In the Sky This Week – January 19, 2021
I know quite a few astrophotographers! During online meetings of the Warren Astronomical Society, members show astrophotos they've recently captured and processed; even their "bad ones" are awe-inspiring! Here's a beautiful pic by Adrian Bradley:
Orion Nebula. Credit: Adrian Bradley December 2020.
A couple of these astrophotographers regularly livestream their telescope sessions for the public to view: Doug Bock & Dr. Brian Ottum.
A few results from the Virtual open house of the Warren Astronomical Society on November 28, 2020
NGC 7635 Bubble nebula, M 15 Globular Cluster, M 42 the Orion Nebula, NGC 7380. pic.twitter.com/cXBkgJPdfq— Doug Bock (@Mars_1956) December 1, 2020
All three of these astrophotographers that I just shamelessly plugged helped with the Astronomy at the Beach event last September.
Venus appears very low above the southeastern horizon before sunrise - appearing lower each morning.
Venus appears low in the southeastern predawn sky; Venus appears a bit lower with each day. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Jupiter and Saturn are now lost in the glare of the Sun. Mercury is visible in the southwestern sky at dusk - appearing slightly higher each evening.
Mercury appears in the southwestern sky at dusk; Mercury appears a bit higher above the horizon each morning. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars appears high in the southern sky after sunset; the Moon appears near Mars on the evening of Wed. Jan. 20th.
Mars appears very high in the southern sky a few hours after sunset; the Moon appears near Mars on Jan 20th and 21st. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon appears near the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus after sunset on Sat. Jan. 23rd.
The Moon appears near the star Aldebaran in the constellation Taurus on Jan 23rd. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waxing crescent - visible toward the southwest in early evening. This is a great week for observing the Moon with a telescope or binoculars!
The first-quarter Moon occurs on Wed. Jan. 20th - visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
After Jan. 20th the Moon will be a waxing gibbous - visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.
The Moon from 2021-01-19 - 2021-01-25. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
If you click on the Moon image above, or click this link, you will go to NASA's Moon Phase and Libration, 2021 page - it will show you what the Moon looks like right now. If you click the image on that page, you will download a high-rez TIFF image annotated with the names of prominent features - helpful for logging your lunar observations!
Moon News
On Saturday, we conducted a hot fire test of the core stage for the @NASA_SLS rocket that will launch @NASAArtemis missions to the Moon. Find out more about the test: https://t.co/vbdcRmbk3d pic.twitter.com/dX0MCTNWJM
— NASA (@NASA) January 17, 2021
NASA conducted a hot fire of its SLS core stage on Jan. 16. Following an engine shut down a little more than one minute into the hot fire, teams are assessing the data to determine what caused the early shutdown and will determine next steps. MORE >> https://t.co/dSE3uQdSe9
— NASA_SLS (@NASA_SLS) January 17, 2021
The Sun has a spot! Spaceweather.com says "AR 2797 has a simple magnetic field that poses no threat for strong solar flares."
Sunspot AR2797. Credit: SDO/HMI/Spaceweather.com
Both the northern and southern coronal holes have opened up, and both have large tendrils stretching up towards the equator. Lots of coronal activity associated with AR 2797 is rotating into view.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) January 18, 2021:
Moderate prominences activity over the last couple days; the region of coronal activity rotating into view shows a lot of activity.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) January 18, 2021:
You can view the Sun in near real-time, in multiple frequencies here: SDO-The Sun Now.
You can create your own time-lapse movies of the Sun here: AIA/HMI Browse Data.
You can browse all the SDO images of the Sun from 2010 to the present here: Browse SDO archive.
Solar Activity on Facebook - Run by Volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Pamela Shivak
The SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for January 19th, 2021 is this awesome prominence capture by John Slinn.
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 322.2 km/sec, with a density of 14.4 protons/cm3 at 1041 UT.
Near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun's limb (the white circle). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech-SOHO
Sun News
The U.S. Postal Service to Issue NASA Sun Science Forever Stamps! I am just over-the-top thrilled at this! Time to update my Sun lecture... again!
The United States Post office announced on Jan. 15, 2021, that they would be releasing a series of stamps highlighting images of the Sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. Credits: NASA/SDO/USPS
NASA’s images of the Sun’s dynamic and dazzling beauty have captivated the attention of millions. In 2021, the US Postal Service is showcasing the Sun’s many faces with a series of Sun Science forever stamps that show images of solar activity captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO.
“I have been a stamp collector all my life and I can’t wait to see NASA science highlighted in this way,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. “I feel that the natural world around us is as beautiful as art, and it’s inspiring to be able to share the import and excitement of studying the Sun with people around the country.”
The 20-stamp set features ten images that celebrate the science behind NASA’s ongoing exploration of our nearest star. The images display common events on the Sun, such as solar flares, sunspots and coronal loops. SDO has kept a constant eye on the Sun for over a decade. Outfitted with equipment to capture images of the Sun in multiple wavelengths of visible, ultraviolet, and extreme ultraviolet light, SDO has gathered hundreds of millions of images during its tenure to help scientists learn about how our star works and how its constantly churning magnetic fields create the solar activity we see.
That solar activity can drive space weather closer to Earth that can interfere with technology and radio communications in space. In addition to this immediate relevancy to our high-tech daily lives, the study of the Sun and its influence on the planets and space surrounding it – a field of research known as heliophysics – holds profound implications for the understanding of our solar system and the thousands of solar systems that have been discovered beyond our own. As our closest star, the Sun is the only nearby star that humans are able to study in great detail, making it a vital source of data. - NASA
The SOHO spacecraft is the most prolific comet-hunter in space! The mission has discovered over 4,000 comets to date, many of which were found by citizen scientists. The mission recently celebrated a quarter-century in space!
Really rare and impressive showing of two bright, "tailed" comets in the @MissionSoho LASCO field of view! 😍
Some factoids to follow... (1/n)
[📸: @esa/@NASASun/@USNRL https://t.co/eNJNiRnuP3] pic.twitter.com/sTEag6OSi8
— Karl Battams (@SungrazerComets) January 18, 2021
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,044,498 (+1197)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572 (This value has not been updated in several weeks)
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2021 AN4 |
2021-Jan-19
|
12 LD
|
3.6
|
12
|
| 2021 BL |
2021-Jan-20
|
4.3 LD
|
12.9
|
22
|
| 2021 AC6 |
2021-Jan-20
|
7.4 LD
|
14.3
|
32
|
| 2020 WT5 |
2021-Jan-20
|
19.6 LD
|
8.6
|
133
|
| 2021 BS |
2021-Jan-20
|
15.4 LD
|
11
|
28
|
| 2021 BC |
2021-Jan-20
|
2.7 LD
|
13
|
55
|
| 2021 BQ |
2021-Jan-22
|
8.6 LD
|
7.8
|
19
|
| 2020 YE5 |
2021-Jan-22
|
1.1 LD
|
10.5
|
24
|
| 2020 XB7 |
2021-Jan-22
|
7.1 LD
|
8.3
|
46
|
| 2018 BX |
2021-Jan-22
|
8.9 LD
|
6.1
|
5
|
| 2020 PP |
2021-Jan-23
|
18.2 LD
|
8.4
|
222
|
| 2021 AW5 |
2021-Jan-24
|
8.5 LD
|
7.1
|
17
|
| 2018 BA3 |
2021-Jan-25
|
1.5 LD
|
8.1
|
20
|
| 468727 |
2021-Jan-25
|
15.8 LD
|
14.9
|
257
|
| 2021 AL |
2021-Jan-26
|
10.9 LD
|
7.4
|
40
|
| 2021 BZ |
2021-Jan-28
|
5.6 LD
|
13.7
|
41
|
| 2021 AG7 |
2021-Jan-29
|
11 LD
|
16.6
|
61
|
| 2021 AF7 |
2021-Jan-29
|
17.8 LD
|
6.7
|
32
|
| 2020 TB12 |
2021-Feb-01
|
6.8 LD
|
8.9
|
146
|
| 2016 CL136 |
2021-Feb-01
|
13.8 LD
|
18.1
|
186
|
| 2020 SO |
2021-Feb-02
|
0.6 LD
|
1.8
|
7
|
| 2018 PN22 |
2021-Feb-05
|
12.8 LD
|
2.5
|
11
|
| 2018 CH2 |
2021-Feb-05
|
14.6 LD
|
9.9
|
9
|
| 2021 BT |
2021-Feb-07
|
18.8 LD
|
14.1
|
74
|
| 2018 RB |
2021-Feb-07
|
18.3 LD
|
22.5
|
155
|
| 2008 DB |
2021-Feb-10
|
13.1 LD
|
6
|
25
|
| 2019 YP5 |
2021-Feb-10
|
8.2 LD
|
13.5
|
123
|
| 2021 BM |
2021-Feb-16
|
6 LD
|
2.9
|
31
|
| 2020 CX1 |
2021-Feb-18
|
4.9 LD
|
8.3
|
54
|
| 2020 BV9 |
2021-Feb-22
|
14.7 LD
|
7.6
|
22
|
| 2020 XU6 |
2021-Feb-22
|
10.7 LD
|
8.4
|
206
|
| 2015 EQ |
2021-Feb-23
|
18 LD
|
10.5
|
21
|
| 2011 DW |
2021-Mar-01
|
13.9 LD
|
13.6
|
89
|
| 2011 EH17 |
2021-Mar-02
|
9.6 LD
|
16.8
|
43
|
| 2016 DV1 |
2021-Mar-02
|
3.9 LD
|
18.4
|
39
|
| 1999 RM45 |
2021-Mar-02
|
7.7 LD
|
20
|
468
|
| 2020 SP |
2021-Mar-03
|
18.4 LD
|
3.9
|
14
|
| 535844 |
2021-Mar-10
|
14.2 LD
|
7.3
|
162
|
| 2020 FM |
2021-Mar-10
|
18.2 LD
|
13.3
|
57
|
| 2011 YW10 |
2021-Mar-12
|
19.8 LD
|
13.2
|
45
|
Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Red highlighted entries are asteroids that either pass very close, or very large with high relative velocities to the Earth. Table from SpaceWeather.com
Asteroid News
At the 7th IAA Planetary Defense Conference, to be held in Vienna this April, participants will role play a fictitious scenario that rehearses the steps to be taken if an incoming asteroid were spotted. Read about their fictional scenario here: https://t.co/XIwRmYyiXU
— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) January 12, 2021
The Planetary Defense Conference Exercise - 2021 website shows this notice:
This webpage does not describe a real potential asteroid impact. The information on this page is fictional and provided only to support an emergency response exercise conducted during the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) 2021 Planetary Defense Conference in Vienna, Austria, April 26–April 30, 2021. This is only an exercise.
On January 18, 2021, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 12 fireballs!
(12 sporadics)
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). Credit: SpaceWeather.com
Fireball News
Meteor Activity Outlook for January 16-22, 2021
For morning observers, the estimated total hourly rates should be near 14 as seen from mid-northern latitudes (45N) and 11 as seen from tropical southern locations (25S)...https://t.co/A644VLetMK
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) January 18, 2021
Early morning stargazers were treated to a beautiful sight. A meteor was seen streaking across the skies in Central Virginia early this morning as captured on video by Charlotte Nelson. https://t.co/LAZOksK0BP pic.twitter.com/DFpdgIQmTc
— 8News WRIC Richmond (@8NEWS) January 13, 2021
If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society and the International Meteor Organization!
Position of the planets and several spacecraft in the inner solar system:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2021-01-19. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system - the orbit of dwarf planet Ceres is highlighted:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2021-01-19. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Position of the planets, dwarf planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system - the orbit of dwarf planet Haumea is highlighted:
Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2021-01-19. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Mars Perseverance Rover: #CountdownToMars
Hitching a ride on @NASAPersevere, the Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, is a technology demonstration to test powered flight on another world for the first time. Learn more at https://t.co/mK9mCsVWpa #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/fyIPgvNlUR
— NASA Aeronautics (@NASAaero) January 19, 2021
International Space Station:
The SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft has safely returned to Earth with zero fanfare; this is probably in response to the incident during the Crew Dragon splashdown in August 2, 2020.
This week SpaceX's Cargo Dragon spacecraft splashed down off the coast of Florida loaded with science experiments. #SpaceToGround pic.twitter.com/W6foEdr1Jz
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 15, 2021
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
Hi3D: Gully Topography
When you have nice, fresh gullies, it behooves you *not* to have a 3D image. The crater rim also appears rather sharp.https://t.co/VcuN85fWgO
NASA/JPL/UArizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/Tg6C90wPWG
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) January 18, 2021
Juno at Jupiter:
Jupiter@NASAJuno / Eichstadt / @_TheSeaning pic.twitter.com/eFR9Kg3S9X
— Seán Doran (@_TheSeaning) January 17, 2021
Hubble Space Telescope:
Our latest Picture of the Week features the galaxy NGC 4535, located in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin), around 50 million light-years from Earth.
Credit: @ESA / @Hubble_Space / @NASA , J. Lee and the PHANGS-HST Team pic.twitter.com/SaYwohSvTI
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) January 18, 2021
Climate:
2020 was the hottest year in the global temperature record, going back 140 years. 2020 statistically tied with the previous record holder, 2016 - a year when El Niño, a cyclical climate pattern, gave temperatures an above average boost. pic.twitter.com/Ght03Sl2VQ
— NASA GISS (@NASAGISS) January 14, 2021
The top warmest years happened this decade. Here is the seasonal cycle in global temperature anomalies from 1880–2020. Each line shows how much the global monthly temperature was above or below the global mean of 1980–2015. #NASA #climate #science https://t.co/NxcTsaeTWD pic.twitter.com/p8CZ22txj8
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) January 17, 2021
See a list of current NASA missions here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/?type=current
ex·o·plan·et /ˈeksōˌplanət/, noun: a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.
Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive
* Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS refers to the number planets that have been published in the refereed astronomical literature.
* TESS Project Candidates refers to the total number of transit-like events that appear to be astrophysical in origin, including false positives as identified by the TESS Project.
* TESS Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed refers to the number of TESS Project Candidates that have not yet been dispositioned as a Confirmed Planet or False Positive.
Exoplanet News
Citizen scientists helped create a 3D map of our cosmic neighborhood. Studying hundreds of brown dwarfs – balls of gas not heavy enough to be stars – could tell us more about how Jupiter and gas giant exoplanets formed. https://t.co/BEsgdRapgE pic.twitter.com/6hu0fSv6B5
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 13, 2021
Auroras taken by Rayann Elzein on January 18, 2021 @ Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland
SpaceWeather.com Realtime Aurora Gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/aurora_gallery.html
Every year, the @GLOBEatNight campaign raises awareness about the impact of #lightpollution by inviting citizen-scientists to measure & submit night sky brightness observations. All you need is a computer, tablet, or smartphone!
Learn more: https://t.co/u4QnWKYylu pic.twitter.com/nSRr5eWKUK
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) January 12, 2021
Visit an International Dark Sky Park: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/
For Kids:
In today's live stream, our experts talked about an exciting opportunity to get students engaged in the @NASAPersevere Mars landing!
Watch the recording at https://t.co/2eRMEUWjqT
Join the challenge! https://t.co/qEIT89zRFB #CountdownToMars— NASAJPL Edu (@NASAJPL_Edu) January 15, 2021
Einstein Observatory: Beautiful Universe
1E 0102.2-7219 is a supernova remnant located ~202,000 light-years away in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The object was discovered in 1981 by NASA’s Einstein Observatory. Light from the supernova blast would have arrived at Earth ~1,700 years ago - during the decline of the Roman Empire. The supernova's light would have only been visible from Earth's southern hemisphere; no records of this supernova event are known to exist.
This Hubble Space Telescope portrait reveals the gaseous remains of an exploded massive star that erupted approximately 1,700 years ago. The stellar corpse, a supernova remnant named 1E 0102.2-7219, met its demise in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. Credits: NASA, ESA, and J. Banovetz and D. Milisavljevic (Purdue University)
Read more about supernova remnant 1E 0102.2-7219, and watch a time-lapse video of the remnant's expansion in this post.
What I was listening to when I was editing this:
Stay safe, be well, and look up!
Software Apps used for this post:
NASA Eyes on the Solar System: an immersive 3D solar system and space mission simulator - free for the PC /MAC. I maintain the unofficial NASA Eyes Facebook page.
Universe Sandbox: a space simulator that merges real-time gravity, climate, collision, and material interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Includes VR support.
SpaceEngine: a free 3D Universe Simulator for Windows. Steam version with VR support available.
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It's a great tool for planning observing sessions. A web-based version of Stellarium is also available.
Section header image credits:
The Sky - Stellarium / Bob Trembley
Observing Target - Turn Left at Orion / M. Skirvin
The Moon - NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Sun - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Asteroids - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fireballs - Credited to YouTube
Comets - Comet P/Halley, March 8, 1986, W. Liller
The Solar System - NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley
Spacecraft News - NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley
Exoplanets - Space Engine / Bob Trembley
Light Pollution - NASA's Black Marble
Aurora - Bob Trembley
The Universe - Universe Today