Churchill Science

More great questions from the Great Wall…

I am leaving for Iceland tonight for a weeklong expedition with Earthwatch called Icelandic Glaciers. You can click on the picture to learn more about the expedition.

After I’m done being a volunteer scientist, I’ll be spending a few days visiting some really neat places in Iceland. I’ll try to take as many photos and videos as I can!

Ever wondered what a volcano erupting would look like if you could fly over the top of it? This short video was taken from the International Space Station as it passed over the Sarychev Volcano on an island that is part of Russia:

It’s cloudy all around the volcano, but the gas was so hot that it cleared a hole. That is how astronauts aboard the space station were able to get a clear view.

Jupiter. What a monster…

Jupiter’s moon Io, the most volcanically active place in the solar system.

Top 5 Reasons Europa Rocks!

Aliens of the Deep and Mission to Europa – explains how it’s possible for life to exist away from the Sun’s energy. Could one of Jupiter’s moons also contain life?

A futuristic, fictional look at what exploration of Europa might look like.

When volcanoes erupt, there is a huge cloud of dust, gas, and sometimes ash. For a long time, scientists have known that there are lightning strikes inside these clouds, but needed to invent a way to screen out the cloud itself to get a picture of what was going on inside.

This image was taken by the Lightning Mapping Array, set up by scientists to take measurements inside the volcanic cloud at Mt. Redoubt in Alaska. The scientists set up their equipment when they heard that Mt. Redoubt was getting ready to erupt again, and waited two months until the eruptions began. Here’s yet another reason why it’s important to monitor volcanoes!

Here’s a little video summary of Lisa’s very favorite part of her Hawaii trip… Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. All of Hawaii was made by volcanoes, and this island is still growing every day. In fact you can see brand new land being made at the very end of this video.

Happy New Year and see you all at school tomorrow!