I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
Tropical Storm "Higos" (known as Helen in the Philippines) formed on August 17, 2020, as the 7th named storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. The storm intensified into a 'severe tropical storm' by the end of the day and made landfall over…
The Chinese province of Sichuan, located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, has activated the highest level of flood control response for the first time on record on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, as rain-induced floods continue ravaging parts of the province….
A new theory published this week in the AAS' The Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests that our Sun may once have had a binary companion of similar mass. If confirmed, the presence of an early stellar companion increases the likelihood that the Oort cloud was…
The Irish Meteorological Service — Met Éireann — named Storm Ellen on Tuesday evening, August 18, 2020. Ellen formed over the Atlantic Ocean — fuelled by the remnants of Hurricane "Kyle" — and is forecast to bring disruptive and potentially…
Two very strong earthquakes registered by the USGS as M6.8 and M6.9 hit off the coast of southern Sumatra, Indonesia on August 18, 2020, at 22:23 and 22:29 UTC, respectively. The quakes hit at depths of 22 and 26 km (13.6 and 16.1 miles), according to the USGS. EMSC…
A bright fireball exploded over the Chinese city of Linyi, Shandong Province at 14:59 UTC on August 16, 2020 (22:59 LT). The event was captured on camera run by the Chinese Meteor Monitoring Organization (CMMO). According to the CMMO's Linyi observation station,…
A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2020 QG flew past Earth at just 0.02 LD / 0.0000623 AU (9 319 km / 5 791 miles) on August 16, 2020. This is now the closest near-Earth object to flyby Earth so far this year and the closest on record. Valid 15:38 UTC on…
A weak solar flare measuring B1.2 at its peak erupted on August 16, 2020, producing a coronal mass ejection (CME). Consensus model results suggest an arriving glancing blow on August 20 — producing unsettled to active geomagnetic field conditions, with a chance for…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.6 hit Samar, Philippines at 00:03 UTC (08:03 LT) on August 18, 2020. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). PHIVOLCS is reporting M6.6 at a depth of 21 km (13 miles). The epicenter was…
According to data provided by the National Weather Service, the temperature at Furnace Creek weather station in Death Valley National Park, California reached 54.4 °C (130 °F) at 15:41 CDT on Sunday, August 16, 2020, breaking the previous August 16 record of…
