Dying Star May Shed Light on Earth’s Weather
From an international command center at Mt. Cuba Observatory in Wilmington, Del., University of Delaware astronomer Judi Provencal is coordinating the Whole Earth Telescope's latest observing run, which focuses on a dying star in the constellation Ophiuchus. (Photo by Kevin Quinlan/University of Delaware)
The Whole Earth Telescope (WET), a worldwide network of observatories coordinated by the University of Delaware, is synchronizing its lenses to provide round-the-clock coverage of a cooling star. As the star dims in the twilight of its life, scientists hope it will shed light on the workings of our own planet and other mysteries of the galaxy.
The dying star, a white dwarf identified as WDJ1524-0030, located in the constellation Ophiuchus in the southern sky, is losing its brightness as it cools, its nuclear fuel spent. It will be monitored continuously from May 15 to June 11 by WET, a global partnership of telescopes which was formed in 1986. (more…)
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Wireless System to Steer Drivers Away from Dangerous Weather
This composite image simulates the type of visual alert that a driver might receive from the road warning system being tested by NCAR. (UCAR, photomontage by Michael Chapman and Carlye Calvin)
Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are testing an innovative technological system in the Detroit area this month that ultimately will help protect drivers from being surprised by black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions.
The prototype system is designed to gather detailed information about weather and road conditions from moving vehicles. Within about a decade, it should enable motor vehicles equipped with wireless technology to transmit automated updates about local conditions to a central database, which will then relay alerts to other drivers in the area. (more…)
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Ice Discovery Could Lead to New Techniques to Modify Weather Patterns
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have discovered a five-sided ice chain structure that could be used to modify future weather patterns.
Researchers, in collaboration with University College London and the Fritz-Haber Institut in Berlin, created the first moments of water condensing on matter – a process vital for the formation of clouds in the atmosphere – by analysing how the two interact on a flat copper surface. Ice has rarely been viewed at the nanoscale before and the team discovered a one-dimensional chain structure built from pentagon-shaped rings, rather than the more commonly seen hexagonal structures of ice formations like those seen in snowflakes. (more…)
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Next Gerneration NASA Ocean Tracker Will Enhance Long-Term Weather Predictions
Paul Siqueira is the lead researcher building an interferometric receiver.
For weather forecasters trying to stay ahead of the next tropical cyclone, deadly heat wave or drought, knowing the ocean water temperature, circulation patterns and current shifts can be critical factors to success. Now, scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, are designing and building the next generation of orbiting tracker for NASA that will supply such data with unparalleled precision.
The 18-inch receiver being built at UMass Amherst, is part of the larger instrument expected to greatly enhance forecasting. It works by reflecting 35-GHz microwaves off the Earth’s surface from an orbit 600 miles above to track factors that long-range meteorologists use to predict climate phenomena. Knowing water temperature and current flow can help to give early warning of an El Niño effect, for example, which periodically triggers drought, floods, and other unusual weather events, costing billions of dollars. (more…)
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