Igor near hurricane strength in Atlantic
Tropical Storm Igor is nearing hurricane strength as it swirls over the open Atlantic Ocean. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami says the storm is likely to become a hurricane late on Saturday or early Sunday.Igor remains far from land and was about 1840km west of the Cape Verde Islands on Saturday afternoon. The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 110kph.
It was moving to the west at 30kph
Hurricane Earl Path Will Bring Real--And Financial--Aftermath
Hurricane Earl is set on a path for the U.S., currently projected to head up north to lower New England and potentially could maintain its hurricane strength while doing so.
Two Moons Tonight, August 2010
Two moons appearing at the same time happens only once every 1,000 years and isn’t scheduled to reappear until 2287. The second moon will actually be the planet Mars in our Solar System and on the rare occasion it appears that we have two moons at the same time. This is according to an email rumor circulating since 2003 claims August 27 will bring 'the closest encounter between Mars and Earth in recorded history.NASA has reported that there is no such thing as two moons showing in the skies over the world. And that this rumor started in 2003 and has since reoccurred at the end of August every year since.
Official: Int'l aid for Pakistan floods over $800M
According to recent news, the world has totaled a very big amount of money, given or pledged, summing up to more than $800 million to help Pakistan cope with massive floods, the foreign minister said Sunday, as a surging river in the south led authorities to urge thousands more people to evacuate.
Pakistan is grateful for the international assistance, which came after the United Nations appealed for $460 million in aid for the deluged country, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the the total commitments and pledges that Pakistan has got so far are $815.58 million.
Pakistan is grateful for the international assistance, which came after the United Nations appealed for $460 million in aid for the deluged country, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the the total commitments and pledges that Pakistan has got so far are $815.58 million.
August Pakistan Flood, The Worst in Its History
The recent floodings in Pakistan is the worst in its history ever, specifically the worst flooding in nearly a century, according to UN officials. The disaster has already claimed the lives of 1,600 people and affected over four million people and left at least 1,600 dead.
As the Disasters Emergency Committee launches an emergency appeal to raise funds for victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan, British charities are scrambling to get aid to the worst affected regions.
Rare Planet Alignment Gives Way to Perseid Meteor Shower
Fri Aug 13, 10:31 am MLA
Click thumbnails to enlarge
The annual Perseid meteor shower is already putting on an excellent show, and the celestial fireworks have yet to peak. The main event is tonight. Meanwhile, a delightfully tight configuration of planets graces the evening sky. The Perseids are bits of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which has laid down several streams of debris, each in a slightly different location, over the centuries as it orbits the sun.
Every August, Earth passes through these debris streams, which spread out over time. Most meteors are the size of sand grains, with a few as large as a pea. They vaporize as they enter Earth's atmosphere, creating brilliant streaks across the sky.
This year 2010, the Perseid peak activity is expected over the night of Thursday 12th to Friday 13th 2010. And with no moonlight to speak of (the Moon is new on August 10th), conditions should be very favorable, weather permitting.
Rarely has there been a better time to go out, look up and enjoy easy-to-watch cosmic spectacles.
Meanwhile, Venus, Mars and Saturn are clustered in the evening sky and will be joined tonight and Friday by the graceful crescent moon. Anyone with clear skies can easily spot the foursome looming above the western horizon as soon as darkness falls. It's a great opportunity, using SPACE.com's planet alignment map, to find and identify planets you otherwise might mistake for stars.
But wait, there's more. In the predawn all week, Jupiter is a brilliant jewel high in the southern sky and impossible to miss — nothing nearby is even close to being as bright.
While the planets and our moon are all very far apart in space, they appear lined up this week thanks to a special circumstance of orbital mechanics. The outer planets, Mars and Saturn, take much longer to go around the sun than the inner planet Venus. Venus "laps" the outer planets frequently, and it never strays far from the sun from our vantage point.
Right now, as we look off into space in the evening, we're seeing Venus off to one side of the sun, and Mars and Saturn behind it and well beyond the sun.
