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【理科】国際宇宙ステーションから見た台風。 #science

scipsy:

Hurricane Earl: The Astronaut View

The relatively placid view from the International Space Station belied the potent forces at work in Hurricane Earl as it hovered northeast of Puerto Rico on Aug. 30, 2010. With maximum sustained winds of 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour, the storm was classified as a category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale as it passed north of the Virgin Islands.

In this photograph captured with a digital SLR camera by NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, Earl had a distinct eye that spanned about 17 miles (28 kilometers). Most of the storm had a seemingly uniform top, though the bottom edge of the image gives some sense of the towering thunderheads forming over the ocean. The solar panels of the ISS remind us that the sun is still shining, at least on ISS Expedition 24.

“Hurricane Earl is gathering some serious strength,” Wheelock wrote from his perch on ISS. “It is incredible what a difference a day makes when you’re dealing with this force of nature. Please keep a watchful eye on this one…not sure if Earl will go quietly into the night like Danielle.” (via NASA)

【理科】無重力では、ろうそくの火はどう燃える？ #science

matthen:

What would happen if you lit a candle in space?  (Provided the oxygen concentration in your spaceship wasn’t so high it just blew up..)  Well gravity on Earth actually helps flames burn. The gravity gradient causes convective currents, lifting light soot to the tip of the flame and drawing in oxygen.  But no such currents occur in space; a helium balloon wouldn’t float in any particular direction.  As soot isn’t being taken away from the wick and oxygen isn’t being pulled in towards it, it burns colder, more slowly, and in an almost invisible blue colour. [more]