New From Tornado Titans!

Hurricane Florence

Hurricane Florence wide-angle ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took this image of Hurricane Florence on 12 September 2018, 400 km high from the International Space Station. He commented: “Watch out, America! Hurricane Florence is so enormous, we could only capture her with a super wide angle lens from the International Space Station, 400 km directly above the eye. Get prepared on the East Coast, this is a no-kidding nightmare coming for you.” Alexander is on his second six-month Space Station mission.

Grand Teton, Wyoming, photo by Mike Holloman

What is this dark spot in the center of the image?

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the star cluster Trumpler 14. One of the largest gatherings of hot, massive and bright stars in the Milky Way, this cluster houses some of the most luminous stars in our entire galaxy.

The prominent dark patch, close to the centre of the cluster is a so called Bok globule: this is an isolated and relatively small dark nebula, containing dense dust and gas. These objects are still subjects of intense research as their structure and density remains somewhat a mystery.

Credit: NASA & ESA, Jesús Maíz Apellániz (Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, Spain)

this storm season started off so poorly for me but the last week has been one of the best weeks of my life. life is weird like that. 

Mammatus clouds are a relatively rare and dramatic variety. (Image and video credit: M. Olbinski)

Video Clip SS2935432 (Supercell Thunderstorm, timelapse)

Timelapse footage of a Supercell thunderstorm with multiple lightning flashes. 

A supercell is a large rotating storm system that often produces heavy rain, hail and sometimes tornadoes. The supercell is centred on a very powerful updraft, which lifts warm, moist air to high altitude. It cools as it rises, condensing and falling as precipitation. 

The base of the cloud is marked by a shelf cloud extending forwards, and a low wall cloud at the updraft/downdraft interface. This supercell was filmed in Kansas, USA, in June 2015. Such storms are most common in this region in spring and early summer.

Supercells are often put into three classification types: Classic, Low-precipitation (LP), and High-precipitation (HP). LP supercells are usually found in climates that are more arid, such as the high plains of the United States, and HP supercells are most often found in moist climates. 

Supercells can occur anywhere in the world under the right pre-existing weather conditions, but they are most common in the Great Plains of the United States in an area known as Tornado Alley and in the Tornado Corridor of Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.

© Roger Hill / Science Source

NASA’s Hubble Celebrates 21st Anniversary with “Rose” of Galaxies by NASA Goddard Photo and Video