Asteroid 2013 UK9 passes the Earth.

The Asteroid 2013 UK9 passed the Earth at a distance of 4 089 000 km (a little over 10.6 times as distant as the Moon) slightly before 2.00 pm GMT on Friday 25 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, and even if it had done so it would have presented little danger. 2013 UK9 has an estimated diameter of 12-38 m, and an object of this size would be expected to break up in the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of between 30 and 12 km above the ground, with only fragmentary material reaching the Earth's surface.

The calculated orbit of 2013 UK9. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2013 UK9 was discovered on 30 October 2013 by the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2013 UK9 implies that it was the 235th such object discovered in the second half of October 2013 (period 2013 U).

2013 UK9 has a 966 day (2.65 year) orbital period and an eliptical orbit that takes it from 0.97 AU from the Sun (i.e. 97% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, slightly inside the orbit of the Earth) to 2.85 AU from the Sun (i.e. 285% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, and nearly twice as far as Mars is from the Sun). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer). 

See also Asteroid 2013 UR1 flies between the Earth and the Moon, Asteroid 2013 UT3 passes by the Earth, Asteroid 2013 SL20 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TX68 passes the Earth and Asteroid 2013 TT5 passes by the Earth.

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Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake in southwest Panama.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake at a depth of 56.9 km, 3 km to the south of the town of Guarumal near the Pacific coast of Chiriquí Province in Panama, slightly before 10.30 am local time (3.30 pm GMT) on Sunday 27 October 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this event, but people reported feeling it across Costa Rica and western Panama.

The approximate location of the 27 October 2013 Panama Earthquake. Google Maps.

Panama lies on a tectonic microplate known as the Panama Plate or Panama Block, which has broken away from the North American Plate within the last 20 million years, and is now caught between the Caribbean, Cocos, Nazca and South American Plates. The southern margin of this is both a convergent and a transform margin, as the Nazca Plate moves past the Panama plate in a westerly direction, but is also being partially subducted beneath Panama. This is not a smooth process; the two plates continually stick together, then break apart once the pressure builds up sufficiently, causing Earthquakes in the process.

See also Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in southwest Panama, Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake off the coast of northwest Costa Rica, Eruption on Mount Turrialba, Costa Rica, Eruption on Mount Poás, Costa Rica and Substantial Earthquake in Costa Rica.

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A new species of Hadrosauroid Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Shanxi Province, China.

Hadrosaurs, or Duck-Billed Dinosaurs, were large herbivorous Ornithischian Dinosaurs widespread across Laurasia (Eurasia plus North America; Laurasia split away from the southern continents in the Triassic, the split into North America and Eurasia during the Cretaceous) during the Late Cretaceous. They were descended from the earlier Iguanadontids, but with more sophisticated jaws and teeth, which allowed them to chew their food, not by side-to-side motion as in a modern mammal, but by a unique flexion of the upper jaw parts, which moved apart as the lower jaw moved upwards (from which scientists conclude these Dinosaurs must have had lips, unlike any modern relative of the Dinosaurs). The term 'Hadrosauroid' refers to the widest possible grouping of Hadrosaurs, including all animals in the group after their evolutionary split with the Iguanadontids in the Early Cretaceous, whereas the most derived members of the group are split into two subgroups, the Lambeosaurs, which had hollow boney crests, thought to have been used for making sounds, and the Saurolophides, which either lacked crests or had solid ones.

In a paper published in the journal PLoS One on 18 October 2013, a team of scientists led by Run-Fu Wang of the Shanxi Museum of Geological and Mineral Science and Technology describe a new species of Hadrosauroid Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Zhumapu Formation of Shanxi Province in northern China.

The new species is named Yunganglong datongensis, where 'Yunganglong' refers to the Yungang Grottoes, a group of ancient rock-cut Buddhist temples about 50 km from the site where the specimen was discovered, with the suffix '-long' meaning Dragon, and 'datongensis' refers directly to the site where the specimen was found, in Datong City.

The specimen is described from the caudodorsal part (base) of a skull, two cervical vertebrae, a partial dorsal neural arch and neural processes, two caudal vertebrae, distal portions of both ischia, the distal end of a left femur, proximal portion of a right tibia and the distal portion of a left tibia with astragalus, all presumed to come from the same animal.

The caudodorsal part of the skull of Yunganglong datongensis  (A) Right lateral view. (B) Dorsal view. (C) Caudal view. Scale bar is 10 cm. Wang et al. (2013).

See also A new Lambeosaurine Dinosaur from the French Pyrenees, Dinosaur skeleton vandalized in Alberta, Canada and New species of End Cretaceous Hadrosaur from the Russian Far East.

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Asteroid 2013 TO69 passed the Earth.

Asteroid 2013 TO69 passed the Earth at a distance of 7 967 000 km (20.7 times as distant as the Moon) slightly before 3.00 am on Thursday 24 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, and if it had done so it would have presented little threat. 2013 TO69 is estimated to be between 13 and 41 m in diameter, and such an object would be expected to break up in the atmosphere between 27 and 10 km above the ground, with only fragmentary material reaching the Earth's surface.

The calculated orbit of 2013 TO69. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2013 TO69 was discovered on 8 October 2013 by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2013 TO69 implies that the asteroid was the 1739th object discovered in the first half  of October 2013 (period 2013 T).

While 2013 TO69 occasionally comes near to the Earth, it does not actually cross our orbital path. It has an elliptical 4.16 year orbit that takes it from 1.03 AU from the Sun (1.03 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun), slightly outside our orbit, to 4.14 AU from the Sun, considerably more than twice the distance between the Sun and the planet Mars, so unless an encounter with another body causes it's orbital path to alter in a very specific way (highly unlikely) there is no chance of it hitting the Earth. As a Near Earth Object that remains strictly outside the orbit of the Earth it is classed as an Amor Family Asteroid.

See also Asteroid 2012 ER14 flies by the Earth, Asteroid 2013 UU1 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TK passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 SB21 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TF 135 passes by the Earth and Asteroid 2010 SG15 passes by the Earth.

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Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake in southwest Panama.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.6 Earthquake at a depth of 12.9 km, 11 km north of the city of Puerto Armuelles on the west of Panama's Pacific coast, slightly before 5.35 pm local time (slightly before 10.35 pm GMT) on Saturday 26 October 2013. There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this event, though it is likely to have been felt locally.

The approximate location of the 26 October 2013 Panama Earthquake. Google Maps.

Panama lies on a tectonic microplate known as the Panama Plate or Panama Block, which has broken away from the North American Plate within the last 20 million years, and is now caught between the Caribbean, Cocos, Nazca and South American Plates. The southern margin of this is both a convergent and a transform margin, as the Nazca Plate moves past the Panama plate in a westerly direction, but is also being partially subducted beneath Panama. This is not a smooth process; the two plates continually stick together, then break apart once the pressure builds up sufficiently, causing Earthquakes in the process.

See also Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake off the coast of northwest Costa Rica, Eruption on Mount Turrialba, Costa Rica, Eruption on Mount Poás, Costa Rica, Substantial Earthquake in Costa Rica and Strong Earthquake to the south of Panama.

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Partial eclipse of the Sun to be visible from most of Africa, as well as parts of southern Europe, the Middle East and North and South America.

A partial solar eclipse will be visible from much of Africa, as well as parts of southern Europe, the Middle East, North and South America and the Caribbean on Sunday 3 November 2013. The eclipse will first be seen at sunrise on the North American East coast, the Caribbean and northwest South America, then moving eastward be fully visible across much of the Atlantic, southern Europe and Africa, before setting in parts of the Middle East and East Africa.

The path of the 3 November 2013 Solar Eclipse. A partial eclipse will be visible from the shaded areas; in the lighters area the full eclipse will not be visible as it will have started before dawn (west) or will continue after sunset (east). The red lines are the equator and the Greenwich Meridian. HM Nautical Almanac Office.

Solar eclipses occur as a result of the Moon passing in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. The Sun and Moon appear roughly the same size from Earth, though this is coincidental, the Moon being considerably smaller and closer than the Sun. The Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days, but does not cause a Solar eclipse every month. This is because the orbit of the Moon is inclined to the orbit of the Earth about the Sun. Thus when the Moon is in the same part of the sky as the Sun it is usually either above or below it from our perspective (though it is effectively invisible at these times, since the Moon only 'shines' with reflected light from the Sun), with eclipses only occurring at those points in the cycle where the two orbital plains intersect.

See also The September Equinox, The Lunar Apogee, The Earth's aphelion, The Lunar Perigee and The Northern Solstice.

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Pipeline leaks around 64 000 liters of crude oil in Bastrop County, Texas.

Around 64 000 liters of crude oil is believed to have leaked from a pipeline near the city of Smithville in Bastrop County, Texas, about 65 km east of Austin, that was discovered on Tuesday 29 October 2013. The oil is thought to have originated from a 20 cm pipeline operated by Koch Pipeline Co., which supplies oil to refineries in Corpus Christi, though the leak itself has not yet been located. An area of about 2000 m² is thought to have been contaminated, including a stock pond and two small overflow reservoirs (which do not supply water for public consumption).

Cleanup efforts near Smithville, Texas, on Tuesday 29 October 2013. KVUE.

The spill has been contained by workers from SWS Environmental, who specialize in the sort of incident. An investigation into the cause of the leak is ongoing.

The approximate location of the Smithville oil leak. Google Maps.

See also Oil spill on the Oklahoma River, Fuel pipeline explodes in western Illinois, Explosion at oil facility in Louisiana, Plains Midstream Canada charged over April 2011 Alberta oil spill and Homes evacuated after Arkansas oil leak.

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Gas kills six workers at Spanish coal mine.

Six miners have died and another five are in a serious condition in hospital after being overcome by methane gas at the Pozo Emilio del Valle coal mine in the Pola de Gordón municipality in León Province, northwest Spain. The workers encountered a pocket of gas at about 2.00 pm local time (1.00 pm GMT) on Monday 28 October 2013. The workers were quickly removed from the site by a second team of miners, and were treated by a mobile intensive care unit at the site. An investigation into the accident will begin once the mine has been fully ventilated.

Miners' relatives gathering outside the Pozo Emilio del Valle to wait for news.  J.Casares/EFE.

Coal is formed when buried organic material, principally wood, in heated and pressurized, forcing off hydrogen and oxygen (i.e. water) and leaving more-or-less pure carbon. Methane is formed by the decay of organic material within the coal. There is typically little pore-space within coal, but the methane can be trapped in a liquid form under pressure. Some countries have started to extract this gas as a fuel in its own right. When this pressure is released suddenly, as by mining activity, then the methane turns back to a gas, expanding rapidly causing, an explosion. This is a bit like the pressure being released on a carbonated drink; the term 'explosion' does not necessarily imply fire in this context, although as methane is flammable this is quite likely.

The approximate location of the Pozo Emilio del Valle coal mine. Google Maps.

See also Turkish miner killed by underground fire, Three workers killed by gas at German potash mine, Swedish miners rescued from underground fire, Worker killed at Irish lead and zinc mine and Disaster at Gleision Colliery, Godre'r Graig, West Glamorgan.

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Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake in San Benito County, California.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake at a depth of 7.5 km, in southern San Benito County, California, slightly before 7.00 am local time (slightly before 2.00 pm GMT) on Saturday 26 October 2013. This is not a large quake, and is unlikely to have caused any damage or injuries, though it was felt as far away as Los Gatos in Santa Clara County, 115 km to the northeast.

The approximate location of the 26 October 2013 San Benito County Earthquake. Google Maps.

California is extremely prone to Earthquakes due to the presence of the San Andreas Fault, a tectonic plate margin that effectively bisects the state. The west of California, including Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, is located on the Pacific Plate, and is moving to the northwest. The east of California, including Fresno and Bakersfield is on the North American Plate, and is moving to the southeast. The plates do not move smoothly past one-another, but constantly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up. This has led to a network of smaller faults that criss-cross the state, so that Earthquakes can effectively occur anywhere.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events and the underlying structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) then you can report it to the United States Geological Survey here.

See also Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake in northwest San Benito County, California, Magnitude 2.8 Earthquake in San Benito County, California, Magnitude 2.6 Earthquake in Kern County, California, Magnitude 3.6 Earthquake in Inyo County, northern California and Magnitude 4.3 Earthquake hits Kern County, California.

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Asteroid 2012 ER14 flies by the Earth.

The asteroid 2012 ER14 flew past the Earth at a distance of 13 150 000 km (34.2 times as distant as the Moon), slighty after 2.45 am GMT on Wednesday 23 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though were this not the case 2012 ER14 would be considered an extremely dangerous object, as it is estimated to have a diameter of between 160 and 490 m, large enough enough to pass through the Earth's atmosphere reasonably intact and impact directly with the planet's surface, leaving a crater 2-7 km in diameter and causing devastation over a wide area. Such an event would probably have climatic affects lasting for decades.

The calculated orbit of 2012 ER14. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2012 ER14 was discovered on 14 March 2012 bythe University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2012 ER14 implies that the asteroid was the 367th object discovered in the first half  of March 2012 (period 2012 E).

While 2012 ER14 occasionally comes near to the Earth, it does not actually cross our orbital path. It has an elliptical 765 day orbit that takes it from 1.04 AU from the Sun (1.04 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun), slightly outside our orbit, to 2.23 AU from the Sun, considerably outside the orbit of Mars, so unless an encounter with another body causes it's orbital path to alter in a very specific way (highly unlikely) there is no chance of it hitting the Earth. As a Near Earth Object that remains strictly outside the orbit of the Earth it is classed as an Amor Family Asteroid.

See also Asteroid 2013 UU1 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TK passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 SB21 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TF 135 passes by the Earth and Asteroid 2010 SG15 passes by the Earth.

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Five dead and one missing as western Europe is hit by worst Atlantic Storm in a decade.

Five people have been confirmed dead and one is missing after the worst north Atlantic storm in a decade hit western Europe early in the morning of Monday 28 October 2013. In the UK a seventeen year old girl was killed when a falling tree struck a static caravan that she was sleeping in near Faversham in Kent, a man was killed when a tree struck his car at Watford in Hertfordshire, and a man and a woman were killed in a gas explosion in London, thought to have been triggered by damage to a gas main caused by trees being uprooted. In the Netherlands another woman was killed by a falling tree in Amsterdam, while in France a woman was swept out to sea from Belle Île, an island off the coast of Brittany, and has not yet been found.

Waves breaking in Porthcawl Harbour, South Wales. AAP.

A number of people have been injured in all three nations, again largely due to falling trees. Over 486 000 homes have been left without power in the UK as have 75 000 in France. Meetings were suspended at the Cabinet Office in London after a crane toppled onto the building. In Amsterdam a houseboat was sunk by the storm and several more were badly damaged. Flooding has been reported in low-lying areas of southwest England. Transport networks have been badly hit across the region, with roads and rail-lines closed by falling trees and planes and ferries unable to operate due to high winds. A number of exposed bridges have also been closed.

A car crushed by a falling tree in north London. AP.

Ocean storms form due to heating of air over the sea in tropical zones. As the air is heated the the air pressure drops and the air rises, causing new air to rush in from outside the forming storm zone. If this zone is sufficiently large, then it will be influenced by the Coriolis Effect, which loosely speaking means the winds closer to the equator will be faster than those further away, causing the storm to rotate, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Whilst the high winds associated these storms is extremely dangerous, the real danger from such storms is often the flooding. Each millibar drop in air pressure can lead to a 1 cm rise in sea level, and large storms can be accompanied by storm surges several meters high. This tends to be accompanied by high levels of rainfall, caused by water picked up by the storm while still at sea, which can lead to flooding, swollen rivers and landslides; which occur when waterlogged soils on hill slopes lose their cohesion and slump downwards, over whatever happens to be in their path.

See also At least 17 dead as Typhoon Wipha hits Japan, At least five dead as Typhoon Nari hits Vietnam, Cyclone Phailin kills 23 people in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, At least thirteen dead as Typhoon Nari sweeps across the Philippines and At least two dead as Typoon Fitow makes land in Fujian Province, China.

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Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake in Garfield County Oklahoma.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake at a depth of 5 km, roughly 7 km to the northeast of the city of Enid in Garfield County, northern Oklahoma, slightly before 10.05 pm local time on Friday 25 October 2013 (slightly before 3.05 am on Saturday 26 October GMT). There are no reports of any damage or casualties arising from this quake, though it was felt locally.

The approximate location of the 25 October 2013 Garfield County Earthquake. Google Maps.

Oklahoma is naturally prone to Earthquakes, particularly in the southwest of the state, near the Meers Fault Zone, but since 2009 has suffered a sharp increase in the number of small quakes in the central and northeast parts of the state. While most of these quakes have been quite small, a few have been large enough to potentially cause problems, and any unexplained increase in seismic activity is a cause for concern. 

In a paper published in the journal Geology on 26 March 2013, a team of geologists led by Katie Keranen of the ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Oklahoma linked one of the largest of these quakes, a Magnitude 5.7 event in November 2011 which caused damage locally and was felt across 17 states, to the practice of pumping liquids (usually brine) into injection wells, which is common in the hydrocarbons industry and used to displace oil or gas, which can then be extracted from nearby extraction wells (where this is done in bursts at pressure to intentionally break up rock it is called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking). Significantly they suggested that the practice could lead to quakes years or even decades after the actual injection.

Witness accounts of quakes can help geologists to understand these events and the rock structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) you can report it to the USGS here.

See also Magnitude 2.8 Earthquake in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, Magnitude 3.2 Earthquake in Love County, south Oklahoma, Magnitude 2.7 Earthquake in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, Magnitude 2.9 Earthquake in Payne County Oklahoma and Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake in west Okfuskee County, Oklahoma.

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Magnitude 3.0 Earthquake in Mendocino County, California.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.0 Earthquake at a depth of 6.4 km, roughly 7 km to the northwest of the town of Laytonville in Mendocino County, California, slightly before 6.30 pm local time on Friday 25 October 2013 (slightly before 1.30 am on Saturday 26 October GMT). This is not a large quake, and there are no reports of any damage or injuries, though it was felt as far away as Eureka, approximately 130 km to the northwest of the epicenter.

The approximate location of the 25 October 2013 Mendocino County Earthquake. Google Maps.

California is extremely prone to Earthquakes due to the presence of the San Andreas Fault, a tectonic plate margin that effectively bisects the state. The west of California, including Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, is located on the Pacific Plate, and is moving to the northwest. The east of California, including Fresno and Bakersfield is on the North American Plate, and is moving to the southeast. The plates do not move smoothly past one-another, but constantly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up. This has led to a network of smaller faults that criss-cross the state, so that Earthquakes can effectively occur anywhere.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events and the underlying structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) then you can report it to the United States Geological Survey here.

See also Magnitude 2.6 Earthquake in northeast Sonoma County, California, Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake in northwest San Benito County, California, Magnitude 2.8 Earthquake in San Benito County, California, Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake off the coast of northern California and Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake in northern California.

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Two new species of Siphonophore from Monterey Bay, California.

Siphonophores are colonial Hydrozoans (Cnidarians related to Corals and Jellyfish) which live as members of the marine plankton (organisms that drift in ocean currents). Some species superficially resemble Jellyfish, but their internal structure is quite different, with each Jelly being a colony of hundreds or thousands of connected individuals called zooids. These zooids are not typically identical, with specialist feeding and reproductive zooids typically being separate, and some species having other specialist forms. Some species grow extremely large, with the largest, Praya dubia often reaching over 50 m in length; though this is a deepwater form living 700-1000 m bellow the surface, and is seldom seen. More familiar is the Portuguese Man o' War (Physalia physalis) which reaches a little under 50 m in length, but which stays on the surface due to modified zooids which act as floats.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 27 August 2013, Stefan Siebert of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University, Phil Pugh of the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, England, Steven Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Casey Dunn, also of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University describe two new species of Siphonophore from Monterey Bay, California. Both are placed in the genus Apolemia.

The first new species in named Apolemia lanosa, from the Latin 'lana', meaning 'wooly'. Apolemia lanosa is an approximately 2 m colourless Siphonophore with a single siphosome (stem) along which individual zooids are arranged trailing behind a small nectophore (float made from modified zooids). The zooids are densely packed on the siphosome, giving the colony a wooly appearance. Apolemia lanosa was found at depths of between 636 and 1506 m in Monterey Bay, it has also been sighted at Davidson Seamount (130 km southwest of Monterey Bay at depths of between 439 and 1159 m, and may be found of the coast of Japan.

Apolemia lanosa colony, nectophore is bottom right. Siebert et al. (2013).

Apolemia lanosa, nectophore and part of siphonophore with accompanying zooids. Scale bar is 2 mm. Siebert et al. (2013).

The second new species is named Apolemia rubriversa, meaning 'red furrow'; it has red pigmentation in a furrow on its nectophore. Apolemia rubriversa has larger zooids than Apolemia lanosa, resembling short tentacles rather than wooly hair. It has a distinct brownish tinge. Apolemia rubriversa was found at depths between 374 and 901 m in Monterey Bay, the species was also found in the Gulf of California (Mexico) and may be present off Vancouver and near the Bahamas.

Apolemia rubriversa colony, nectophore is bottom center. Siebert et al. (2013).

Apolemia rubriversa, nectophore and part of siphonophore with accompanying zooids. Scale bar is 2.5 mm. Siebert et al. (2013).

See also Five new species of deepwater Corals from the South American continental shelf, Jellyfish force closure of Swedish nuclear power plant, Punctatus emeiensis, not a Cnidarian after all? A new species of Hydrozoans from British Columbia and The mysterious ebb and flow of Jellyfish populations.

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Asteroid 2013 UU1 passes the Earth.

Asteroid 2013 UU1 passed the Earth at a distance of 9 787 000 m (a little under 25.5 times the distance to the Moon) slightly before 0.05 am GMT on 23 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, though if it had it would have presented a minor risk. 2013 UU1 is estimated to be between 26 and 82 m in diameter, and while an asteroid in this range would be expected to break up in the atmosphere, an object towards the upper end of this range would make it to within one or two kilometers of the planet's surface, creating a massive fireball close to the planet's surface that would cause considerable damage in the immediate area, though it would be unlikely to cause significant global effects.

The calculated orbit of 2013 UU1. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2013 UU1 was discovered on 23 October 2013 by the University of Hawaii's PANSTARRS telescope on Mount Haleakala. The name 2013 UU1 indicates that it was the 45th such object discovered in the second half of October 2013 (period 2013 U).

While 2013 UU1 occasionally comes near to the Earth, it does not actually cross our orbital path. It has an elliptical 3.72 year orbit that takes it from 1.05 AU from the Sun (1.05 times the distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun), slightly outside our orbit, to 3.75 AU from the Sun, more than twice as far from the Sun as the planet Mars, so unless an encounter with another body causes it's orbital path to alter in a very specific way (highly unlikely) there is no chance of it hitting the Earth. As a Near Earth Object that remains strictly outside the orbit of the Earth it is classed as an Amor Family Asteroid.

See also Asteroid 2013 TK passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 SB21 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TF 135 passes by the Earth, Asteroid 2010 SG15 passes by the Earth and Asteroid 2013 TQ135 flies past the Earth.

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Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in northwest Gansu Province, China.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake at a depth of 15 km, roughly 80 km west of Jiayuguan City in northwest Gansu Province, northern China, slightly after 6.50 am local time on Sunday 26 October 2013 (slightly after 10.50 pm on Saturday 25 October 2013, GMT). There are no reports of any damage or injuries arising from this quake, though it was moderately large and is likely to have been felt over a fairly wide area.

The approximate location of the 26 October 2013 Gansu Earthquake. Google Maps.

Much of western China and neighbouring areas of Central Asia and the Himalayas, is prone to Earthquakes caused by the impact of the Indian Plate into Eurasia from the south. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

See also Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in southern Sichuan Province, China, Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake in Northern Sichaun Province, China, Magnitude 5.1 Earthquake in northeastern Qinghai Province, China, Magnitude 4.9 Earthquake in western Inner Mongolia and Earthquake kills at least five in Shangri La and Deqin Counties, Yunnan Province, China.

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A new species of Drydinid Wasp from South Korea.

Drydinid Wasps (Dryinidae) are small (under 10 mm) solitary Wasps found across the globe. Their larvae are parasitoids (i.e. the develop inside the body of a living host), typically of Leafhoppers and other True Bugs (Hemiptera). Drydinid larvae are unusual in that they often outgrow their hosts, protruding from the host body in a sac-like case. Male adult Drydinids are typical Wasps, but the females often lack wings and resemble Ants.

In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 15 March 2013, Chang-Jun Kim and Jong-Wook Lee of the Department of Life-Sciences at Yeungnam University describe a new species of Drydinid Wasp from South Korea, as part of a wider study into Drydinid Wasps of the genus Anteon in South Korea.

The new species is given the name Anteon magnatum, meaning large and wide. Anteon magnatum is a 6.38 mm black and dark brown Drydinid Wasp. As with all members of the genus Anteon, the females are winged and Wasp-like rather than wingless and Ant-like. The species is described from eight specimens, all female, collected from across South Korea.

Anteon magnatum, female in lateral view. Scale bar is 1 mm. Kim & Lee (2013).

See also An invasive American Paper Wasp in northern Spain, A new species of Platygastrid Wasp from South Dakota, A Chalcid Wasp from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil, Four new species of Wasp from Cretaceous amber and Two new species of Potter Wasps from Yunnan Province, China.

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Magnitude 2.6 Earthquake in northeast Sonoma County, California.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 2.6 Earthquake at a depth of 1.8 km in northeast Sonoma County in northern California, slightly after 2.00 pm local time (slightly after 9.00 pm GMT) on Saturday 25 October 2013. This is not a large quake, and is highly unlikely to have caused any damage or injuries, though it was felt as far away as American Canyon, 85 km to the southeast of the epicenter.

The approximate location of the 25 October 2013 Sonoma County Earthquake. Google Maps.

California is extremely prone to Earthquakes due to the presence of the San Andreas Fault, a tectonic plate margin that effectively bisects the state. The west of California, including Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, is located on the Pacific Plate, and is moving to the northwest. The east of California, including Fresno and Bakersfield is on the North American Plate, and is moving to the southeast. The plates do not move smoothly past one-another, but constantly stick together then break apart as the pressure builds up. This has led to a network of smaller faults that criss-cross the state, so that Earthquakes can effectively occur anywhere.

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events and the underlying structures that cause them. If you felt this quake (or if you were in the area but did not, which is also useful information) then you can report it to the United States Geological Survey here.

See also Magnitude 2.5 Earthquake in northwest San Benito County, California, Magnitude 2.8 Earthquake in San Benito County, California, Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake off the coast of northern California, Magnitude 3.4 Earthquake in northern California and Northeast California shaken by Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake.

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Asteroid 2013 UR1 flies between the Earth and the Moon.

Asteroid 2013 UR1 passed the Earth at a distance of 251 600 km (roughly 70% of the distance between the Earth and the moon) slightly after 10.05 pm on Monday 21 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, and if it had done it would have presented little danger; 2013 UR1 is estimated to be between five and eighteen meters in diameter, and an asteroid this size would be expected to break up in the Earth's atmosphere between 40 and 20 km above the ground, with only fragmentary material reaching the planet's surface.

The calculated orbit of 2013 UR1. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2013 UR1 was discovered on 23 October 2013 by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2013 UR1 implies that the asteroid was the 42nd object discovered in the second half  of October 2013 (period 2013U). 

2013 UR1 has a 3.35 year orbital period and an eliptical orbit that takes it from 0.60 AU from the Sun (i.e. 60% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, slightly inside the orbit of Venus) to 3.88 AU from the Sun (i.e. 388% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, more than twice as far from the Sun as the planet Mars). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer).

See also Asteroid 2013 UT3 passes by the Earth, Asteroid 2013 SL20 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TX68 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TT5 passes by the Earth and Asteroid 2013 TT5 passes by the Earth.

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One worker killed and three others injured at Marikana Platinum Mine, Rustenburg, South Africa.

One worker has been killed and another three injured in an incident at the Marikana Platinum Mine near Rustenburg in North West Province, South Africa, according to mine operators Lonmin. The company has released a statement confirming that the incident was a mining accident, but otherwise released no further details at this time.  The Lonmin mine has been plagued with violence associated with rivalry between two unions, the ANC-affiliated National Union of Mineworkers and the independent Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, for over a year. This is the first mining fatality at the mine since 2010, when a rockfall killed five workers.

Workers underground at the Marikana Mine. Greg Marinovich.

South Africa is the world's largest producer of Platinum, accounting for 77% of global production, and having 80% of the world's known reserves. The Marikana mine alone accounts for 12% of the world's production, with a yearly production target of 750 000 ounces (unlikely to be met this year due to the industrial action). It also produces significant quantities of palladium, rhodium, gold and chromium. The mine is located on the western limb of South Africa's Bushveld Igneous Complex, which outcrops around the edges of the Transvaal Basin and contains some of the Earth's richest mineral deposits, notably of platinum, palladium, osmium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, iron, tin, chromium, titanium and vanadium. It is thought to have formed by the intrusion of metal rich magma into the Earth's crust around 2 billion years ago.

See also Worker killed at the Bokoni Platinum Mine in South Africa's Limpopo Province, Union official assassinated at Lonmin's Marikana Platinum Mine, Shooting at Lonmin's Marikana Platinum Mine, Two union officials shot at Lonmin Platinum Mine in Marikana, South Africa and At least 10 South African miners injured by rubber bullets in confrontation at Rustenburg mine.

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Eruption on Mount Etna.

Mount Etna, a 3320 m active stratovolcano on eastern Sicily, erupted on Saturday 26 October 2013, producing an ash column which briefly closed airspace over the island and and throwing hot ash and lava out of its crater. This follows a series of small Earthquakes beneath the volcano on Friday 25 October. The eruption was not considered large enough for an evacuation of nearby villages. Etna is usually considered to be the tallest volcano in Europe (Mount Teide on Tenerife is taller, and being part of Spain lies within political Europe, though it is actually part of the African tectonic plate), as well as its most active. Etna is seldom completely inactive, though it has more and less active periods. The last major eruption on Etna occurred in 1993, when a lava flow threatened the town of Zafferana.

Ash column over Mount Etna on Saturday 26 October 2013. Reuters.

Southeastern Italy lies on the edge of the Eurasian Plate, close to its margin with Africa. The African Plate is being subducted beneath Italy on along a margin that cuts through the island of Sicily. The African plate is being subducted beneath Italy, and as it sinks is melted by the friction and heat of the Earth's interior. Some of the melted material then rises through the overlying plate fuelling the volcanoes of southern Italy.

The location of Mount Etna. Google Maps.

See also Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake off the coast of Tunisia, Magnitude 4.3 Earthquake on eastern Sicily, Earthquake off the coast of Tunisia, Eruptions on Stromboli and Magnitude 5.3 quake in southern Italy kills at least one person.

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Magnitude 1.4 Earthquake in western Ross and Cromarty, Scotland.

The British Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 1.4 Earthquake at a depth of 2 km in the Torridon Hills of western Ross and Cromarty, slightly before 2.30 am British Summertime (slightly before 1.30 am GMT) on Friday 25 October 2013. This is a small quake, and is highly unlikely to have caused any damage or injuries, though it may have been felt locally.

The approximate location of the 25 October 2013 Torridon Hills Earthquake. Google Maps.

Earthquakes become more common as you travel north and west in Great Britain, with the west coast of Scotland being the most quake-prone part of the island and the northwest of Wales being more prone  to quakes than the rest of Wales or most of England.

The precise cause of Earthquakes in the UK can be hard to determine; the country is not close to any obvious single cause of such activity such as a plate margin, but is subject to tectonic pressures from several different sources, with most quakes probably being the result of the interplay between these forces.

Britain is being pushed to the east by the expansion of the Atlantic Ocean and to the north by the impact of Africa into Europe from the south. It is also affected by lesser areas of tectonic spreading beneath the North Sea, Rhine Valley and Bay of Biscay. Finally the country is subject to glacial rebound; until about 10 000 years ago much of the north of the country was covered by a thick layer of glacial ice (this is believed to have been thickest on the west coast of Scotland), pushing the rocks of the British lithosphere down into the underlying mantle. This ice is now gone, and the rocks are springing (slowly) back into their original position, causing the occasional Earthquake in the process. 

Witness accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events, and the structures that cause them. If you felt this quake, or were in the area but did not (which is also useful information) then you can report it to the British Geological Survey here.

See also Magnatude 2.4 Earthquake in the Scottish Highlands, Earthquake on the Isle of Skye, Earthquake on the Morvern Peninsula, Earthquake beneath Loch Maree and Earthquake in the Scottish Highlands.

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Asteroid 2013 UT3 passes by the Earth.

Asteroid 2013 UT3 passed by the Earth at a distance of 930 300 km (a little over 2.4 times the distance to the Moon), at about 8.55 am on Monday 21 October 2013. There was no danger of the asteroid hitting us, and if it had then it would have presented little threat, 2013 UT3 is estimated to be between 7 and 23 m in diameter, and such an object would be predicted to break up in the atmosphere between 20 and 36 km above the ground, with only fragmentary material reaching the Earth's surface.

The calculated orbit of 2013 UT3. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

2013 UT3 was discovered on 24 October 2013 by the University of Arizona's Mt. Lemmon Survey at the Steward Observatory on Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The designation 2013 UT3 implies that the asteroid was the 94th object discovered in the second half  of October 2013 (period 2013U). 

2013 UT3 has a 689 day orbital period and an eliptical orbit that takes it from 0.67 AU from the Sun (i.e. 67% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, slightly inside the orbit of Venus) to 2.38 AU from the Sun (i.e. 238% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun, outside the orbit of Mars). It is therefore classed as an Apollo Group Asteroid (an asteroid that is on average further from the Sun than the Earth, but which does get closer).

See also Asteroid 2013 SL20 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TX68 passes the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TT5 passes by the Earth, Asteroid 2013 TL127 flies past the Earth and Asteroid 2013 RN9 to fly past the Earth on Wednesday 9 October 2013.

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A giant Pterosaur from the Middle Cretaceous of Brazil.

The Pterosaurs were an extinct group of flying Reptiles that existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period (210 to 65.5 million years ago). They are thought to have been warm blooded, as  many specimens have been found that appear to have had fury skins. Their wings were flaps of skin membrane, similar to that of Bats, supported by elongated fourth fingers and attached to the flanks of the body and legs. Unlike Birds they appear to have been capable of flying before reaching their full adult size, and appear to have taken several years to reach maturity. The largest Pterosaurs achieved wingspans in excess of 7 m, roughly twice that of the largest extant Birds.

In a paper published in the Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências in March 2013, a team of scientists led by Alexander Kellner of the Laboratório de Sistemática e Tafonomia de Vertebrados Fósseis at the Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia at the Museu Nacional and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro describe a new Giant Pterosaur specimen from the Middle Cretaceous Romualdo Formation from the Araripe Basin of northeast Brazil.

The new specimen is to fragmentary to allow a full taxonomic description, but is referred to the species Tropeognathus mesembrinus. Kellner et al. estimate that when living it would have had a wingspan of at least 8.2 m, making it the largest ever known Pterosaur specimen from Gondwana, as well as larger than any known living or fossil non-Pterosaur flying animal.

Skull elements of the Romualdo Formation Pterosaur. (a) Incomplete rostrum in right lateral view. (b) Incomplete rostrum in anterior view. (c) Posterior lower portion in right lateral view. (d) Posterior lower portion in posterior view. (e) Braincase in left lateral view. (f) Mandible in dorsal view. (g) Fragment of lower jaw in lateral view. (h) Fragment of lower jaw in medial view. Arrows indicate alveoli and teeth. Anatomical abbreviations: bs - basisphenoid,  j - jugal, j.rid - jugal ridge, l - left, ltf - lower temporal fenestra, or - orbit, pcr - parietal crest, pmcr - premaxillary crest, po - postorbital, q - quadrate, qfl - quadrate flange, r - right, utf - upper temporal fenestra. Scale bar 50 mm. Kellner et al. (2013).

Vertebral column of 

the Romualdo Formation Pterosaur 

in dorsal view. Anatomical abbreviations: cv - cervical vertebrae, dv - dorsal vertebrae, not - notorium, pel - pelvis. 

Scale bar 50 mm. Kellner et al. (2013).

See also A small Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Isle of Wight, A new species of Azhdarchid Pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Transylvania, A new Pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province in northwest China, New species of Rhamphorhynchid Pterosaur from the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone and A new species of Tapejarid Pterodactyl from the Early Cretaceous Las Hoyas Lagerstätte of eastern Spain.

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Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake off the east coast of Japan.

The Japan Meteorological Agency recorded a Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake at a depth of 10 km, roughly 325 km east of the Fukushima coast of Japan, at about 2.10 am Japan Standard Time on Saturday 26 October 2013 (about 5.10 pm on Friday 25 October, GMT). While this is a very large quake, it was a long way from shore, and no casualties or damage have been reported, though it was felt across much of eastern Honshū and Hokkaido. Large Earthquakes off the east coast of Japan are notorious for producing tsunamis, such as the one which destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011, though predicting the occurrence and size of these can be extremely difficult. On this occasion the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami alert to low-lying regions, predicting a wave at most 1m high, and a 30 cm wave eventually reached the shore.

The approximate location of the 26 October 2013 Japan Earthquake. Google Maps.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. To the east of northern Honshū lies the Japan Trench, along which the Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Okhotsk Plate which underlies northern Japan, passing under the island as it sinks into the Earth. This is not a smooth process, the two plates continuously stuck together then broke apart as the pressure built up, causing Earthquakes in the process. 

See also Eruption and pyroclastic flow on Sakurajima, Kyushu, Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Magnitude 6.9 Earthquake in the Izu Islands to the south of Japan, Eruptions on Sakurajima and Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake east of the Oshika Peninsula, Japan.

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