Satellite Sees Category 4 Hurricanes Irma and Jose, Katia Landfall

This animation of NOAA's GOES East satellite imagery from Sept. 6 at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 UTC) to Sept. 9 ending at 10:15 a.m. EDT (1415 UTC) shows Category 4 Hurricane Irma approaching south Florida and Category 4 Hurricane Jose approach the northern Leeward Islands. Meanwhile, Hurricane Storm Katia made landfall and dissipated in eastern Mexico.

Credit: NASA-NOAA GOES Project
Duration: 36 seconds
Release Date: September 9, 2017

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NASA Sees Hurricane Irma's Eye Along Cuba's Coast

This visible image of Category 4 Hurricane Irma was taken on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 10:37 a.m. EDT (1437 UTC) by the NOAA GOES East satellite.

Warnings and Watches

At 11 a.m. EDT the National Hurricane Center noted many warnings and watches in effect.

A Storm Surge Warning is in effect for Volusia/Brevard County line southward around the Florida peninsula to the Suwanee River, the Florida Keys and Tampa Bay. A Storm Surge Watch is in effect from north of the Volusia/Brevard County line to the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, and north of the Suwanee River to Ochlockonee River.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Fernandina Beach southward around the Florida peninsula to the Aucilla River, the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee, Florida Bay. A Hurricane Warning is also in effect for the Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus, Villa Clara, Matanzas, and Havana, Andros Island, Bimini and Grand Bahama. A Hurricane Watch is in effect from north of Fernandina Beach to Edisto Beach, west of the Aucilla River to Indian Pass, Florida. A Hurricane Watch is also in effect for the Cuban provinces of Holguin and Las Tunas.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Cuban provinces of Holguin, Las Tunas, and a Tropical Storm Watch is in effect from north of Edisto Beach to South Santee River and west of Indian Pass to the Okaloosa/Walton County Line.

Hurricane Irma at 11 a.m. EDT on Saturday, September 9, 2017

At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located by a reconnaissance plane and radar near latitude 22.8 North, longitude 79.8 West. Irma is moving toward the west along the north coast of Cuba at near 9 mph (15 km/h). A northwest motion is expected to begin later today with a turn toward the north-northwest on Sunday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 125 mph (205 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Irma is forecast to re-strengthen once it moves away from Cuba, and Irma is expected to remain a powerful hurricane as it approaches Florida. Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles (315 km). The minimum central pressure reported by an Air Force plane was 941 millibars.

On the forecast track, the core of Irma will continue to move near or over the north coast of Cuba later today, and will reach the Florida Keys Sunday morning. The hurricane is expected to move along or near the southwest coast of Florida Sunday afternoon.

For updates on Irma and effects of wind, storm surge and rainfall, visit the National Hurricane Center website: www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
Release Date: September 9, 2017

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Hurricane Irma nears South Florida | NASA-NOAA GOES-16 Satellite

The NOAA-NASA satellite GOES-16 captured this geocolor image of Hurricane Irma passing the eastern end of Cuba at about 8:00 a.m. EDT on Sept. 8, 2017. Forecasters say the eye of Irma should move near the north coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas on Friday, Sept. 8 and Saturday, Sept. 9, and be near the Florida Keys and the southern Florida Peninsula Sunday morning. Irma, now a category 4 storm, has maximum sustained winds near 155 mph with higher gusts as of 2 p.m. EDT on Sept. 8. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 hurricane as it approaches Florida.

Created by NOAA's partners at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, the experimental geocolor imagery enhancement shown here displays geostationary satellite data in different ways depending on whether it is day or night. This image, captured as daylight moves into the area, offers a blend of both, with nighttime features on the left side of the image and daytime on the right. In nighttime imagery, liquid water clouds appear in shades of blue, ice clouds are grayish-white, water looks black, and land appears gray. (The city lights are a static background created with VIIRS Day/Night Band imagery. It does not show any existing power outages.) In daytime imagery, land and shallow-water features appear as they do in true-color imagery.

Image Credit: NOAA/CIRA
Caption: NOAA
Image Date: September 8, 2017

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Hurricane Irma over Cuba | NASA Earth

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a natural-color image of Irma (below) at 10:00 a.m. local time (16:00 Universal Time) on September 8, 2017.

The NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center remarked on the storm’s “buzzsaw appearance.” The National Weather Service field office in Miami warned of “large airborne projectiles” and cautioned that some locations may be “uninhabitable for weeks or months” after the storm. Eric Blake, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center, simply tweeted that he had “never seen anything like this in the modern record” and that the forecast made him “sick to his stomach.”

In some respects, Irma is an unusual and record-breaking storm. On September 8, the storm had generated more accumulated cyclone energy—a term meteorologists use to describe the destructive potential of a hurricane—than any other Atlantic storm on record, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University. Irma also broke a record for generating the most accumulated cyclone energy in a 24-hour period.

“Our human assets and aircraft penetrations are critical but limited,” said Marshall Shepherd, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Georgia. “Satellites provide a unique perspective on clouds, rainfall, sea surface state, sea surface temperature, and more. Only the satellite vantage point can provide continuous coverage of all three storms without having to refuel or sleep.”

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image via Terra MODIS data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE)
Story Credit: Adam Voiland
Instrument: Terra - MODIS
Image Date: September 8, 2017
Release Date: September 9, 2017

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Florida: Potential Storm Surge | National Weather Service

Storm surge flooding of 10-15 feet is now expected along the southwest Florida coast. This is a dire and life-threatening situation.
Looking for information on Storm Surge? 

Check out the NWS potential storm surge flooding map:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/095407.shtml?inundation#contents

Storm surge: a rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and wind associated with a storm.

For updated forecasts, visit: www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Credit: National Weather Service (NWS)/NOAA
Release Date: September 9, 2017

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A Menacing Line of Hurricanes | NASA Earth

Meteorologists struggled to find the right words to describe the situation as a line of three hurricanes—two of them major and all of them threatening land—brewed in the Atlantic basin in September 2017.

Forecasters were most concerned about Irma, which was on track to make landfall in densely populated South Florida on September 10 as a large category 4 storm. Meanwhile, category 2 Hurricane Katia was headed for Mexico, where it was expected to make landfall on September 9. And just days after Irma devastated the Leeward Islands, the chain of small Caribbean islands braced for another blow—this time from category 4 Hurricane Jose.

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured the data for a mosaic of Katia, Irma, and Jose as they appeared in the early hours of September 8, 2017. The images were acquired by the VIIRS “day-night band,” which detects light signals in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared, and uses filtering techniques to observe signals such as city lights, auroras, wildfires, and reflected moonlight. In this case, the clouds were lit by the nearly full Moon. The image is a composite, showing cloud imagery combined with data on city lights.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens and Jesse Allen, using VIIRS day-night band data from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership
Story Credit: Adam Voiland
Release Date: September 9, 2017

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Three Hurricanes in the Atlantic | NASA Earth

There was no shortage of storms brewing across the Atlantic basin in September 2017. On September 6, hurricanes Katia, Irma, and Jose lined up across the basin. The trio is visible in this image, captured that day by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite. The image is a mosaic, assembled from images acquired throughout the day during several orbits of the satellite.

On September 6, Katia had strengthened over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and was upgraded from tropical storm to hurricane status. The eye of Irma, a raging category 5 storm, passed north of Puerto Rico but still delivered strong winds and rain the Caribbean island. Meanwhile, Jose spun in the central Atlantic Ocean, and was also upgraded that day from a tropical storm to hurricane.

The bright strips are reflected sunlight, or “glint,” which show up over ocean areas in the middle of each orbit.

Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using VIIRS data from LANCE/EOSDIS Rapid Response
Caption Credit: Kathryn Hansen
Instrument: Suomi NPP - VIIRS
Release Date: September 8, 2017

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Tropical Triple Threat: 3 Hurricanes | NASA

Infrared images of Hurricane Katia in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Irma (over Cuba), and Hurricane Jose (near Leeward Islands) in the Atlantic Ocean. Certainly a busy day for weather forecasters. Images from the GOES 16 weather satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Credit: NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center (SPoRT)
Release Date: September 8, 2017

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NASA's Voyager 1 Launches Aboard Titan III/Centaur in 1977

The Voyager 1 aboard the Titan III/Centaur lifted off on September 5, 1977, joining its sister spacecraft, the Voyager 2. NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft launched atop its Titan/Centaur-6 launch vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida on September 5, 1977, at 8:56 a.m. local time.

The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are still operating and traveling where no spacecraft—or anything touched by humanity—has gone before. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Voyager 1 launch, we reflect on the vision that inspired the mission, its greatest achievements, and its enduring legacy.

Image Credit: NASA
Release Date: September 5, 2017
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The Sun: 48 Hours - Sept. 4-5th, 2017 | NASA SDO

Solar Activity Before Two X-class Flares on Sept. 6th

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Capture Dates: Sept. 4-5th, 2017
Release Date: Sept. 6, 20177

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Hurricane Irma | International Space Station

Sept. 5, 2017: The eye of Hurricane Irma is clearly visible from the International Space Station as it orbited over the Category 5 storm on Sept. 5, 2017.

Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center
Image Date: September 5, 2017
Release Date: September 6, 2017

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NASA Sees Irma Strengthen to a Category 5 Hurricane | Atlantic Ocean

Image: On Sept. 4 at 17:24 UTC, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured this view of Hurricane Irma as a Category 4 hurricane approaching the Leeward Islands. | Sept. 5, 2017: On Sept. 4 at (1:24 p.m. EDT) 17:24 UTC, NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite captured this view of Hurricane Irma as a Category 4 hurricane approaching the Leeward Islands. The VIIRS instrument on the Suomi NPP satellite flew over Hurricane Irma on Sept. 4 at 04:32 UTC (12:32 a.m. EDT) when it was a Category 3 hurricane. VIIRS infrared data revealed very cold, very high, powerful thunderstorms on Irma's western side. Cloud top temperatures in that area were near minus 117.7 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 83.5 degrees Celsius. Storms with cloud tops that cold have the capability to generate very heavy rainfall.

At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC) on Sept. 5, many warnings and watches were in effect. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, and Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to the northern border with, Haiti. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Guadeloupe and Dominica. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Dominican Republic from south of Cabo Engao to Isla Saona.

At 8 a.m. EDT (1200 UTC), the National Hurricane Center said the distinct eye center of Hurricane Irma was located near 16.7 degrees north latitude and 57.7 degrees west longitude. That's about 270 miles (440 km) east of Antigua and about 280 miles (445 km) east-southeast of Barbuda.

Irma was moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 kph), and this general motion is expected to continue today, followed by a turn toward the west-northwest tonight. On the forecast track, the dangerous core of Irma will move near or over portions of the northern Leeward Islands tonight and early Wednesday, Sept. 6.

NHC noted that reports from NOAA and U.S. Air Force Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicate Irma continues to strengthen and maximum sustained winds have increased to near 175 mph (280 kph) with higher gusts. Irma is an extremely dangerous category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days. The latest estimated minimum central pressure from aircraft data is 929 millibars.

The National Hurricane Center expects Irma to maintain Major hurricane status (Category 3 or greater) through the forecast period (Sunday, Sept. 10).

For forecast updates, and expected rainfall, winds and storm surge for Irma, visit: www.nhc.noaa.gov

Credit: NOAA/NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team
Release Date: September 5, 2017

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GOES Satellite Imagery of Hurricane Irma | NOAA

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system (GOES) Category 5 Hurricane Irma as seen by GOES-16 (left) and GOES-13 (right), captured on the morning of September 5, 2017. The animation on the left clearly shows the improved resolution and faster refresh rate of the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) over the current GOES imager. The rapid scanning rate of the ABI allows forecasters to monitor hurricanes in near-real time, improving track forecasts. The higher spatial resolution available from ABI provides greater accuracy of feature attributes, allowing for better characterization of small hurricane eyes, which also helps with intensity estimation and tracking. The GOES-16 ABI also has additional channels, allowing forecasters to view storms in more wavelengths, and helping in estimation of central pressure and maximum sustained winds to assess hurricane intensity. Get the latest info on Irma at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ 

Credit: Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) 
Duration: 6 seconds 
Capture date: September 5, 2017 

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Mysterious supernovae | Hubble

Like firecrackers lighting up the sky on New Year’s Eve, the majestic spiral arms of NGC 5559 are alight with new stars being born. NGC 5559 is a spiral galaxy, with spiral arms filled with gas and dust sweeping out around the bright galactic bulge. These arms are a rich environment for star formation, dotted with a festive array of colors including the newborn stars glowing blue as a result of their immensely high temperatures.

NGC 5559 was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1785 and lies approximately 240 million light-years away in the northern constellation of Boötes (the herdsman)

In 2001, a calcium-rich supernova called 2001co was observed in NGC 5559. Calcium-rich supernovae (Ca-rich SNe) are described as “fast-and-faint”, as they're less luminous than other types of supernovae and also evolve more rapidly, to reveal spectra dominated by strong calcium lines. 2001co occurred within the disc of NGC 5559 near star-forming regions, but Ca-rich SNe are often observed at large distances from the nearest galaxy, raising curious questions about their progenitors.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Release Date: September 4, 2017

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Night Light

This image, taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek, captures the moment that Yepun (UT4), one of the four 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes comprising ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shoots a laser beam up into the dark night sky over ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile.

The laser shown in this image acts as an artificial star, known as a Laser Guide Star, and it is used to help astronomers adjust for the blurring and distorting effects of the Earth’s atmosphere. When observing a patch of sky, astronomers set up a laser guide star nearby and measure the tiny fluctuations in its image. The VLT’s adaptive optics system can then use this reference to correct for the changes and distortions in the intervening atmosphere and produce the sharpest images possible in the main observations.

Looming over Yepun is the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a barred spiral galaxy that orbits the Milky Way. A faint white glow marks the location of older stellar populations within the LMC, while the iridescent hues of magenta and blue mark young stellar nurseries.

The LMC, as well as its smaller namesake, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), have been studied many times by ESO telescopes over the years. Its many cosmic delights, including nebulae and star clusters, can be seen in detail due to their proximity, and provide amateur and professional astronomers alike with breathtaking targets for observation.

European Southern Observatory (ESO)
http://www.eso.org

Credit: Petr Horálek/ESO
Petr's website: http://www.astronom.cz/horalek/
Release Date: September 4, 2017

#ESO #Astronomy #Science #Space #Stars #Star #MilkyWay #Galaxy #MagellanicCloud #LMC #Lasers #LaserGuide #Optics #Telescope #VLT #Paranal #Observatory #Chile #Atacama #SouthAmerica #Europe #Astrophotography #Photography #STEM #Education

Saturn's Rings from the Inside Out | NASA Cassini Mission

via GIPHY

What do Saturn's rings look like from Saturn? Images from the robotic spacecraft Cassini are providing humanity with this unprecedented vantage point as it nears the completion of its mission. Previous to Cassini's Grand Finale orbits, all images of Saturn's majestic ring system were taken from outside of the rings looking in. Pictured in the inset is the remarkable video, while the spacecraft's positions are depicted in the surrounding animation. Details of the complex rings are evident as the short time-lapse sequence begins, while the paper-thin thickness of the rings becomes apparent near the video's end. The featured images were taken on August 20. Cassini has only a few more orbits around Saturn left before it is directed to dive into the giant planet on September 15.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and https://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at https://ciclops.org.

Animation/GIF Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute
Capture Date: August 20, 2017
Release Date: September 4, 2017

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