Two key climate change indicators — global surface temperatures and Arctic sea ice extent — have broken numerous records through the first half of 2016, according to NASA analyses of ground-based observations and satellite data. Each of the first six months of 2016 set a record as the warmest respective month globally in the modern…
2 Areas of Strength in a Weakening Tropical Cyclone Abela
Infrared data from the Suomi NPP satellite showed that Tropical Cyclone Abela continues to weaken in the Western Pacific Ocean. On Tuesday, July 19, 2016 at 0900 UTC (5 a.m. EDT), Tropical Cyclone Abela was centered near 14.7 degrees south latitude and 54.7 degrees east longitude. That’s about 540 nautical miles east-northeast of Antananarivo, Madagascar.…
Suomi NPP Satellite Sees Depression Become Tropical Storm Darby
The Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Darby as it was developing in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Tropical Depression 4 formed around 5 p.m. EDT off the coast of western Mexico on Monday, July 11. Soon after it formed he Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard NASA-NOAA-DOD’s Suomi NPP…
Early Daylight Satellite Image Shows Depression Intensify into Tropical Storm Celia
Astronomers Find First ‘Wind Nebula’ Around Magnetar
Astronomers have discovered a vast cloud of high-energy particles called a wind nebula around a rare ultra-magnetic neutron star, or magnetar, for the first time. The find offers a unique window into the properties, environment and outburst history of magnetars, which are the strongest magnets in the universe. A neutron star is the crushed core…
Hubble Confirms New Dark Spot on Neptune
New images obtained on May 16, 2016, by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope confirm the presence of a dark vortex in the atmosphere of Neptune. Though similar features were seen during the Voyager 2 flyby of Neptune in 1989 and by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994, this vortex is the first one observed on Neptune…
X-Ray Echoes of Shredded Star Provide Close Up of ‘Killer’ Black Hole
Some 3.9 billion years ago in the heart of a distant galaxy, the intense tidal pull of a monster black hole shredded a star that passed too close. When X-rays produced in this event first reached Earth on March 28, 2011, they were detected by NASA’s Swift satellite, which notified astronomers around the world. Within…
Tropical Depression 1E Dissipates
Mission Paves Way for Space-based Detection of Gravitational Waves
NASA Satellite Sees Heavy Rain in Tropical Depression Bonnie
The Global Precipitation Measurement mission known as GPM passed over Tropical Depression Bonnie and found heavy rainfall from a few thunderstorms within. Tropical Storm Bonnie weakened to a tropical depression on May 29, 2016. The circulation was labeled as “post-tropical” and has been moving very slowly to the northeast near the Carolinas coastline. Bonnie developed…
NASA’s Hubble Finds Universe is Expanding Faster Than Expected
Astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the universe is expanding 5 percent to 9 percent faster than expected. “This surprising finding may be an important clue to understanding those mysterious parts of the universe that make up 95 percent of everything and don’t emit light, such as dark energy, dark matter, and…