Space Events

Space Weather - Sprites And Trolls At The Edge Of Space

We all know what comes out of the bottom of thunderclouds: lightning. But rarely do we see what comes out of the top. On August 10th, astronauts onboard the International Space Station were perfectly positioned to observe red sprites dancing atop a cluster of storms in Mexico. They snapped this incredible photo:

This shows just how high sprites can go. The photo shows their red forms reaching all the way from the thunderstorm below to a layer of green airglow some 100 km above Earth's surface. This means sprites touch the edge of space, alongside auroras, meteors and noctilucent clouds. They are a true space weather phenomenon.

Space Events

Asteroid Defense for Earth Planned

Measures to protect Earth from a catastrophic impact by an asteroid or other near-Earth objects (NEO) are being developed in a four-year plan by the European Space Agency (ESA). The plan comes less than three months after a meteor exploded over Russia’s Ural region, injuring hundreds.

There are currently 10,000 NEO’s that have orbits that bring them relatively close to Earth.

Detlef Koschny, head of the agency’s NEO study office, says more coordinated scans of the sky each night are necessary to find currently undiscovered NEOs.

Studies to determine if it would be more effective to deflect threatening asteroids with an explosion or an impact with a large object are also being planned.

The proposals were being discussed in a conference near Madrid at a meeting set up by Seimos Space, an industrial partner working with the ESA.

Space Events

Newly discovered Asteroid 2012 TC4 , 22 meters in size, will pass by earth on October 12th just 0.2 lunar distances away (1/5 of the way between the Earth and the Moon).

Meanwhile, newly-discovered asteroid 2012 TV was flying through the Earth-Moon system 0.7 lunar distances away (about 2/3rd of the way between the Earth and the Moon) on Sunday. The 40 meter-wide space rock is glowing like a 13th-magnitude star.

Asteroid

Astronomers have discovered a new 'unusually large' asteroid just days ago the size of a city block (about 500 metres wide) which will pass by the Earth on Friday. There is no danger of a collision; the asteroid will pass within 14 times the distance of the moon from the Earth.