In the Sky This Week – November 24 2020
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southwestern sky at dusk, getting closer together with each passing evening.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mercury and Venus appear in the east-southeastern predawn sky all week - Mercury may be difficult to spot this week being so near the horizon.
Mercury and Venus appear in the southeastern predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars appears high in the southeastern sky after sunset - the waxing gibbous Moon appears near Mars on Nov. 25th
The waxing gibbous Moon near Mars after sunset on Nov. 25th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The constellations Orion and Taurus appear in the eastern sky a few hours after sunset, and move across the southern sky to appear in the western sky before sunrise.
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- The constellations Orion and Taurus rise in the eastern sky around 8:00 PM. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
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- The constellations Orion and Taurus appear in the western predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waxing gibbous - visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.
The full Moon occurs on Nov. 30th - it rises at sunset, is visible high in the sky around midnight, and is visible all night.
The Moon from 2020-11-24 - 2020-11-30. 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, 2020 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 TIF image annotated with the names of prominent features - helpful for logging your observations!
Annotated close-up of a section of the Moon on Nov. 27th. - showing the play of shadows along the terminator. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
And for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, check out this video! #MoonCrushMonday https://t.co/69XFEJSPtn pic.twitter.com/8C77bkxff8
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) November 23, 2020
NASA installed a developmental RS-25 engine into the test stand at Stennis. This engine will be used in an upcoming test series to gather data and evaluate new components for development and production of new RS-25 engines for future #Artemis missions. pic.twitter.com/pFFaJXgwKY
— Stennis Space Center (@NASAStennis) November 20, 2020
Sun on 2020-11-24. Credit: SDO/HMI
The Sun has 3 active sunspots! This is the most at one time for this sunspot cycle - all three of these sunspots are relatively large, and pose a threat for C-class solar flares.
There are several regions of coronal activity across the Sun's face - 3 regions in the southern hemisphere associated with the sunspots, and one in the northern hemisphere that has no spot.
The northern coronal hole, remains ginormous, with tendrils stretching almost to the equator; the coronal hole at the south pole remains small.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 23, 2020:
Lots of prominence activity over the last couple days; keep your eye on the lower left of the Sun's face in the video below - the last second has something exciting happening!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 23, 2020:
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
Credit: Toshio Ohnishi - 2020-11-24. Notes: SW 120->100/1000) ( ERF) (PST -200mm lens) (Modified PST-1A H alpha) (R64 filter) (Amici Prism) (Barlow *1.5) (ASI174MM) (SharpCap3.2) Flare C4.3, Bad Seeing !
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 440.4 km/sec (↑), with a density of 2.6 protons/cm3 (↓) at 1310 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
WOW! The region of interstellar space that the Sun is embedded has a much higher concentration of hydrogen than previously thought!
Pickup ions — interstellar atoms that drift into our heliosphere & mix with the solar wind — carry clues about space beyond our solar system. A new study of pickup ions suggests nearby interstellar space has about 40% more hydrogen than previously thought. https://t.co/gNjxoWPxU1 pic.twitter.com/sxAuErd0TV
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 5, 2020
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,032,063 (+5094)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-24
|
5.3 LD
|
4.7
|
49
|
| 2020 TJ8 |
2020-Nov-24
|
16.8 LD
|
4.6
|
33
|
| 2020 WM2 |
2020-Nov-25
|
12.2 LD
|
16
|
35
|
| 2020 VK6 |
2020-Nov-25
|
13.1 LD
|
11.2
|
28
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
| 2020 WH3 |
2020-Nov-26
|
14.1 LD
|
6.4
|
17
|
| 2020 VO2 |
2020-Nov-26
|
12.6 LD
|
6.2
|
17
|
| 2020 WX2 |
2020-Nov-27
|
4 LD
|
12.8
|
15
|
| 2020 KZ2 |
2020-Nov-28
|
5.7 LD
|
3.9
|
10
|
| 2020 VF6 |
2020-Nov-28
|
8.4 LD
|
17.9
|
32
|
| 153201 |
2020-Nov-29
|
11.2 LD
|
25.1
|
490
|
| 2020 WC2 |
2020-Nov-29
|
14.3 LD
|
22.4
|
34
|
| 2020 VT5 |
2020-Nov-30
|
17.7 LD
|
16.3
|
41
|
| 2020 SO |
2020-Dec-01
|
0.1 LD
|
3.9
|
6
|
| 2020 VQ5 |
2020-Dec-01
|
19.7 LD
|
11.9
|
40
|
| 2019 XH2 |
2020-Dec-02
|
16.1 LD
|
6.4
|
6
|
| 2020 WP |
2020-Dec-03
|
9.5 LD
|
11.4
|
51
|
| 2020 WS2 |
2020-Dec-04
|
12 LD
|
10.8
|
42
|
| 2020 WO |
2020-Dec-04
|
10.4 LD
|
6.1
|
23
|
| 2018 PK21 |
2020-Dec-08
|
12.2 LD
|
3.1
|
23
|
| 2020 WK3 |
2020-Dec-08
|
10 LD
|
6.9
|
36
|
| 2019 XQ1 |
2020-Dec-13
|
18.4 LD
|
8.6
|
30
|
| 2020 VY1 |
2020-Dec-16
|
13.2 LD
|
4.4
|
22
|
| 2017 XQ60 |
2020-Dec-21
|
10.8 LD
|
15.6
|
47
|
| 2011 CL50 |
2020-Dec-24
|
3.1 LD
|
3.4
|
11
|
| 501647 |
2020-Dec-25
|
7.9 LD
|
10
|
123
|
| 2012 XE133 |
2020-Dec-27
|
11.7 LD
|
9.2
|
74
|
| 2016 AF2 |
2020-Dec-27
|
7.3 LD
|
5.3
|
9
|
| 2012 UK171 |
2020-Dec-30
|
15.5 LD
|
4.7
|
47
|
| 2019 YB4 |
2021-Jan-02
|
16.8 LD
|
7.2
|
16
|
| 2003 AF23 |
2021-Jan-03
|
18.3 LD
|
15.8
|
235
|
| 2019 QW2 |
2021-Jan-03
|
8.8 LD
|
4.9
|
39
|
| 2012 BT1 |
2021-Jan-04
|
13.6 LD
|
7.7
|
12
|
| 2016 CO247 |
2021-Jan-06
|
19.3 LD
|
16.7
|
282
|
| 2018 KP1 |
2021-Jan-06
|
8.2 LD
|
4.4
|
34
|
| 332446 |
2021-Jan-06
|
9.6 LD
|
11
|
408
|
| 2015 NU13 |
2021-Jan-09
|
14.8 LD
|
15.1
|
408
|
| 2020 RO6 |
2021-Jan-11
|
19.5 LD
|
7.9
|
105
|
| 2013 YS2 |
2021-Jan-11
|
18.2 LD
|
3.7
|
78
|
| 2017 QW1 |
2021-Jan-15
|
17.8 LD
|
4
|
20
|
| 65717 |
2021-Jan-17
|
18.5 LD
|
3.6
|
246
|
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
On November 23, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 8 fireballs.
(5 sporadics, 3 Leonids)
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
#Fireball detected to the north from Hampshire at 00:49 this morning (23/11/2020) measured at magnitude -5. pic.twitter.com/uT0WZFyhcR
— Richard (@nova_foresta) November 23, 2020
If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society!
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, 2020-11-24. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-11-24. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Position of the planets, some dwarf planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system.
Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2020-11-24. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
Moon hunting: the search for “Peggy” https://t.co/looKXvumN2 pic.twitter.com/g8tLxe15Wg
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) June 13, 2017
International Space Station: #SpaceStation20th
The @SpaceX #CrewDragon astronauts, @Astro_illini, @AstroVicGlover, @Astro_Soichi and Shannon Walker are hard at work and getting used to life on the station. More... https://t.co/aAp79ML16o pic.twitter.com/dAPTWC2DjA
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 24, 2020
A Dragon spacecraft carrying cargo is scheduled arrive at the International Space Station on Dec. 6, around 11:30 a.m. EST following its launch from @NASAKennedy the day before. 🛰️ https://t.co/65Gc5g2yaH
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 23, 2020
Mars InSight Lander
With the mole just under the surface, I held up my camera for a better look at the work area. Up next: I’ll scrape some extra soil on top, and press down again to give it another assist.
Read more about what @NASAJPL and @DLR_en are doing to #SaveTheMole: https://t.co/RV4suOrxs6 pic.twitter.com/cvjncCLoDs
— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) October 16, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
Tyrrhena Terra crater floor - https://t.co/bdeDbRwlj7 pic.twitter.com/4jbdMFseFL
— HiRISE Bot (@HiRISEBot) November 24, 2020
Double crater on Cerberus plains - https://t.co/UiTAUEf4co pic.twitter.com/qPJ8A7b2vD
— HiRISE Bot (@HiRISEBot) November 24, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope:
This is an image of spiral galaxy NGC 3147, captured by Hubble.
⚫️ 😱 What you can’t see is the supermassive black hole at its center that weighs ~250 million times the mass of our Sun!
Learn more about black holes in this episode of Curious Universe: https://t.co/qREcbwdTG9 pic.twitter.com/EZD5PtyUqH
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 23, 2020
Landsat
#LandsatHeadline – Landsat 8 Data Availability Update from Recent Safehold Events.
The Landsat 8 Flight Operations Team has successfully restored the spacecraft to nominal operations & resumed imaging of OLI/TIRS data on November 14, 2020.
Learn more at https://t.co/sNU32ZRlHA pic.twitter.com/4nvNBee04L
— USGS Landsat Program (@USGSLandsat) November 20, 2020
Climate:
Earth's climate is very sensitive to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide content. Learn just how sensitive and why it's important for everyone. https://t.co/3tbReNlO8j
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) November 23, 2020
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
In 2019, a giant planet and its star were given names for rivers in Alaska that support indigenous and native populations.
The Mulchatna is a tributary of the Nushagak River, much like the planet is bound to its star. https://t.co/J9ROYn8URy#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth pic.twitter.com/hr3k8oIyT3
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) November 19, 2020
The Milky Way is filled with planets. Now astronomers have found the first candidate planet in another galaxy. https://t.co/5LzO45q7Vs
— Astronomy Magazine (@AstronomyMag) November 23, 2020
Craters of the Moon National Monument now a Dark Sky Site!
My wife and I visited this park in 2009; my daughter and son in-law attended a star party there.
IDA's most recently certified International Dark Sky Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument. Learn more at https://t.co/h5K1NRZrbo pic.twitter.com/j0m852pgR6
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) August 22, 2017
Connie Trembley in a Lava Tube at Craters of the Moon - 2009. Credit: Bob Trembley
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
ESA/Hubble #Flashback: This image features the star cluster Trumpler 14, one of the largest gatherings of hot, massive and bright stars in the Milky Way.
Credit: @NASA / @ESA , Jesús Maíz Apellániz ( @c_astrobiologia ) https://t.co/l9rut8A1AQ pic.twitter.com/2tGVvFKVsm
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) November 24, 2020
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to DE CVn, about 15.8* light years distant.
Note: Space Engine has this star as 15.8 LY, however simbad has the distance as 30.5495 pc (99.63914 LY) - I have a bit of checking to do...
DE CVn is 15.83 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
DE CVn
DE CVn is an eclipsing binary composed to two red dwarf stars with an orbital period of 8h 44m 9.6s. The two red dwarf stars are tidally-locked with rotational periods matching their orbital periods.
The system as one confirmed exoplanet orbiting the pair of stars at a distance of 5.75 AU with an orbital period of 11.22 years.
Artist rendering of DE CVn seen from nearby
Orbits of the red dwarf pair DE CVn seen from an oblique angle. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artist rendering of DE CVn seen from Earth
Orbital plane of the red dwarf pair DE CVn seen from Earth. The image on the left shows the pair at some separation, the image on the right shows the pair eclipsing. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artist rendering of DE CVn seen from a distance
Seen from a short distance, the two stars seem to merge into one.
Red dwarf binary DE CVn seen from a distance. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artist rendering of the gas giant exoplanet DE CVn b
Artistic rendering of exoplanet DE CVn b orbiting the binary red dwarf pair DE CVn - from this distance, the binary pair look like a single star. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
What I was listening to when I was editing this:
Stay safe, be well, and look up!
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
The Universe - Universe Today