Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
January 1 – Conjunction of the Moon and Venus – 21:49 UTC. The Moon and Venus will share the same right ascension, with the Moon passing 1°16' to the north of Venus. The Moon will be 25 days old. The Moon will be at mag -10.7, and Venus at mag -4.5, both in…
Tropical Cyclone "Penny" formed at 21:00 UTC, December 31, 2018 (08:00 AEST, Tuesday, January 1, 2019) over the warm tropical waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia and made landfall around 05:00 UTC, January 1 (16:00 LT) just south of Weipa. It is…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit off the coast of Cold Bay, Alaska at 02:35 UTC on December 31, 2018. The agency is reporting a depth of 26.9 km (18.4 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 40 km (24.8 miles). This earthquake…
A strong explosion took place at Sheveluch, one of the biggest volcanic structures in Kamchatka, Russia, late December 29 (UTC), 2018, forcing authorities to temporarily raise the Aviation Color Code to Red. According to video data, explosions sent ash up to 10 km…
A new eruption took place at Indonesian Mount Agung, Bali at 20:09 UTC on December 29, 2018 (04:09 WITA, December 30). Thin ashfall was reported in nearby communities. Alert Level remains at 3 (on a scale of 1 – 4) and the exclusion zone is currently stable at a…
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 YL2 flew past Earth at a very close distance of 0.15 LD / 0.00040 AU (59 839 km / 37 182 miles) on December 27, 2018. This object belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was first observed at ATLAS-MLO, Mauna Loa,…
Tropical Depression "Usman" dropped heavy rain over parts of the Philippines over the weekend, causing floods and landslides in which at least 122 people were killed. Usman made landfall in Borongan, Eastern Samar on December 29 and has since weakened…
Powerful Winter Storm "Eboni" marched through the United States this week, dropping heavy snow, causing slick roads and leaving 4 people dead. On its warm side, the storm brought flooding rains to the South, triggering flash flood emergencies and high…
A short-lived explosion was detected at Cleveland volcano early December 29, 2018. Ash cloud was reported rising up to 5.2 km (17 000 feet) above sea level. The Aviation Color Code remains Orange since December 12. Local seismic sensors recorded a short-lived…
Thanks to Jake and Mari of the Grand Solar Minimum YouTube channel we have an excellent overview of all significant volcanic eruptions of the year. Out of an estimated 1 500 active volcanoes, on average 50 – 70 erupt every year, spewing steam, ash, toxic gases, and…
