second well 3.5 kilometers deep should then follow. (The mayor’s office was not available for comment today.)

De Natale said that information obtained from sensors placed inside the wells will help to understand the “bradyseism” – the rising and falling of the Earth’s surface resulting from the movement of magma inside a caldera – occurring in the Campi Flegrei are and to find out whether there is a connection between this phenomenon and volcanic eruptions. Additionally, he added, the study should provide information that could help to extract geothermal energy from the volcano in the future.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

 

 

Gale Warning

 

BALTIMORE CANYON TO HAGUE LINE S OF 1000 FM
BALTIMORE CANYON TO HATTERAS CANYON OUT TO 36N 70W TO 34N 71W
ANCHORAGE ALASKA
JUNEAU AK

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
TALLAHASSEE FL

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Storms, Flooding

 

 

Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Aletta	Pacific Ocean – East	14.05.2012	19.05.2012	Tropical Depression	45 °	46 km/h	65 km/h	3.66 m	NHC

 

 

 

 

 

  Tropical Storm data

Share: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services 6 Storm name: Aletta Area: Pacific Ocean – East Start up location: N 9° 48.000, W 105° 54.000 Start up: 14th May 2012 Status: 01st January 1970 Track long: 420.36 km Top category.: Report by: TSRC Useful links: Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale FEMA – How To Prepare for a Hurricane Effects of a Hurricane USA – National Hurricane Center

Past track Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave Pressure Source 15th May 2012 05:05:03 N 10° 30.000, W 108° 30.000 22 74 74 Tropical Storm 140 12 1004 MB TSRC 16th May 2012 07:05:44 N 11° 42.000, W 110° 54.000 17 74 93 Tropical Storm 285 12 1003 MB TSRC 18th May 2012 07:05:44 N 13° 36.000, W 114° 18.000 9 56 74 Tropical Depression 20 12 1006 MB TSRC Current position Date Time Position Speed km/h Wind km/h Gust km/h Category Course Wave feet Pressure Source 19th May 2012 07:05:35 N 14° 30.000, W 113° 12.000 6 46 65 Tropical Depression 45 ° 12 10

 

Flood Warning

 

MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
CORPUS CHRISTI TX
WILMINGTON NC
SPOKANE, WA

Flood Watch

 

FAIRBANKS AK

 

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Solar Activity

2MIN News May18: Climate, EuroFail, Solar/Planetary Update

Published on May 18, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-spain-economy-idUSBRE84G0CK20120518
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-greece-idUSBRE84D07X20120518
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-earth-cosmic-feather-duster.html
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-black-hole-universe-physicist-solution.html
http://phys.org/news/2012-05-climate.html
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77966
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/columbia_glacier.php?…

Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun ]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

NOAA: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/cme-based/ [For more advanced solar watchers]

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

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Space

WHAT’S TRENDING

Friday, May 18, 10:44 pm

Make msnNOW my homepage

Secret rogue planet may be hiding behind Neptune

Does Earth have a new friend? An astrophysicist says it’s likely that an as-yet undiscovered planet exists on the dark fringes of our solar system, messing with the orbits of celestial bodies in the Kuiper Belt, just beyond Neptune. Rodney Gomes says the new planet could be anywhere from half to four times the size of Earth and is likely a rogue planet that floated over from another solar system. Other space scientists say Gomes’ findings may be a lot of hot air and aren’t sure his calculations support his theory. Buzzkills. We already lost Pluto. Stop playing with our hearts. Give us the new guy.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 May Hit Communications Satellite in 2013

John Thomas Didymus
Digital Journal

© Dieter Spannknebel, Getty Images
A communications satellite orbits Earth (file illustration).

Asteroid 2012 DA14, discovered early this year by the LaSagra Observatory in Spain, will pass inside the geosynchronous satellite ring about 35,800 km above the equator on Feb. 15, 2013. Astronomers say the asteroid may hit a communications satellite. National Geographic reports that Paul Chodas, a planetary astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, said: “That’s very unlikely, but we can’t rule it out.”

According to calculations, the asteroid will pass close enough to Earth to disrupt some orbiting satellites. Chodas, however, said that the orbiting International Space Station in low-Earth orbit is not at risk.

In spite of the fact that NASA astronomers assure that the asteroid will not hit the Earth, Steven Chesley, also of JPL, said: “We don’t know exactly where it is, and that uncertainty maps through to an uncertainty in the orbit and predictions.” The uncertainty, according to astronomers, means that they can’t rule out that it will not hit Earth in subsequent close approaches to Earth after 2013.

NASA astronomers say there is an estimated cumulative 0.031% risk (1 in 3,230) of 2012 DA14 impacting Earth sometime between 2020 and 2082, a figure they hope to refine further as they collect more information during its close approach to Earth in February next year.

National Geographic reports that if the asteroid hits the the Earth, it will likely hit the Antarctica or the Southern Ocean because it approaches the Earth from the south. The impact of the 140,000 ton rock could release energy equivalent to a 2.4 megaton bomb, about the same as the 1908 Tunguska blast in which hundreds of square miles of forest in Siberia were leveled. According to Chodas, “If the asteroid were to strike the ocean, It could produce a tsunami,” although “it probably wouldn’t be big.”

Update on Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS)

Giovanni Sostero, Ernesto Guido & Nick Howes
Remanzacco Observatory

Comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS) was found by Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, on the night of 2011, June 5-6. At the moment of discovery the comet was at a distance of nearly 7.9 AU from the Sun (discovery magnitude 19.4). According to it’s orbit, around perihelion in March 2013 the comet would be located only 0.30 AU from the Sun and might become a bright naked eye object ( ~ magnitude 1). For more info about the discovery of this comet, see our previous post on this blog of 2011, June 09.

We performed some follow-up measurements of comet C/2011 L4 remotely from the Siding Spring-Faulkes Telescope South on 2012, May 18.5 through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD. The comet is now at 4.6 AU from the Sun (m2 ~ 15.6). Below you can see our follow-up image (click on it for a bigger version):

© Remanzacco Observatory

It’s interesting to notice a very compact coma, this means active dust production even at 4.6 AU away from the Sun (very good news). The image processing shows an asymmetric coma, probably due to a line-of-sight effect. According to our previous experiences, the “jet-like” structures evidenced by the rotational-gradient filtering, shows very likely the striking asymmetry of the coma/tail, instead of a genuine activity due to the outgassing of the nucleus (that we are unlikely to resolve, at this time). This idea is confirmed by the appearance of the comet through the two other algorithms we applied, the azimuthal median subtraction and the 1/r theoretical coma subtraction.Anyway, our R-filtered image (that are showing mainly the dusty coma) shows that comet Panstarrs is pretty active, even at such big distances from the Sun (this is a good sign for future expectations on a bright comet, next year).

Very Rare Transit Of Venus This June Won’t Happen Again Until 2117

Dr. Tony Phillips
Science@NASA

On June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.

Transits of Venus are very rare, coming in pairs separated by more than a hundred years. This June’s transit, the bookend of a 2004-2012 pair, won’t be repeated until the year 2117. Fortunately, the event is widely visible. Observers on seven continents, even a sliver of Antarctica, will be in position to see it.

The nearly 7-hour transit begins at 3:09 pm Pacific Daylight Time (22:09 UT) on June 5th. The timing favors observers in the mid-Pacific where the sun is high overhead during the crossing. In the USA, the transit will at its best around sunset. That’s good, too. Creative photographers will have a field day imaging the swollen red sun “punctured” by the circular disk of Venus.

Observing tip: Do not stare at the sun. Venus covers too little of the solar disk to block the blinding glare. Instead, use some type of projection technique or a solar filter. A #14 welder’s glass is a good choice. Many astronomy clubs will have solar telescopes set up to observe the event; contact your local club for details.

Transits of Venus first gained worldwide attention in the 18th century. In those days, the size of the solar system was one of the biggest mysteries of science. The relative spacing of planets was known, but not their absolute distances. How many miles would you have to travel to reach another world? The answer was as mysterious then as the nature of dark energy is now.

Venus was the key, according to astronomer Sir Edmund Halley. He realized that by observing transits from widely-spaced locations on Earth it should be possible to triangulate the distance to Venus using the principles of parallax.

The idea galvanized scientists who set off on expeditions around the world to view a pair of transits in the 1760s. The great explorer James Cook himself was dispatched to observe one from Tahiti, a place as alien to 18th-century Europeans as the Moon or Mars might seem to us now. Some historians have called the international effort the “the Apollo program of the 18th century.”

In retrospect, the experiment falls into the category of things that sound better than they actually are. Bad weather, primitive optics, and the natural “fuzziness” of Venus’s atmosphere prevented those early observers from gathering the data they needed. Proper timing of a transit would have to wait for the invention of photography in the century after Cook’s voyage. In the late 1800s, astronomers armed with cameras finally measured the size of the Solar System as Edmund Halley had suggested.

This year’s transit is the second of an 8-year pair. Anticipation was high in June 2004 as Venus approached the sun. No one alive at the time had seen a Transit of Venus with their own eyes, and the hand-drawn sketches and grainy photos of previous centuries scarcely prepared them for what was about to happen. Modern solar telescopes captured unprecedented view of Venus’s atmosphere backlit by solar fire. They saw Venus transiting the sun’s ghostly corona, and gliding past magnetic filaments big enough to swallow the planet whole. One photographer even caught a spaceship, the International Space Station, transiting the sun alongside Venus.

2012 should be even better as cameras and solar telescopes have improved. Moreover, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory is going to be watching too. SDO will produce Hubble-quality images of this rare event.

For more news and information as the date of transit approaches, stay tuned.

Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days)
Object Name	Apporach Date	Left	AU Distance	LD Distance	Estimated Diameter*	Relative Velocity
(2010 KK37)	19th May 2012	0 day(s)	0.0058	2.3	19 m – 43 m	10.94 km/s	39384 km/h
4183 Cuno	20th May 2012	1 day(s)	0.1218	47.4	3.5 km – 7.8 km	14.40 km/s	51840 km/h
(2006 KY67)	23rd May 2012	4 day(s)	0.1499	58.3	68 m – 150 m	13.88 km/s	49968 km/h
(2011 KG4)	24th May 2012	5 day(s)	0.1216	47.3	67 m – 150 m	11.50 km/s	41400 km/h
1 AU = ~150 million kilometers,1 LD = Lunar Distance = ~384,000 kilometers Source: NASA-NEO

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Epidemic / Diseases

Health experts narrow the hunt for Ebola

by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX)

Health experts from the Wildlife Conservation Society and other members of the PREDICT consortium dispose of an animal carcass during a recent outbreak of Ebola in Africa in May 2011. In a new study, the team recommends focusing on animal carcasses rather than live animals when attempting to isolate the virus. Credit: Dr. Benard Ssebide

Response efforts to outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in Africa can benefit from a standardized sampling strategy that focuses on the carcasses of gorillas, chimpanzees and other species known to succumb to the virus, according to a consortium of wildlife health experts.

In a recently published study of 14 previous human Ebola outbreaks and the responses of wildlife teams collecting animal samples, the authors of the new study conclude that most efforts to collect samples from live animals (i.e. rodents, bats, primates, birds) failed to isolate Ebola virus or antibodies. However, they found that collecting samples from animal carcasses during outbreaks was a more effective method for Ebola detection.

The early detection of Ebola in animal populations near a human outbreak is crucial for learning more about this virus, which can strike human populations with a mortality rate of more than 80 percent.

“You can’t test every single animal, so we used information from historical outbreaks to figure out how to help the field response team focus their effort,” according to Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) wildlife epidemiologist Sarah Olson, the lead author of the new report. “It turns out that carcass sampling yields a 50 percent chance of finding Ebola virus or antibodies compared to less than six percent when sampling free-ranging live animals.”

The scientific consortium that participated in the study, published in an online issue of Emerging Health Threats, are key partners in PREDICT, part of USAID’s Emerging Pandemic Threats Program that is improving global capacity to respond to emerging infectious diseases that originate in wildlife.

PREDICT is led by the University of California at Davis, in partnership with Ecohealth Alliance, Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

“The Emerging Pandemic Threats program is a visionary investment by USAID to protect and improve global health because it has made it possible for us to, for the first time, pre-emptively, and on a global scale, identify novel pathogens in wildlife that could pose pandemic threats to humans,” said Dr. Jonna Mazet, Director of PREDICT and Director of the One Health Institute at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary medicine.

“This study is a great example of how PREDICT is using science to improve our ability to detect lethal diseases, like Ebola.”

The study was designed to develop a set of animal sampling recommendations to maximize the effectiveness of Ebola outbreak response efforts with limited resources. Specifically, the study was prompted by a 2011 outbreak near Kampala, Uganda, in which a 12-year-old girl died from Ebola hemorrhagic fever. PREDICT wildlife veterinarians were sent to the victim’s village to screen wildlife as a potential source of the virus.

“This study digests over 30 years of accumulated knowledge so field teams can arrive informed and prepared,” adds WCS epidemiologist and senior author, Damien Joly.

The authors also point to some scientific “loose ends” that can be incorporated into future animal sampling efforts during Ebola outbreak response. For instance, despite some evidence of Ebola in dogs and pigs, the number of samples acquired from these animals is limited to just two outbreaks; the authors recommend increasing the number of samples collected from these groups in the future to better determine their role in Ebola outbreaks.

The study also confirms that while fruit bats should be a focus of investigation as a potential reservoir for Ebola, field teams need to be prepared to sample hundreds of bats because virus prevalence across all bats sampled to date is very low, estimated at 3 percent.

The co-authors of the study, titled, “Dead or alive: animal sampling during Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in humans,” include: Sarah Olson of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the University of Wisconsin; Patricia Reed, Ken Cameron, and Damien Joly of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Benard Ssebide of Gorilla Doctors, Kampala, Uganda; Jonna Mazet and Christine Johnson of the University of California at Davis; Stephen Morse of Columbia University; and William Karesh of EcoHealth Alliance.

Related Links
Wildlife Conservation Society
Epidemics on Earth – Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

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Biological Hazards/Wildlife

Deadly canine distemper outbreak in S. Oregon

By Michael Rollins

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — An outbreak of canine distemper has been confirmed in southern Oregon foxes, and dog owners are being warned to vaccinate their pets against the highly contagious and often fatal virus.

The virus was confirmed in two gray foxes found dead in Ashland and one in Medford, state wildlife officials said. The Oregon State University Diagnostics Lab was conducting tests on two additional carcasses, the Department of Fish and Wildlife said this week.

Wildlife biologists also have received more than a dozen reports of gray foxes walking in circles and foaming at the mouth — signs of distemper.

“We’ve suspected distemper, and it’s been confirmed,” wildlife biologist Mark Vargas told the Mail Tribune newspaper. “Is it a pandemic? No. As of now? An outbreak.”

Distemper increases in urban areas of the Northwest once city populations of raccoons, skunks and other animals surge. Outbreaks in the early 1990s and mid-2000s left hundreds of raccoons dead in southern Oregon.

Amid a 2005-06 outbreak, wildlife officials banned the trapping and releasing of raccoons in the wild, and the outbreak eventually quelled.

Vargas, however, said it was unproven that such a ban alone ended the outbreak.

Animals infected with the virus often have runny noses and eyes; appear listless and disoriented; and have little interest in food and water.

Vargas said residents should avoid touching any wild animals, especially those suspected of carrying a disease, and make sure their dogs are vaccinated against the virus.

“It’s a wildlife issue, but it’s also a public health issue in terms of pets,” Vargas said.

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Articles of Interest

 

 

Today

Chemical Accident

USA

State of California, Los Angeles [Los Angeles harbor]

 

 

Chemical Accident in USA on Saturday, 19 May, 2012 at 05:40 (05:40 AM) UTC.

Description

Fire officials say a large cargo ship has been evacuated in Los Angeles harbor as firefighters work to find the source of a gas leak.The incident began early Friday afternoon. Fire spokesman Matt Spence says the type of gas is unknown and may be coming from a container at the bottom of a deep stack of containers.About 25 firefighters, wearing gas masks, are working to find the source of the gas by removing the containers piece by piece.Spence says the ship was outbound from the Port of Los Angeles, and it’s unclear what its haul is.Spence says there’s no immediate cause for alarm or immediate indication of terror threat as firefighters investigate the situation.

 

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