Heavens

NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Storm Hanna on Oct. 27 when it made landfall near the northern Nicaragua and southern Honduras border.

On Oct. 27 at 16:00 UTC (12 p.m. EDT) the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Hanna straddling the border between Honduras and Nicaragua. The image, created by NASA's MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, showed strong thunderstorms on both sides of the border, bringing heavy rainfall to those area.

NOAA's GOES-West satellite captured an image of post-tropical cyclone Ana's remnant clouds raining on British Columbia, Canada today, Oct. 28. Wind warnings along some coastal sections of British Columbia continued today as the storm moved through the region.

NOAA's GOES-West satellite gathered infrared data on Ana's remnant clouds and that data was made into an image by NASA/NOAA's GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. In the image the remnant clouds resemble a frontal system.

A large active region on the sun erupted with another X-class flare on Oct. 27, 2014 -- its fourth since Oct. 24. The flare peaked at 10:47 a.m. EDT.

X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength. An X2 is twice as intense as an X1, an X3 is three times as intense, etc.

Astronomers with the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) captured pictures not only of Thursday's partial solar eclipse, but also of the "monster" sized active region or sun spot that has many comparing it to one of a similar size that occurred 11 years ago.

This news release is available in French.

The first images of a nova during its early fireball stage--when it ejects material, and gases expand and cool--show that this activity is more complicated than predicted.

That is the conclusion, published in the current issue of Nature, from a research collaboration led by Georgia State University Astronomer Gail Schaefer that includes 37 researchers (many who are National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded) from 17 institutions. The researchers observed the expanding thermonuclear fireball from a nova that erupted last year in the constellation Delphinus.

Tropical Cyclone 04A continues to intensify and had been renamed Tropical Cyclone Nilofar when NASA's Aqua satellite passed overhead on Oct. 27.

The MODIS instrument aboard Aqua captured a visible image of Nilofar that showed a ring of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the low-level center from the east and west.

At 5:05 a.m. PDT on Monday, October 27, Environment Canada's Meteorological Service posted a Wind warning in effect for British Columbia's Central coast, Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, North Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast. The warning noted strong winds may cause damage are expected or occurring. In addition, there will likely be heavy rainfall associated with the system and rainfall amounts of 50 to 75 mm (~2 to 3 inches) are possible for tonight into Tuesday.

NASA's Terra satellite spotted a "zombie" tropical storm as Halloween week kicks off. Tropical Depression 9 made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula late last week and lingered as a remnant low pressure area on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25 and 26. Satellite data revealed that those remnants had reformed quickly and jumped up to tropical storm status, where it became "zombie" storm named Tropical Storm Hanna off the coast of Nicaragua. NASA's Terra satellite spotted strong thunderstorms around the zombie storm's center as it passed overhead.

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- The job market for new college graduates may be heating up fast, but starting salaries will see only modest growth, a Michigan State University economist says in a new study.

Astronomers at the University of Sydney are part of a team that has taken images of the thermonuclear fireball from a 'nova star' for the first time tracking the explosion as it expands.

The research is published in the journal Nature today.

The eruption occurred last year in the constellation of Delphinus (the Dolphin).

Recently, a team of astronomers reported discovering a pulsating star that appears to shine with the energy of 10 million suns. The find, which was announced in Nature, is the brightest pulsar – a type of rotating neutron star that emits a bright beam of energy that regularly sweeps past Earth like a lighthouse beam – ever seen. But what are the odds finding another one?

According to one of the paper's authors, chances are good now that they know what to look for.

MOUNT WILSON, Calif.–Astronomers at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) have observed the expanding thermonuclear fireball from a nova that erupted last year in the constellation Delphinus with unprecedented clarity.

The XRT collects X-rays emitted from the sun's corona - the hot, tenuous outer layer that extends from the sun's visible surface into the inner solar system. Gas in the solar corona reaches temperatures of millions of degrees. The energy source that heats the corona is a puzzle. The sun's surface is only 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while the corona is more than 100 times hotter.

NASA scientists have identified an unexpected high-altitude methane ice cloud on Saturn's moon Titan that is similar to exotic clouds found far above Earth's poles.

This lofty cloud, imaged by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, was part of the winter cap of condensation over Titan's north pole. Now, eight years after spotting this mysterious bit of atmospheric fluff, researchers have determined that it contains methane ice, which produces a much denser cloud than the ethane ice previously identified there.