Eyes to the skies as Comet PANSTARRS becomes visible during March

Luis Argerich from Buenos Aires, Argentina, captured Comet PANSTARRS in the sky above Mercedes, Argentina, on February 11, 2013. The comet shone at magnitude 4.5 to the left of an Iridium flare.

The long wait is nearly over. Northern Hemisphere skygazers haven’t seen a bright comet with a long tail since Comet Hale-Bopp graced the night sky in 1997. But if predictions hold, Comet PANSTARRS (C/2011 L4) should be a nice naked-eye object and look impressive through binoculars after sunset starting in the second week of March.

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Dust drifts over the Arabian Sea

By January 13, 2013, the dust storm that originally arose in northern Iran had spread over the Arabian Sea. A veil of dust extended southward past Oman, and eastward to the coast of India. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this natural-color image on January 13. 

Over most of the area pictured here, the dust was translucent, but off the coast of Oman, a swirl of dust was thick enough to completely hide the water surface below.

Dust plumes initially arose from discrete source points in northern Iran, and the storm likely picked up additional particles as it spread. Over the course of three days, the dust storm traveled roughly 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) to the south-southwest. Over the Arabian Sea, the leading edge of the dust storm spanned about 1,200 kilometers (700 miles).

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: Aqua - MODIS

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Flooding, Kolkata, India, September 2012

Kolkata, India. 6th September 2012 -- Floods continue in parts of Behala due to heavy rain. The first heavy rains this monsoon lashed the metropolis along with other parts of Gangetic West Bengal. Many areas were water-logged after Kolkata received 60 mm of rainfall. Images Corbis

 

 

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River Of Haze Flows Over Western India

A river of haze flowed over western India and the Arabian Sea in early January 2012. 

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Haze Hovers Over The Bay Of Bengal

By early November 2011, haze had hovered along the southern slopes of the Himalaya for days. The river of haze flowed toward the southeast along the mountain range, and turned southward over Bangladesh. 

On November 7, 2011, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of haze over Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal.

Farmers in northwestern India frequently set agricultural fires at this time of year, and those fires no doubt contribute to the haze. Other factors in the mixture likely include urban and industrial pollution.

NASA image courtesy LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: Terra - MODIS

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