Here is an impressive meteorite that fell down over Russia today. I saw one meteorite like this a few weeks ago where I live while I was driving southward and it was really impressive but not so much as the one in Russia.

 

500 people reported injuries ...pretty scary stuff.

Eden

 

Yay !!!! UrtheCast is putting HD cameras on the space station and streaming them to the web !

Seems that we'll be able to zoom in so much (I still don't know how) that we'll be able to spot buildings and even cars through it (definition on the ground around 1-5 meters). I'm still looking for a confirmation, but it seems that it'll be available for free.

http://www.urthecast.com/

Another good news, there will be two visible comets in the sky this year, one in March named C/2011 L4 Panstarrs and another one (C/2012 S1 aka ISON) said to be SPECTACULAR around November and December 2013. We will even be able to see it briefly in daylight !!!!

http://earthsky.org/space/big-sun-di...acular-in-2013

 

The latest report I've read mentions 725 injured people... Argh !!

At first, I thought that that meteorite had connections with the big asteriod that is passing closely by our planet today but the trajectory is significantly different, which wouldn't be the case if they were linked and were coming from the same location in space. Hence, that's just a coincidence given that thousands of tons of meteorites end up burned through the atmosphere or even hit the earth each year.

http://rt.com/news/russia-meteor-meteorite-asteroid-chelyabinsk-291/

 

A big rock coming from the other side of the universe and saying hi to us...

Simulation of the encounter between 2012 DA14 and the Earth :



Edit : For those who wanna observe it with binoculars : http://www.heavens-above.com/

 

http://www.today.com/video/today/50820779#50820779

this is probably the one that was removed from utube

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event

Some information about a similar event in Tunguska, Siberia in 1908.

 

Posted this in a hurry last night. I wanted to add that this was something I remembered learning about in science class at school, and I remember seeing the photos of the area.

In the link mentioned above, there is a paragraph towards the end of the article that discusses the blast patterns of the impact. I was amazed at the fact that the trees located at the epicentre of the blast were scorched and had no branches left on them yet they remained standing.

Trees located further away from the epicentre of the blast were knocked sideways. The paragraph in the article explains that at the epicentre, the blast waves move in a vertical direction. Those trees located around the epicentre were knocked sideways as these trees were affected by blast waves moving in a horizontal direction.

Wallflower

 

Ephemeris :

http://www.imcce.fr/en/ephemerides/phenomenes/rts/index.php

Interesting links :

http://earthsky.org/space/comet-panstarrs-possibly-visible-to-eye-in-march-2013

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Argh, I had forgotten about the comet, went out just for a few minutes a while ago and saw nothing because there is public lighting all around where I live. I'm gonna take my car and drive a few kms to a place where it's pitch dark.... The moon is still high up in the sky here so if I'm lucky, I may see the beautiful long-haired "lady"....

 

Links towards an interactive flash animation.

http://www.obspm.fr/IMG/swf/news_2011l4s47c6.swf

Interesting website with planetarium (in English too)

http://neave.com/planetarium/

 

Hey Josh,

Here is how it's gonna look tonight at sunset in your neck of the wood. The yellow line is the horizon. At the right of the comet is the square shaped constellation of Pegasus.

 

Well, you know what our Lord said... Just give it a try...

"Because of YOUR little faith. For truly I say to YOU, If YOU have faith the size of a mustard grain, YOU will say to this mountain, ˜Transfer from here to there," and it will transfer, and nothing will be impossible for YOU." - Mat.17:20

In 1999, there was a solar eclipse near Paris and I was there to observe it. It was cloudy and we were lucky enough to have sunny spell (well, not so sunny if it was for an eclipse...) long enough to enable us to see the eclipse. T'was beautiful!

Regarding meteors, please read :

"...wild waves of the sea that foam up their own causes for shame; stars with no set course, for which the blackness of darkness stands reserved forever." - Jude 13

---------------------------------------------------------------

Jude 13

Wandering stars (v. 13 b). Jude was not referring to fixed stars, planets, or comets, because they have definite positions and orbits. He was referring to meteors, falling stars that suddenly appear and then vanish into the darkness, never to be seen again. Our Lord is compared to a star (Rev 2:28; 22:16), and Christians are to shine as stars in this dark world (Phil 2:15). Fixed stars can be depended on to guide the traveler through the darkness, but wandering stars can only lead him astray.

One of my hobbies is collecting books of sermons, not only by famous preachers, but also by obscure and forgotten men whose names once were famous. I have noticed that many a "pulpit beacon" has turned out to be a fallen star! It is disturbing to read histories and biographies and see how "the mighty have fallen." For the most part, those who have been true to the Word are ministering yet today as lights shining in the darkness, while the preachers of false doctrine have fallen into oblivion.

God has reserved chains of darkness for the rebellious angels (Jude 6), and He has reserved "the blackness of darkness forever" for apostate teachers. Beware of following a falling star! It will lead you into eternal blackness !

(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor
Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.)
​

-------------------------------------------------------------

Ephemeris

Date TT R. A. (2000) Decl. Delta r Elong. Phase Mag
2013 03 02 23 33 35.6 -25 16 03 1.1052 0.3915 20.6 63.0 1.6
2013 03 03 23 41 29.8 -23 06 24 1.1010 0.3735 19.7 63.3 1.4
2013 03 04 23 48 57.2 -20 50 01 1.0983 0.3567 18.8 63.4 1.2
2013 03 05 23 55 55.0 -18 27 24 1.0970 0.3415 17.9 63.3 1.0
2013 03 06 00 02 20.5 -15 59 13 1.0971 0.3283 17.1 63.0 0.9
2013 03 07 00 08 11.1 -13 26 23 1.0985 0.3174 16.5 62.4 0.7
2013 03 08 00 13 24.7 -10 49 58 1.1011 0.3091 15.9 61.7 0.6
2013 03 09 00 18 00.1 -08 11 18 1.1047 0.3038 15.5 60.9 0.5
2013 03 10 00 21 56.9 -05 31 49 1.1092 0.3016 15.2 60.0 0.5
2013 03 11 00 25 16.0 -02 53 01 1.1145 0.3026 15.1 59.1 0.5
2013 03 12 00 27 59.3 -00 16 19 1.1204 0.3069 15.2 58.2 0.6
2013 03 13 00 30 09.9 +02 17 02 1.1267 0.3142 15.5 57.5 0.7
2013 03 14 00 31 51.4 +04 46 07 1.1334 0.3242 15.9 56.9 0.9
2013 03 15 00 33 08.0 +07 10 14 1.1404 0.3366 16.4 56.4 1.1
2013 03 16 00 34 03.4 +09 29 01 1.1476 0.3511 17.0 56.0 1.3
2013 03 17 00 34 41.4 +11 42 21 1.1550 0.3674 17.7 55.7 1.5
2013 03 18 00 35 05.2 +13 50 15 1.1625 0.3850 18.6 55.3 1.7
2013 03 19 00 35 17.6 +15 52 53 1.1701 0.4038 19.4 55.1 1.9
2013 03 20 00 35 20.8 +17 50 30 1.1779 0.4235 20.3 54.8 2.1
2013 03 21 00 35 16.7 +19 43 24 1.1858 0.4439 21.3 54.5 2.3
2013 03 22 00 35 07.0 +21 31 51 1.1937 0.4648 22.2 54.3 2.6
2013 03 23 00 34 52.8 +23 16 12 1.2017 0.4861 23.2 54.0 2.8
2013 03 24 00 34 35.1 +24 56 43 1.2098 0.5078 24.2 53.7 3.0
2013 03 25 00 34 14.7 +26 33 41 1.2179 0.5296 25.2 53.4 3.2
2013 03 26 00 33 52.4 +28 07 23 1.2260 0.5516 26.2 53.1 3.4
2013 03 27 00 33 28.4 +29 38 03 1.2342 0.5737 27.2 52.8 3.5
2013 03 28 00 33 03.4 +31 05 55 1.2425 0.5958 28.2 52.4 3.7
2013 03 29 00 32 37.5 +32 31 11 1.2507 0.6180 29.2 52.1 3.9
2013 03 30 00 32 11.0 +33 54 04 1.2589 0.6401 30.2 51.8 4.1
2013 03 31 00 31 44.1 +35 14 43 1.2672 0.6622 31.2 51.4 4.2

 

Voyager crosses into the unknown

http://www.optuszoo.com.au/news/technology/news-com-au/voyager-crosses-into-the-unknown/926188

 

Nasa plans to capture asteroid

http://www.optuszoo.com.au/news/top/news-com-au/nasa-to-capture-asteroid/927712

 

Beautiful video that fills us with awe before God's creation...



From here : http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sdo/news/coronal-rain.html

 

Here is a wonderful video about our beautiful planet and the feelings that it inspires to astronauts :

http://vimeo.com/planetarycollective/overview

 

Here is a website with beautiful pictures like the ones below... :







That photographer is a genius.