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Weekend Moon will be biggest of the year

Maggie McKee
New Scientist
Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:47 UTC
Image
© T A Rector/I P Dell'Antonio/NOAO/AURA/NSF
The Moon orbits Earth in an elliptical path that brings it 50,000 km closer to our planet on one side of its orbit than on the other.

The Moon will shine especially bright this weekend, as it will come closer to Earth during its full phase than at any other time in 2009.

The Moon does not orbit Earth in a perfect circle. Instead, it follows an elliptical path that brings it 50,000 kilometres closer to our planet on one side of its orbit (called perigee) than the other (apogee).

On Saturday, 10 January, the Moon will reach perigee, coming within 357,500 kilometres of Earth. The next day, it will enter its full phase, when its disc appears completely illuminated by the Sun.

This will make it about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than typical full Moons (see the difference in the full Moon's size in 2004).
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Sun

Climate No-Change? US Temperature in 2008 Was Near 20th Century Average

Jim Efstathiou Jr.
Bloomberg
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:28 UTC
The temperature for the U.S. in 2008 was near the annual average experienced since 1895 and below normal for December, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The average temperature in the contiguous states was 53 degrees Fahrenheit (11.7 degrees Celsius), 0.2 degrees above the 20th-century average, according to a report today from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina.

U.S. temperatures have increased 0.12 degrees Fahrenheit per decade since 1895 and by 0.41 degrees in the last 50 years, NOAA data show.
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Info

Update: Death toll in Costa Rica quake rises to 14 victims

Marianela Jimenez
Associated Press
Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:41 UTC
The death toll from a strong earthquake that rocked Costa Rica has risen to 14 with at least 22 people still missing, the Red Cross said Friday.

The magnitude-6.1 quake shook the Central American nation Thursday afternoon, collapsing homes, setting off landslides that blocked major highways and trapping hundreds of people including foreign tourists in damaged mountain towns.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake - Greater Los Angeles Area, California


US Geological Survey
Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:28 UTC
Image

Friday, January 09, 2009 at 03:49:46 UTC

Thursday, January 08, 2009 at 07:49:46 PM at epicenter

Location 34.107°N, 117.304°W

Depth 14.1 km (8.8 miles)

Region Greater Los Angeles Area California

Distances 3 km (2 miles) SSW (202°) from San Bernardino, CA

5 km (3 miles) NNE (19°) from Colton, CA

7 km (4 miles) E (94°) from Rialto, CA

87 km (54 miles) E (86°) from Los Angeles Civic Center, CA
      Read More...
Alarm Clock

Fatal Avalanches Rattle Ski Country in the West

Jonathan Hayward
The Canadian Press
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:12 UTC
Jackson, Wyoming - Whistler Blackcomb resort in British Columbia has stationed guards at the top of some areas to prevent skiers and snowboarders from entering hazardous terrain. Grouse Mountain resort, in North Vancouver, has suggested that government action may be needed to deter skiers and snowboarders from using off-limit areas. And Jackson Hole in Wyoming has already burned through nearly half of this year's budget for avalanche hazard reduction work, one month into the season.

Resorts throughout the western United States and Canada are struggling with avalanche hazards as weather patterns have created uncommonly widespread conditions of instability, wreaking havoc on mountains crowded with skiers of all levels at the start of ski season. Last week, avalanches at Whistler Blackcomb killed a snowboarder and a skier on terrain outside the resort's boundaries. On Wednesday morning, a controlled slide ran past Jackson Hole's $10 million Bridger Restaurant - already damaged by a recent avalanche - while the mountain was closed to the public.

"It's a war zone," said Lanny Johnson, a wilderness medical advisor and former patroller at Lake Tahoe's Alpine Meadows ski resort. He added that this avalanche cycle had "the best in the field scratching their heads."
      Read More...
Igloo

Europe's cold snap claims 13 more lives


Agence France-Presse
Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:16 UTC
Europe's cold snap claimed up to 13 more lives as the region battled another day of icy weather and eastern Europe felt the effects of Russian gas cuts.

Poland's interior ministry said on Thursday that six more people had died in the country, taking its death toll from hypothermia to 82 since November, 23 of them in recent days.

Five people, including three homeless, also died in Ukraine's southern Kherson region where temperatures plummeted to minus 19 degrees Celsius, according to the ministry of emergency situations.

While German police said on Thursday the cold snap had claimed another two victims since Monday, both found in the west of the country where temperatures plunged to minus 16 Celsius.
      Read More...
Einstein

Extreme Alaska cold grounds planes, disables cars

Steve Quinn
Associated Press
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:10 UTC
Juneau, Alaska - Ted Johnson planned on using a set of logs to a build a cabin in Alaska's interior. Instead he'll burn some of them to stay warm.

Extreme temperatures - in Johnson's case about 60 below zero - call for extreme measures in a statewide cold snap so frigid that temperatures have grounded planes, disabled cars, frozen water pipes and even canceled several championship cross country ski races.

Alaskans are accustomed to subzero temperatures but the prolonged conditions have folks wondering what's going on with winter less than a month old.

National Weather Service meteorologist Andy Brown said high pressure over much of central Alaska has been keeping other weather patterns from moving through. New conditions get pushed north or south while the affected area faces daily extremes.
      Read More...
Question

Philippines: Hog deaths in Davao Sur still a mystery

Orlando Dinoy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:23 UTC
The provincial veterinarian office on Thursday said the death of at least 50 pigs here since December was caused by a mixture of viral and bacterial infection.

But Dr. Nestor Barroga, provincial veterinarian, said they could not determine yet what type of virus affected the animals.

Barroga's statement came in the wake of the tests being conducted by experts from the United Nations on pigs in Luzon, where a strain of the Ebola-Reston virus was found last year.

Barroga said they were trying to immediately determine the type of the virus that downed pigs in at least eight villages here and that more samples have been brought to the regional animal center in Davao City for testing.
      Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake - Costa Rica


United States Geological Survey
Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:13 UTC
Image
© USGS

Magnitude 6.1 - COSTA RICA

2009 January 08 19:21:36 UTC

Thursday, January 08, 2009 at 01:21:36 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 10.221°N, 84.207°W

Depth 14 km (8.7 miles) set by location program

Region COSTA RICA

Distances 35 km (20 miles) NNW of SAN JOSE, Costa Rica

75 km (45 miles) ENE of Puntarenas, Costa Rica

115 km (75 miles) SSE of San Carlos, Nicaragua

1770 km (1100 miles) SSW of Miami, Florida
      Read More...
Better Earth

Expert: Quakes could alter Yellowstone


Associated Press
Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:57 UTC
The recent swarm of small earthquakes in Yellowstone National Park could alter some of the park's thermal features but should not raise any concern about the park's large volcano erupting anytime soon, a researcher said.

More than 500 earthquakes have been recorded in the area around Yellowstone Lake in the past 10 days.

The earthquakes appear to be subsiding and caused no property damage. But they have left scientists and park officials wondering what it means for the world's first national park.
      Read More...
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