On December 27, 2011, the BBC's Cordelia Hebblethwaite had her article about the Congo's Loch Ness Monster, Mokele-mbembe, published. This is awesome. Scotland (Loch Ness Monster) and New York/Vermont (Lake Champlain's Champ) are not the onlt bodies of water with a monster. From her article:

"The search for Scotland's Loch Ness Monster is world famous. Far less well-known is the hunt for a similar creature, Mokele-mbembe, which is reputed to live in the remote north of Congo-Brazzaville. But how strong is the evidence?"

Is it aggressive? The articel also says this:

"Despite being a herbivore, it is said to roar aggressively if approached by humans. Some say it has a single horn, which it uses to kill elephants."

Jump over to the BBC site read the entire article. There is a drawing, maps, pictures, but sadly no pictures of the beast.

Additional Links:

• Wikipedia
• Mokele-mbembe: The Living Dinosaur!

@dmgerbino

This is so cool!

NASA Science News for Dec. 16, 2011

Sungrazing Comet Lovejoy has shocked astronomers by surviving its "death plunge" into the sun. Must-see movies of the comet's passage through the sun's atmosphere are featured in today's story from Science@NASA.

FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/16dec_cometlovejoy/

SUNDIVING COMET: Comet Lovejoy is plunging toward the sun, and its ~200-meter wide core is vaporizing furiously as it approaches the hot star. So far the comet's brightness seems to be exceeding expectations. Indeed, there is a slim chance that the sundiver will brighten enough to be seen with the naked eye in broad daylight on Dec. 15th. Check http://spaceweather.com for further discussion and the latest movies from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory.

____

I really hope I can see it!

Some really cool space events are happening this week. I try to watch the Geminid meteor shower every year. This year looks like a hoops one. Don't forget to watch Tuesday night.

Space Weather News for Dec. 13, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

GEMINID METEOR SHOWER:  Earth is passing through a stream of debris from near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, source of the annual Geminid meteor shower.  Forecasters expect meteor rates to reach 20-to-40 per hour when the shower peaks in bright moonlight on the night of Dec.13/14.  The best time to look, no matter where you live, is between 10 pm local time on Tuesday, Dec. 13, and sunrise on Wednesday, Dec. 14th. Check http://spaceweather.com for more information and live audio from a meteor radar.

BIG SUNDIVING COMET: A comet nearly as wide as two football fields (200m) is plunging toward the sun where it will most likely be destroyed in a spectacular light show on Dec. 15/16. Solar glare will hide the event from human eyes, but NASA and ESA spacecraft should have a grand view.  Check http://spaceweather.com for full coverage.

Enjoy these events.

@dmgerbino

Space Weather News for Dec. 9, 2011
http://spaceweather.com

LUNAR ECLIPSE:

Sky watchers on the Pacific side of Earth should be alert for a total lunar eclipse on Saturday, Dec. 10th.  The disk of the full Moon will turn a beautiful shade of copper-red as it passes through Earth's shadow between 4:45 am and 8:18 am Pacific Standard Time (12:45 to 16:18 UT).  For observers in western parts of the USA and Canada, the event will be magnified by the Moon illusion as the morning Moon sets behind trees, buildings, and other foreground objects along the western horizon.  

Please check http://spaceweather.com for more information and full coverage of the eclipse as it happens.

@dmgerbino