Ladd Observatory weather station blog
Watching the skies for meteors
Posted by: LaddObservatory, 9:02 PM GMT on January 22, 2012 +1
There are some times during the year when a number of meteors can be seen in the sky. For example, the recent Quadrantid meteor shower during the early morning hours of January 4th. But late January is not usually a time that you would expect to see meteors. It is possible, though.

At the Ladd Observatory we've been testing a sky camera to watch for interesting phenomena in the night sky. The camera has a field of view of 90 by 140 degrees which can take an image of nearly the entire sky every 10 seconds.

Last Thursday morning an extremely bright meteor was captured. It was brighter than Mars or Jupiter and left a trail that lingered for nearly 10 minutes.

Click here to see a time lapse video of the meteor.
 
 
Categories:Meteors
Updated: 9:23 PM GMT on January 22, 2012   Permalink | A A A
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2012 Quadrantids
Posted by: LaddObservatory, 9:33 AM GMT on January 04, 2012 +1
There is a digital camera in a weather proof box mounted on the roof of Ladd Observatory. The camera has a wide field ("fish eye") lens that can take an image of nearly the entire sky. North is to the right, and east is at top.Tonight is the Quadrantid meteor shower. The camera has been running for most of the night taking 10 second exposures. The first image shows a spectacular meteor in the same part of the sky as the planet Mars which is the bright dot behind the...
 
 
Categories:Meteors
Updated: 8:19 PM GMT on January 04, 2012   Permalink | A A A
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The summit station at El Misti, Peru (19,200 feet)
Posted by: LaddObservatory, 9:10 PM GMT on December 30, 2011 +1
"The night is passed at the hut, and the final ascent to the summit made on the second morning. This occupies several hours, as the animal stops to rest every fifteen or twenty feet at this altitude. On two occasions I was obliged to walk a short distance to cross snow which had drifted across the path, and realized the extreme difficulty of breathing during the exertion required.""The effect of the altitude upon me was chiefly to cause headache, sleeplessness and p...
Categories:Volcano History Weather Station
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"The Red Skies" of 1883
Posted by: LaddObservatory, 6:10 PM GMT on December 29, 2011 +4
"It is impossible not to conjecture a connection with the volcanic eruption in the Sunda Straits, by which, on Aug. 26, the island of Krakatoa disappeared wholly from the face of the earth.""The terrible nature of this outburst can hardly be realized: the sky was darkened for several days, the noise was heard two thousand miles, magnetic disturbances were noted, the tidal wave was distinctly felt at San Francisco, and the atmospheric disturbance was sufficient to ca...
Categories:Volcano History
Updated: 4:33 PM GMT on December 31, 2011   Permalink | A A A
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The first weather station at Ladd Observatory (1890)
Posted by: LaddObservatory, 10:06 PM GMT on December 28, 2011 +1
Click on the image for a larger view. From the Ladd Observatory records at the Brown University Library.Regular meteorological observations were made at Brown University by Alexis Caswell (1799-1877) who was Professor of mathematics, astronomy and natural philosophy. Caswell began recording these observations in 1831 and his "Meteorological Register; Providence, R.I." was published in Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. Caswell kept these records until 1876; aft...
Categories:Weather Station History
Updated: 6:46 PM GMT on December 29, 2011   Permalink | A A A
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The Ladd Observatory at Brown University. Open to the public on Tue. evenings, weather permitting. Visit the website or call (401) 863-2323 for info.

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Elevation: 226 ft
Temperature: 62.0 °F
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Humidity: 92%
Wind: 1.0 mph from the SSE
Wind Gust: 2.0 mph
Updated: 12:33 AM EDT on May 24, 2012
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