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
In the Sky This Week – January 12, 2021
Venus appears very low above the southeastern horizon before sunrise.
Venus appears very low above the southeastern horizon before sunrise. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury continue to form a triple conjunction in the southwestern sky at dusk - Saturn may be a bit difficult to see; Mercury appears slightly higher above the horizon each evening.
Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury form a triple conjunction on Jan 12th in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mercury appears in the southwestern sky at dusk - the Moon joins Mercury on the evening of Jan 15th.
The Moon joins Mercury in the southwestern sky at dusk on Jan 15th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars appears high in the southern sky after sunset; the constellations Orion, Taurus and Canis Major appear lower and to the east of Mars.
Mars appears very high in the southern sky after sunset. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
If you look almost straight up at 3:00 AM, you can sky-hop from the Big Dipper to Arcturus and Spica.
Sky Hopping with the Big Dipper at 3:00 AM. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waning crescent - visible low to the east before sunrise.
The new Moon occurs on Jan. 13th - the Moon will be hidden in the glare of the Sun.
After Jan. 13th, the Moon will be a waxing crescent - visible toward the southwest in early evening.
The Moon from 2021-01-12 - 2021-01-18 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 TIF image annotated with the names of prominent features - helpful for logging your observations!
Moon News
This year, tiny cameras will head to the Moon aboard a landing spacecraft as part of our @NASAArtemis program. They’ll help picture & study craters made when touching down on the lunar surface to help predict landing impacts. More: https://t.co/XlOsu20l32 pic.twitter.com/WMXFJwj33g
— NASA (@NASA) January 8, 2021
We're now targeting Sat., Jan. 16 for a hot fire test of the rocket that will launch @NASAArtemis I to the Moon.
On Tues., Jan. 12 at 1pm ET, experts from @NASA_Marshall, @NASAStennis, @BoeingSpace & @AerojetRdyne will discuss the test. How to listen in: https://t.co/GThauQyYqp pic.twitter.com/Wc1kfp98CS
— NASA (@NASA) January 11, 2021
In the Sky This Week – January 5, 2021
For the images in this week's "In the Sky" post, I turned light pollution off in Stellarium - these images show a multitude of stars you cannot see from an urban or suburban locations. I remember camping at a VERY dark sky location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and not being able to find any familiar guide stars because there were SO MANY stars! This is one of the best reasons to get away from the city lights, and visit a dark sky location!
Mercury is visible low above the southwestern horizon at sunset - appearing a bit higher above the horizon each evening.
Jupiter and Saturn are also visible low above the southwestern horizon at sunset - appearing a bit lower each evening.
The three planets join to form a triple conjunction on Jan 10th, but it may be a challenge to observe due to the nearness to sunset.
Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury form a triple conjunction on Jan 10th in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars appears high in the southwestern sky after sunset, and through midnight.
Mars appears high in the southwestern sky after sunset, and through midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Orion, Taurus and Canis Major appear with the Milky Way in the eastern sky after sunset.
The constellations Orion, Taurus and Canis Major appear with the Milky Way in the eastern sky after sunset. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Cassiopeia and the double cluster appear with the Milky Way in the northwestern sky before midnight.
The constellation Cassiopeia, the double cluster and the Andromeda galaxy appear with the Milky Way in the northwestern sky before midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The waning crescent Moon appears in the southeastern sky with the star Spica at 3:00 AM on Jan. 6th.
The waning crescent Moon appears in the southeastern sky with the star Spica at 3:00 AM on Jan. 6th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
A very thin waning crescent Moon appears on the southeastern horizon with the star Antares before sunrise on Jan. 10th - there is a good chance of viewing earthshine on the Moon this morning.
A very thin waning crescent Moon appears on the southeastern horizon with the star Antares before sunrise on Jan. 10th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The east-southeastern sky seen from a dark sky site at 1:00 AM from Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is stunning!
The east-southeastern sky seen from a dark sky location on Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Island in the southern hemisphere is stunning! Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon will be a waning gibbous - rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
The third-quarter Moon occurs on Jan 6th - rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.
After Jan. 6th, the Moon will be a waning crescent - visible low to the east before sunrise - be sure to look for earthshine!
The Moon from 2021-01-05 - 2021-01-11. 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 TIF image annotated with the names of prominent features - helpful for logging your observations!
Moon News
We're getting ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the launch of #Apollo14 on January 31. For now, enjoy today's #MoonCrushMonday, featuring #Apollo14 astronaut Alan Shepard next to the Modular Equipment Transporter during a surface traverse. pic.twitter.com/B7NIVnEImM
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) January 4, 2021
University teams will present their ideas in a @NASA_Technology challenge that could help @NASAArtemis missions explore uncharted areas of the Moon. Administrator @JimBridenstine joins the event on Jan. 6 at 10:30am ET; awards will be announced Jan. 11: https://t.co/oMzC6Tiscs pic.twitter.com/9MUAecvbFE
— NASA (@NASA) January 4, 2021
In 2020, together with the National Space Grant Foundation, @NASA awarded nearly $310,000 to 11 university teams for the development of studies, concepts, and technologies that could help support the agency’s deep space exploration capabilities. https://t.co/VwHW53XD0l
— Mark Kirasich (@MarkKirasich) January 4, 2021
As was stated during last night's meeting of the Warren Astronomical Society: "The Sun is BORING!" There have been no sunspots for 2 days.
The northern coronal hole appears to have diminished; the southern coronal hole still remains small. A couple small coronal holes on either side of the equator - just like last week.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) January 4, 2021:
Light prominence activity over the last couple days - one rather large prominence (upper right) has remained active for those couple of days.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) January 4, 2021:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 5th, 2021 goes out to Vijay Kapoor for this sunset sunspot image. Details: "Sunset with Sunspots:" AR 2794 & AR 2795 captured on 2020-12-26. Nikon D750+Sigma 60-600mm Sports Lens, F/32, 600mm, 1/4000s, ISO-100.
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 339.8 km/sec, with a density of 23.5 protons/cm3 at 1115 UT - this is the largest value I've ever seen for density!
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
A secret behind the workings of sunquakes might be hidden beneath the solar surface. New research found that the acoustic source of this solar seismic activity was around 700 miles below the surface of the Sun — not above the surface as previously thought. https://t.co/pIzJzuYNro pic.twitter.com/1sVRM88kKW
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) January 4, 2021
A secret behind the workings of sunquakes — seismic activity on the Sun during solar flares — might be hidden beneath the solar surface. ☀️
Explore new results, using data from our @NASASun Solar Dynamics Observatory: https://t.co/t5PooxqVMH pic.twitter.com/nmro7fLP3d
— NASA (@NASA) January 5, 2021
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 13, this year: 13, all time: 24,796 (+22)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,042,291
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572 (This value has not been updated in weeks)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,042,291
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572 (This value has not been updated in weeks)
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2021 AC |
2021-Jan-06
|
9.2 LD
|
14.1
|
62
|
| 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
|
113
|
| 2013 YS2 |
2021-Jan-11
|
18.2 LD
|
3.7
|
78
|
| 2017 QW1 |
2021-Jan-15
|
17.8 LD
|
4
|
20
|
| 2021 AD |
2021-Jan-16
|
12.5 LD
|
8.5
|
48
|
| 65717 |
2021-Jan-17
|
18.5 LD
|
3.6
|
246
|
| 2020 WT5 |
2021-Jan-20
|
19.6 LD
|
8.6
|
133
|
| 2020 YE5 |
2021-Jan-22
|
1.1 LD
|
10.5
|
26
|
| 2020 XB7 |
2021-Jan-22
|
7.1 LD
|
8.4
|
47
|
| 2018 BX |
2021-Jan-22
|
8.9 LD
|
6.1
|
5
|
| 2020 PP |
2021-Jan-23
|
18.2 LD
|
8.4
|
217
|
| 2018 BA3 |
2021-Jan-25
|
1.5 LD
|
8.1
|
20
|
| 468727 |
2021-Jan-25
|
15.8 LD
|
14.9
|
257
|
| 2020 TB12 |
2021-Feb-01
|
6.8 LD
|
8.9
|
153
|
| 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
|
| 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
|
| 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
|
202
|
| 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
|
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 December 28, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 17 fireballs!
(10 sporadics, 7 Quadrantids)
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? UFO over Oahu!
OK... let's get something straight: UFO's exist. The term LITERALLY means Unidentified Flying Object. It does NOT mean have to mean ALIENS! The reporter in the video correctly identified it as a "glowing oblong mass" and did not attach any extraterrestrial explanation for whatever it was.
FAA notified after large blue UFO seen above Oahu appeared to drop into ocean https://t.co/GtFkSxFMwj #HNN
— Hawaii News Now (@HawaiiNewsNow) January 1, 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, 2021-01-05. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
The Parker Solar Probe is heading toward perihelion #7 on Jan. 17th, the Mars 2020 Rover is heading toward its landing on the Red Planet on Feb. 18th.
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, 2021-01-05. 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 Makemake is highlighted.
Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2021-01-05. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
Start off the new year by looking up! ✨🌗🔭 In January, Earth reaches its closest approach to the Sun for the year, plus there are chances to spot two elusive planets later in the month. Details and downloads at: https://t.co/BrqV1v3paR pic.twitter.com/9jqXo83nZj
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) December 31, 2020
Mars Perseverance Rover Landing Video: #CountdownToMars
International Space Station:
Happy New Year! The station orbits the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour) enabling the crew to see 16 sunrises and sunsets each day. pic.twitter.com/aRvF54KR03
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 1, 2021
The Exp 64 crew spent the first weekend of 2021 studying advanced ways to improve human health while packing a pair of U.S. resupply ships for departure. More... https://t.co/v1NPlB54ft pic.twitter.com/AKsmybhmI6
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 4, 2021
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD: A Taste of Jezero
NASA’s Perseverance rover is set to land in Jezero in February 2021, and this image shows part of the western inlet valley into the crater.
NASA/JPL/UArizonahttps://t.co/DJvXzSve1n#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/ZWQL8vw2Qj
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) January 5, 2021
Hubble Space Telescope
Happy #NationalTriviaDay! 🧠 Our Hubble Trivia series explores the telescope's history, discoveries, and science! Test your Hubble knowledge with our quizzes and short videos.
Get started: https://t.co/N59IXKZJ9P pic.twitter.com/hTtS7fOcP2
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) January 4, 2021
Juno at Jupiter:
The raw images from this pass are now available at https://t.co/mGfITRv89Y. This view was processed by Kevin M. Gill. See more at https://t.co/Ql7aCQMUsY #JunoMission pic.twitter.com/ynMuSfqN3r
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) January 4, 2021
Unmanned Aircraft Systems - USGS Earth as Art Collection #6
Just go to the Earth as Art #6 site! All of the Earth as Art collections are simply stunning!
Palmyra Atoll is an ancient volcanic remnant located about 1,000 miles from Hawaii. The Nature Conservancy, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, manages the atoll as a science and research station. Multispectral sensors on drones efficiently capture high-resolution images of land and coral reefs. Part of the atoll, an islet named Pelican Island, shows green vegetation as blue. Credit: USGS.
Climate:
What do Americans want NASA to do? Make monitoring global climate a top priority. https://t.co/d8IBHDGpTR
— Scientific American (@sciam) January 1, 2021
A lot happened in 2020, from COVID-19, to #EarthDayAtHome, to the successful launch of the sea level-measuring satellite Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. It's time for a year in review as we ring in 2021. Here were our top stories: https://t.co/nXTlNuodMa pic.twitter.com/OXfz2VTDrN
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) December 30, 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
KELT-9b is one of the hottest exoplanets we know.
It has a surface temperature of 7,800℉ (4,300℃), hotter than some stars. The heat likely rips molecules in its atmosphere to shreds. #MondayMotivation: It keeps going.https://t.co/vNTq56GZs0 pic.twitter.com/FYNaPj9Lf4
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) January 4, 2021
Artist’s rendering of a “hot Jupiter” called KELT-9b, the hottest known exoplanet – so hot, a new paper finds, that even molecules in its atmosphere are torn to shreds. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
#OTD in 1892, German astronomer Dr. Martin Brendel obtained the first successful photograph of the aurora borealis in northern Norway. pic.twitter.com/QxEiJypjUQ
— Dr. Manuela Rossol 🏳️🌈👩🔬🔬🔭 (@astromonocyte) January 5, 2021
Thread: Review papers about impacts of light pollution 👇 pic.twitter.com/4fFhFP4S0j
— Alejandro Sánchez (@pmisson) December 28, 2020
Visit an International Dark Sky Park: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/
For Kids:
Color with NASA: Mars Helicopter Edition! 🎨🚁
Our latest video allows your students (and you!) to color @NASA’s Mars helicopter, Ingenuity, alongside a NASA engineer who helped make the actual Mars helicopter!
Download your coloring page here: https://t.co/yzHJEXJxIh pic.twitter.com/Gjh1cdrOY3
— NASA Space Place (@NASAspaceplace) January 4, 2021
Hubble: Bizarre Universe
A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant light source and an observer, that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light travels towards the observer. This effect is known as gravitational lensing, and the amount of bending is one of the predictions of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. - Wikipedia
Galaxy Cluster RCS2 032727-132623, RCSGA 032727-132609 and Gravitational Lens System. CREDITS: NASA, ESA, J. Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), K. Sharon (Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago), M. Gladders and E. Wuyts (University of Chicago), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).
Happy New Year!
Star Wars Mandalorian character from Fortnite Battle Royale game performing the 2020 New Year emote. Credit: Epic Games / Lucasarts / Bob Trembley.
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
In the Sky This Week – December 29, 2020
Jupiter and Saturn appear above the southwestern horizon at dusk - they continue to move away from each other with each night. As the Earth's orbit brings the Sun between us and the pair of planets, they set shortly after sunset, and will not be visible after the first week of 2021.
Jupiter and Saturn and appear above the southwestern horizon at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars and Uranus appear above the southeastern horizon at dusk - they appear above western horizon around midnight; Mars sets in the west shortly before 2:00 AM.
Mars appears above the western horizon before midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky all week - appearing much lower than it has been in recent weeks.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The constellation Orion appears in the southeastern sky at 8:00 PM - the Moon appears in the constellation Gemini from Dec. 29-30th.
The Moon appears in the constellation Gemini from Dec. 29-30. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The constellations Ursa Major and Leo appear in the east-northeastern sky at 1:00 AM - the Moon appears in Leo from Jan 2-4th.
The constellations Ursa Major and Leo appear in the east-northeastern sky after midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The full Moon occurs on Dec, 30th - rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night; I saw this through my skylight as I was making my coffee this morning.
After Dec. 29th, the Moon will be a waning gibbous - rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
The Moon from 2020-12-29 - 2021-01-04. 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!
Moon News
We are looking for ideas on how to excavate the Moon’s icy regolith, or dirt, and deliver it to a hypothetical processing plant at the lunar South Pole.
Enter the Break the Ice Lunar Challenge and be a part of the #Artemis program: https://t.co/tIAwHE6fFk pic.twitter.com/WXpwp1Yv0C
— NASA’s Artemis Program (@NASAArtemis) December 27, 2020
A Convert-O-Tron 250 ISRU from KSP.
Let me just mention that In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) components have been part of Kerbal Space Program for years, and I have completed missions that require locating resources on the Moon's surface using orbital reconnaissance, landing mining equipment on the Moon, mining resources, and returning those resources to lunar orbit for processing at a space station. Yea... there's a reason I like KSP...
NASA recently gave out a new round of grants for its favourite up and coming innovative space projects. One of which is a plan to fit a 1 km radio telescope inside a crater on the far side of the Moon, the largest radio telescope in the Solar System https://t.co/3NEsqpwoER pic.twitter.com/MXrqZy8xOO
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) December 28, 2020
The Sun has an interesting face with 2 spots - crack out your telescopes with solar filters! Neither sunspot poses a threat for strong flares.
The Sun on Dec. 29th - both of the sunspots have stable magnetic fields that pose little threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI/spaceweather.com
The face of the Sun where the sunspots are show a lot coronal activity - there appears to be another region of coronal activity rotating into view.
The northern coronal hole appears to have opened a bit; the southern coronal hole remains small. There are a couple small coronal holes on either side of the equator.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 28, 2020:
Several prominences across the Sun's limb; the two sunspot regions look like angry scars in 304 A - AR2796 (leftmost of the 2 sunspots) is spitting a lot of low-level flares.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 28, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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
SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for Tuesday, December 29th, 2020 goes out to Randy Shivak for this incredible Hi-Resolution shot of a solar prominence. Randy commented: "Images captured today 12/28/2020 using the 152mm F8 refractor with the Daystar .5 angstrom PE filter, Baader D-ERF, Baader TZ3 and ZWO 174MM camera."
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 470.9 km/sec, with a density of 9.0 protons/cm3 at 1120 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
This morning, @ESA & @NASA’s #SolarOrbiter completes its first Venus flyby! The spacecraft uses the planet’s gravity to swing closer to the Sun and tilt its orbit for the first-ever view of the Sun’s poles.
Learn more about the flyby: https://t.co/JsMJ07Imlp pic.twitter.com/qJCSQi5CXW
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 27, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 251, this year: 2939, all time: 24,796
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,041,080
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,041,080
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 XZ4 |
2020-Dec-29
|
5.4 LD
|
8.7
|
37
|
| 2012 UK171 |
2020-Dec-30
|
15.5 LD
|
4.7
|
47
|
| 2020 YB4 |
2020-Dec-31
|
15.9 LD
|
14.9
|
37
|
| 2019 YB4 |
2021-Jan-02
|
16.8 LD
|
7.2
|
16
|
| 2020 YA1 |
2021-Jan-03
|
4.1 LD
|
3.7
|
16
|
| 2020 YP4 |
2021-Jan-03
|
5.7 LD
|
6.8
|
22
|
| 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
|
108
|
| 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
|
| 2020 WT5 |
2021-Jan-20
|
19.6 LD
|
8.6
|
132
|
| 2020 XB7 |
2021-Jan-22
|
7.2 LD
|
8.4
|
50
|
| 2018 BX |
2021-Jan-22
|
8.9 LD
|
6.1
|
5
|
| 2020 PP |
2021-Jan-23
|
18.2 LD
|
8.4
|
218
|
| 2018 BA3 |
2021-Jan-25
|
1.5 LD
|
8.1
|
20
|
| 468727 |
2021-Jan-25
|
15.8 LD
|
14.9
|
257
|
| 2020 TB12 |
2021-Feb-01
|
6.8 LD
|
8.9
|
159
|
| 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
|
| 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
|
| 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
|
10.8 LD
|
8.4
|
197
|
| 2015 EQ |
2021-Feb-23
|
18 LD
|
10.5
|
21
|
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 December 28, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 15 fireballs!
(13 sporadics, 1 Leonis Minorid, 1 Quadrantid)
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
Huge fireball exploded over China on Dec. 22, 23h23 UT (7:23 local time). Most energetic event for 2 years!
If you observed it, please report: https://t.co/CFIfduq6zL pic.twitter.com/d7onJC1fEq— IMO Meteor Org. (@IMOmeteors) December 24, 2020
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, 2020-12-29. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system - the orbit of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko is highlighted.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-12-29. 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 bilobed TNO Arrokoth is highlighted.
Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2020-12-29. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
How did we get here? How do stars and planets come into being? What happens during a star's life, and what fate will its planets meet when it dies? Come along on this interactive interstellar journey through time: https://t.co/D1b6BCxila pic.twitter.com/Yi0OVA7k43
— NASA (@NASA) December 27, 2020
Mars Persevere Rover:
I’m on a one-way mission to Mars, but the samples I collect there will be the first things ever to make a round trip. In the search for signs of ancient life on Mars, see how super-clean sample tubes make for super-clean science. https://t.co/icIt9rVe00 #CountdownToMars pic.twitter.com/9DzY9biZEL
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 22, 2020
International Space Station:
The Exp 64 crew spent the weekend after Christmas exploring advanced therapies for vision loss, bone conditions and cancer. Read more... https://t.co/Q3txF6pn8I pic.twitter.com/nuMysoND9P
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 28, 2020
Hours of operation for Mission Control at NASA Johnson?
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
Flight controllers get a special❄️ #Holiday ❄️shoutout from @Space_Station residents @NASA_Astronauts Kate Rubins, @AstroVicGlover, & @Astro_illini!📸: NASA/Anthony Vareha pic.twitter.com/tYgrQpz5H8
— Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) December 24, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
It's Monday! And what do Mars and Monday have in common? Well nothing... but they both start with 'M' and that's all we need to gush over these captivating @HiRISE images of the Red Planet. 🤩
Get your Monday Martian fix any day of the week: https://t.co/VNXla76YIR pic.twitter.com/A90oxLW24j— NASA 360 (@NASA360) December 28, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope #Hubble30
ESA/Hubble #Flashback: This bright spiral galaxy is known as NGC 2441, located in the northern constellation of Camelopardalis (The Giraffe).
Credit: @ESA / @Hubble_Space / @NASA
Acknowledgement: Nick Rose https://t.co/DkgA0wvigH pic.twitter.com/IH6CDhf17n— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) December 29, 2020
Juno at Jupiter:
Juno has observed that Jupiter’s magnetic field is changing over time. More: https://t.co/dyWgvUXJTm
See other recent science findings: https://t.co/DIk5EGZU3w pic.twitter.com/0o97kScy6L
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) December 28, 2020
Landsat:
Happy #StatehoodDay, Iowa! #HawkeyeState
Download free Landsat state mosaics at https://t.co/md9tVayMqk or Landsat data from EarthExplorer https://t.co/APul1Gvoa4#Iowa #DesMoines #Landsat #Earthobservation @NASA_Landsat pic.twitter.com/ArjOGGlaPk
— USGS Landsat Program (@USGSLandsat) December 28, 2020
Climate:
Plants help mitigate climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb, the less CO2 remains in the atmosphere. But scientists have found that 86% of land ecosystems are becoming less efficient at absorbing increasing levels of the greenhouse gas: https://t.co/JXuNhaFRFx pic.twitter.com/n0xBbtQRl1
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) December 23, 2020
📈 414.60 ppm #CO2 in the last full week of 2020 📈 Up from 412.30 ppm a year ago 📈 NOAA Mauna Loa data: https://t.co/WxFPTcniYz 📈 Weekly https://t.co/DpFGQoYEwb updates & graphics: https://t.co/idlRE62qB1 & https://t.co/u4YMb03Oou 📈 pic.twitter.com/bcqXsKUq4d
— CO2_Earth (@CO2_earth) December 29, 2020
NISAR Mission (Synthetic Aperture Radar) #NISAR
What’s it like trying to build a NASA Earth satellite from home? The #NISAR team shares their experience and tells us more about the upcoming mission and what it's like working with our partners from @isro 🇮🇳 halfway around the world. pic.twitter.com/ZX7XlzlOWl
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) December 17, 2020
In our new Data User Profile, read how Dr. Paul Siqueira is exploring and developing new uses for Synthetic Aperture Radar (#SAR) for environmental remote sensing, SAR processing, and to study ecosystem changes over time. https://t.co/lAU27rTFte, #NISAR pic.twitter.com/WSGZfeFAt7
— NASAEarthdata (@NASAEarthData) August 27, 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 - YOU Can Help Find Exoplanets!
There are so many ways to get involved with citizen science. In fact, @NASA has several ways you can help discover worlds! https://t.co/H3qSzlLxiP
Image credit: NPS pic.twitter.com/npuelJh7ls
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) December 16, 2020
A spectacular view of the "northern lights" as seen from the @Space_Station! This 2017 image shows the station's solar arrays in the foreground and entrancing reds and greens of the auroras, dancing above Earth.
Enjoy more images like this: https://t.co/YoKGR08XUL pic.twitter.com/Dv1bd6eFZB
— NASA (@NASA) December 25, 2020
Wales - Almost a Dark Sky Nation!
Will Wales become the first IDA Dark Sky Nation? 🤔 https://t.co/h6wP191Xbl
— Dr. John Barentine FRAS (@JohnBarentine) July 14, 2019
For Kids:
Is your student out-of-this-world imaginative? If so, their artwork could be featured on NASA Space Place! 💫
Find details on this month’s prompt and submission guidelines here: https://t.co/X0ppNbbxjc
⏰ Deadline: Dec. 31st pic.twitter.com/t67PlXBJEu
— NASA Space Place (@NASAspaceplace) December 27, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
This Hubble image captures Caldwell 78 (or NGC 6541), a globular star cluster roughly 22,000 light-years from Earth. The cluster is bright enough that backyard stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere can easily spot it with binoculars.
Credits: NASA, ESA, and G. Piotto (Università degli Studi di Padova); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
ET Phone Home? Wouldn't THAT be Interesting?
A mysterious signal is coming from the closest star to our own, Proxima Centauri, a star too dim to see from Earth with the naked eye, at 4.2 light-years away. https://t.co/tps3pf8Zbv
— Scientific American (@sciam) December 23, 2020
An as-yet unexplained radio signal appears to be coming from the direction of the star closest to the sun—a small red star roughly 4.2 light-years away called Proxima Centauri. https://t.co/crOcz6At2R
— National Geographic Magazine (@NatGeoMag) December 21, 2020
Alien hunters detect mysterious radio signal from nearby star - It's almost certainly not an extraterrestrial telegram. But waves that seemed to come from the vicinity of Proxima Centauri will help astronomers refine their search techniques. https://t.co/BwwkKKoNqh #SETI pic.twitter.com/lQqwkMNvSi
— The SETI Institute (@SETIInstitute) December 19, 2020
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.
NOTE: An update to Stellarium has been released!
Stellarium v0.20.4 has been released! https://t.co/J8KqNQUTxn
— Stellarium Dev. Team (@StellariumDev) December 28, 2020
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
In the Sky This Week – December 22, 2020
One of the more positive aspects of 2020 has been several successful sample return missions: the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) HAYABUSA2 mission has successfully returned 5.4 grams of rocks and dust from the asteroid Ryugu, the China National Space Administration's ChangE5 mission returned 1,731 grams of lunar regolith, and NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission's sample head was overflowing with material taken from the surface of asteroid Bennu. OSIRIS-REx is due back at Earth in 2023. These missions have me seriously excited, and I hope they are the beginning of a near-future filled with sample return missions!
After yesterday's "Great Conjunction," Jupiter and Saturn will move slightly away from each other every night - they'll be great observing targets for that new telescope you got for Christmas! When I created this image, I saw a pattern of stars above Jupiter and Saturn that I did not recognize - I clicked on one and found it was a string of #Starlink satellites.
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. This image is from Dec 25th at 6:03 PM - several Starlink satellites are visible high in the sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars, Uranus, the Pleiades star cluster and the bright star Aldebaran appear in the east-southeastern sky after sunset this week; the Moon appears near Mars on Dec. 23rd.
The Moon and Mars appear high in the southeastern sky after sunset; over in the eastern sky are the constellation Taurus, with the bright star Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
At midnight, the Moon and Mars will appear above the western horizon.
The Moon and Mars appear above the western horizon at midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky all week.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The constellation Ursa Major appears in the northeastern sky at midnight; the handle of the "Big Dipper" asterism points down toward the horizon.
The constellation Ursa Major appears in the northeastern sky at midnight. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waxing gibbous- visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night. This is also the perfect observing target for that new telescope!
The full Moon occurs on Dec, 30th - rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night.
The Moon from 2020-12-22 - 2020-12-28. 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 Dec. 25th. - showing the play of shadows along the terminator. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
This #MoonCrushMonday we celebrate the launch of #Apollo8 which lifted off 52 years ago today. This was the first crewed mission to the Moon, with the astronauts becoming the first humans to see the lunar far side. 👀 https://t.co/7c5y8PnyKT pic.twitter.com/12g6qfC9YZ
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) December 21, 2020
The Sun has 1 spot; sunspot AR2794 is not very energetic and currently poses no threat for strong solar flares.
Sunspot AR2794 is large but magnetically simple. It does not appear to pose a threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI/Spaceweather.com
The limb of the Sun where the sunspot is rotating into view has quite a bit of coronal activity - there are a couple other regions with a lot of coronal activity, but are not associated with a sunspot. Both the northern and southern coronal holes remain open - the northern hole as a very large tendril reaching down towards the equator.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 21, 2020:
Relatively light prominence activity over the last couple days - much less than the last couple weeks.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 21, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 December 22nd, 2020 is this amazing presentation showing the locations of sunrise done over a year by Zaid M. Al-Abbadi and was featured as APOD. Image Credit & Copyright: Zaid M. Al-Abbadi
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 556.3 km/sec, with a density of 9.7 protons/cm3 at 1250 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
‘Nanoflares’ are tiny solar eruptions, a billion times smaller than regular solar flares. For the first time since they were predicted in 1972, a research team may have found them. It may be key to one of the biggest mysteries of solar science. https://t.co/Q7kOUvjKki pic.twitter.com/b2AeCz3Yh4
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 21, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 209, this year: 2897, all time: 24,754
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,040,315
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,040,315
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 XH6 |
2020-Dec-22
|
6.4 LD
|
9.1
|
15
|
| 2020 YP |
2020-Dec-22
|
15.1 LD
|
10.5
|
43
|
| 2020 XJ3 |
2020-Dec-23
|
5.1 LD
|
6.2
|
26
|
| 2020 YB1 |
2020-Dec-23
|
7.9 LD
|
12.4
|
15
|
| 2020 YE |
2020-Dec-23
|
10.2 LD
|
20.1
|
53
|
| 2011 CL50 |
2020-Dec-24
|
3.1 LD
|
3.4
|
11
|
| 2020 YM1 |
2020-Dec-25
|
1.7 LD
|
3.2
|
4
|
| 2020 XY |
2020-Dec-25
|
15.7 LD
|
5.7
|
26
|
| 501647 |
2020-Dec-25
|
7.9 LD
|
10
|
123
|
| 2018 XE4 |
2020-Dec-26
|
5.6 LD
|
9.4
|
19
|
| 2020 YC |
2020-Dec-26
|
14.2 LD
|
6.5
|
22
|
| 2020 YH1 |
2020-Dec-26
|
10.4 LD
|
6.6
|
13
|
| 2020 XT2 |
2020-Dec-26
|
13.1 LD
|
5.2
|
40
|
| 2012 XE133 |
2020-Dec-26
|
12.1 LD
|
9.1
|
74
|
| 2016 AF2 |
2020-Dec-27
|
7.3 LD
|
5.3
|
9
|
| 2020 XZ4 |
2020-Dec-29
|
5.4 LD
|
8.7
|
38
|
| 2012 UK171 |
2020-Dec-30
|
15.5 LD
|
4.7
|
47
|
| 2019 YB4 |
2021-Jan-02
|
16.8 LD
|
7.2
|
16
|
| 2020 YA1 |
2021-Jan-03
|
4.1 LD
|
3.7
|
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
|
107
|
| 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
|
| 2020 WT5 |
2021-Jan-20
|
19.6 LD
|
8.6
|
133
|
| 2020 XB7 |
2021-Jan-22
|
7.2 LD
|
8.4
|
50
|
| 2018 BX |
2021-Jan-22
|
8.9 LD
|
6.1
|
5
|
| 2020 PP |
2021-Jan-23
|
18.2 LD
|
8.4
|
218
|
| 2018 BA3 |
2021-Jan-25
|
1.5 LD
|
8.1
|
20
|
| 468727 |
2021-Jan-25
|
15.8 LD
|
14.9
|
257
|
| 2020 TB12 |
2021-Feb-01
|
6.8 LD
|
8.9
|
158
|
| 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
|
| 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
|
| 2020 CX1 |
2021-Feb-18
|
4.9 LD
|
8.3
|
54
|
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 December 21, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 7 fireballs!
(7 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
Nice fireball caught this morning by Dan S. from Zimmerman, #Minnesota. This event happened this morning over the border between MN & WI.
If you saw it, please report it here: https://t.co/N0EuOVkOgj
Event page (66 reports so far): https://t.co/xXGEVx2T30 pic.twitter.com/4ZT9fejkh1
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) December 16, 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, 2020-12-22. 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, 2020-12-22.
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, 2020-12-22. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
When you see the #GreatConjunction, remember that Jupiter isn’t just a point of light, but a world, surrounded by planet-sized moons that are, in turn, intriguing worlds themselves. See you soon, Europa. https://t.co/rORF6MYHjc pic.twitter.com/AC5SrTh0hj
— NASA Europa Clipper (@EuropaClipper) December 21, 2020
Mars Persevere Rover:
I’m less than two months away from the big day. My #CountdownToMars ends Feb. 18. See what it takes to land on Mars with this mission trailer.
Landing Toolkit: https://t.co/pDEv4DLsW7 pic.twitter.com/AL2R88lXJR
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 21, 2020
International Space Station:
This time-lapse video shows the @CSA_ASC #Canadarm2 robotic arm installing the @NanoRacks Bishop airlock to the Tranquility module on Saturday. The new research airlock expands science operations on the station. pic.twitter.com/M5B3pDJlir
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 21, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD: Looking for Salts on Mars
Why are scientists interested in areas that contain salts on Mars? Simply put, salts usually form by evaporation of liquid water.
More: https://t.co/sfwBO3JbzP
NASA/JPL/UArizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/TOwZaN8rix
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) December 20, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope #Hubble30
What might look like a hanging Christmas ornament is an image of the planetary nebula NGC 6818 showing two distinct layers of gas (with dust): a spherical outer region and a brighter, vase-shaped interior 'bubble.' https://t.co/Q5J4fiK3sR pic.twitter.com/DjMF8tjSEX
— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) December 21, 2020
Landsat:
#LandsatHeadline - Landsat 9 Launch Delay Raises Questions about Science Data Acquisitions.
Seven USGS-NASA Landsat Science Team members offered their insights into how the delay of Landsat 9’s launch will affect the work they do in 2021.
Read more at: https://t.co/FBF3TH6HyL pic.twitter.com/l3SZbRlr0U
— USGS Landsat Program (@USGSLandsat) December 18, 2020
Climate:
NASA researchers are using satellite and ground-based observations to track the impacts of COVID-related shutdowns on Earth’s environments. A free online dashboard displays the data.https://t.co/O7Yq8feC4E
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) December 17, 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
As of today, we've discovered 4,324 exoplanets – worlds beyond our own solar system. We've found planets where it could rain glass, or precious jewels! Others with lava seas and sparkling skies. We love them all.https://t.co/G8HwE04ACN pic.twitter.com/a0OSgU6J72
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) December 21, 2020
More Dark Sky Parks!
We are very pleased to announce that Medicine Rocks State Park is now designated as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary! On 1/7/2021, the Carter County Museum will kick off the first virtual dark sky program with more dates to follow!
Learn more: https://t.co/Vb2waabO3Q
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) December 21, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
Spiral galaxy M74. Credits: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration; Acknowledgment: R. Chandar (University of Toledo) and J. Miller (University of Michigan)
Resembling festive lights on a holiday wreath, this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the nearby spiral galaxy M74 is an iconic reminder of the impending season. Bright knots of glowing gas light up the spiral arms, indicating a rich environment of star formation.
Messier 74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a "grand-design" spiral galaxy that is viewed by Earth observers nearly face-on. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars and glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen (hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons). These regions of star formation show an excess of light at ultraviolet wavelengths. Tracing along the spiral arms are winding dust lanes that also begin very near the galaxy's nucleus and follow along the length of the spiral arms.
M74 is located roughly 32 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Pisces, the Fish. It is the dominant member of a small group of about half a dozen galaxies, the M74 galaxy group. In its entirety, it is estimated that M74 is home to about 100 billion stars, making it slightly smaller than our Milky Way.
The spiral galaxy was first discovered by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1780. Weeks later it was added to Charles Messier's famous catalog of deep-sky objects.
This Hubble image of M74 is a composite of Advanced Camera for Surveys data taken in 2003 and 2005. The filters used to create the color image isolate light from blue, visible, and infrared portions of the spectrum, as well as emission from ionized hydrogen (known as HII regions).
A small segment of this image used data from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the Gemini Observatory to fill in a region that Hubble did not image. - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Happy Holidays Everyone!
Around early October, we asked our friend Jennifer Skwarski if she would be willing to make me a Victorian Santa outfit. It will be my granddaughter Alayanora's first Christmas, and she won't be able to go see Santa. When we picked the costume up, we were completely blown away by the beauty and craftmanship of this robe! My wife Connie modded a staff we got from the Michigan Renaissance Festival, and I got white gloves and a couple different glasses. I played Santa for my granddaughter last weekend; I need to work on my Santa chuckle.
Bob's vintage Santa outfit - custom made by Jennifer Skwarski. Staff modded by Bob's wife Connie.
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
In the Sky This Week – December 15, 2020
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southwestern sky at dusk, getting closer getting closer to the Dec. 21 conjunction with each passing day! The waxing crescent Moon joins the pair of planets on Dec. 16 & 17.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky all week, getting closer to the horizon with each passing day.
Venus appears in the southeastern predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars, Uranus, the Pleiades star cluster and the bright star Aldebaran appear in the east-southeastern sky after sunset this week.
Mars, Uranus, the Pleiades and Aldebaran appear in the east-southeastern sky after sunset this week. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The constellation Lyra, with the bright star Vega appear above the western horizon after sunset this week.
The constellation Lyra appears above the western horizon after sunset this week. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waxing crescent- visible toward the southwest in early evening.
The first quarter Moon occurs on Dec, 21st - visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
The Moon from 2020-12-15 - 2020-12-21. 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!
Moon News
The first woman will reach the Moon with @NASAArtemis & there has never been a better time to introduce young women to STEM. 🌙 👩🚀
The #Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest for K-12 students gives them a chance to envision their own lunar journey: https://t.co/GpOnEGGXPd pic.twitter.com/lhFSuzZgIr
— Women@NASA on the Moon with #Artemis. (@WomenNASA) December 13, 2020
There was a total solar eclipse on Dec. 14th - the Moon's shadow crossed over the South America.
For those not in the path of the eclipse, you can view a livestream here: https://t.co/T4yXkjkwUw pic.twitter.com/HNfxzVuGsm
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) December 14, 2020
#Eclipse2020 With rain and clouds. 🌧️🌫️
Villarrica volcano, Chile. pic.twitter.com/Qq9F1CTyPp— ALMA Observatory at Home📡 (@almaobs) December 14, 2020
The Sun has 2 sunspots. Sunspot AR2792 is energetic and poses a threat for C-class solar flares; on Dec. 14th it blew off a C4-class flare, with a coronal mass ejection (CME).
The Sun on Dec. 15, 2020. Credit: SDO/HMI. Source: SpaceWeather.com
The limb of the Sun where these sunspots are rotating into view show a lot of coronal activity. Both the northern ans southern coronal holes appear to be a bit... lop-sided.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 14, 2020:
Lots of prominence activity over the last couple days - time for me to get that new mount for my solar telescope!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) December 14, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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
SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for Tuesday, December 15th, 2020 goes to Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau for this awesome partial of today's Solar eclipse. Eduardo commented: "Today in the south of my country, Argentina, there was a total solar eclipse, due to the pandemic and the difficulties in traveling, I decided to stay in my city where the eclipse was only 62%. Anyway always an eclipse in an event that is enjoyed a lot. This photo was taken during the maximum, with a Coronado Solarmax II 90mm single stack telescope and a ZWO 183MM camera."
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 310.4 km/sec, with a density of 6.8 protons/cm3 at 1130 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
Since February, @ESA & @NASA’s #SolarOrbiter spacecraft has been gathering data on the Sun and the inner solar system. Now, scientists are sharing some of their early findings — including some surprises. https://t.co/PYW0sjEja5 #AGU20 pic.twitter.com/vD35DfIDsJ
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) December 10, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 123, this year: 2810, all time: 24,667
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,038,961
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,038,961
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,026,572
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
A couple close-passes less than 1 lunar-distance in the next couple days.
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2018 XU3 |
2020-Dec-15
|
16.7 LD
|
10
|
30
|
| 2020 XF5 |
2020-Dec-15
|
8 LD
|
18.7
|
29
|
| 2020 XF4 |
2020-Dec-16
|
0.9 LD
|
6.8
|
11
|
| 2020 VY1 |
2020-Dec-16
|
13.2 LD
|
4.4
|
24
|
| 2020 XX3 |
2020-Dec-18
|
0.1 LD
|
5.9
|
7
|
| 2020 XF3 |
2020-Dec-18
|
18.2 LD
|
7.6
|
31
|
| 1997 XE10 |
2020-Dec-20
|
13.3 LD
|
7.2
|
36
|
| 2020 XY4 |
2020-Dec-20
|
2.1 LD
|
9.6
|
17
|
| 2017 XQ60 |
2020-Dec-21
|
10.8 LD
|
15.6
|
47
|
| 2020 XA3 |
2020-Dec-21
|
12.7 LD
|
15
|
49
|
| 2020 XJ3 |
2020-Dec-23
|
5.1 LD
|
6.2
|
28
|
| 2011 CL50 |
2020-Dec-24
|
3.1 LD
|
3.4
|
11
|
| 2020 XY |
2020-Dec-25
|
15.7 LD
|
5.7
|
26
|
| 501647 |
2020-Dec-25
|
7.9 LD
|
10
|
123
|
| 2018 XE4 |
2020-Dec-26
|
5.6 LD
|
9.4
|
19
|
| 2020 XT2 |
2020-Dec-26
|
13.1 LD
|
5.2
|
39
|
| 2012 XE133 |
2020-Dec-26
|
12.1 LD
|
9.1
|
74
|
| 2016 AF2 |
2020-Dec-27
|
7.3 LD
|
5.3
|
9
|
| 2020 XZ4 |
2020-Dec-29
|
5.4 LD
|
8.7
|
42
|
| 2012 UK171 |
2020-Dec-30
|
15.5 LD
|
4.7
|
47
|
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 December 14, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 259 fireballs!
(206 Geminids, 51 sporadics, 1 Monocerotid, 1 Leonid Minorid)
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
#Geminids were already very strong on Saturday night. Our record station logged over 750 meteors! pic.twitter.com/xHeI0sWRC6
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) December 14, 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, 2020-12-15. 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, 2020-12-15. 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, 2020-12-15. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
Didn't we know this several years ago?
SwRI in the news: Earth isn’t the only ocean world in the solar systemhttps://t.co/Sbg2ftLuOY
— Southwest Research Institute (@SwRI) December 14, 2020
Mars Persevere Rover:
Meet one of the many amazing members of my team. #CountdownToMars https://t.co/D6vi5CIxKB
— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) December 14, 2020
International Space Station:
Cardiac research and a new toilet installation were the Monday highlights for the Exp 64 crew aboard the station. More... https://t.co/VwBPfNqFtq pic.twitter.com/GAitObHIcZ
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) December 14, 2020
Mars InSight Lander
NASA's InSight Mars lander acquired this image using its robotic arm-mounted, Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC). This image was acquired on December 5, 2020, Sol 720 where the local mean solar time for the image exposures was 14:09:36.760 PM. Each IDC image has a field of view of 45 x 45 degrees. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD: Stepping It Up in Arabia Terra
Several craters in Arabia Terra are filled with layered rock, often exposed in rounded mounds. The bright layers are roughly the same thickness, giving a stair-step appearance.
More: https://t.co/6S3RIpGTl2#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/eneLtnrbog
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) December 15, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope #Hubble30
Today, we released new Hubble images of 30 beautiful cosmic objects from the Caldwell Catalog in honor of Hubble's 30th anniversary year! 🥳
Explore stunning galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters: https://t.co/dNXPMm8XTy#Hubble30 pic.twitter.com/Rw0MswMHGL
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) December 11, 2020
Landsat:
How did the Landsat mission go from the spark of an idea to a 50-year legacy, with 350 posters & presentations citing the mission at this year’s #AGU20 meeting alone?
Discover in Landsat 9: Continuing the Legacy, narrated by @MarcEvanJackson https://t.co/RXbNG5mOL6— NASA Landsat Program (@NASA_Landsat) December 12, 2020
Climate:
UPDATE: November 2020 was the warmest November globally since modern record-keeping began in 1880, measuring at 1.13 °C (2.03 °F) above the 1951-1980 baseline average. The 10 warmest Novembers have occurred in the past 12 years.https://t.co/AKvhatrHCO pic.twitter.com/lUL5pOIyjy
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) December 14, 2020
Citizen Science:
Join us! Watch #NASAScience Live this Wednesday, Dec. 16 at 3:00 p.m. EST to hear from people around the globe about how they’re doing NASA science and learn how you too can get involved with NASA’s citizen science projects.#citizenscience #DoNASAScience pic.twitter.com/mTezXoBqNd
— NASA Citizen Science (@DoNASAScience) December 14, 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
A planet found with gravitational microlensing, MOA-2013-BLG-220L b, and new transmission spectra are this week's new data.
See our news summary page for the list of tables that contain the new spectra and planetary system parameters. https://t.co/gfSUzuaG0J pic.twitter.com/1ge3SnmWVy
— NASA Exoplanet Archive (@NASAExoArchive) December 3, 2020
A gift for you: upgraded PS tables and System Overviews! 🎁🎁🎁
This bump in versions brings us one step closer to a more integrated NASA Exoplanet Archive -- and a step closer to retiring our older tables. Read the latest in our news:https://t.co/gfSUzuaG0J pic.twitter.com/cGuztP01Kk
— NASA Exoplanet Archive (@NASAExoArchive) December 10, 2020
More Dark Sky Parks!
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) has awarded International Dark Sky Reserve status to both the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North York Moors National Park in northern England. https://t.co/X2HA7IWRBL
— Countryfile Magazine (@CountryfileMag) December 14, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
Caldwell 99. Credits: NASA, ESA, and R. Sahai (Jet Propulsion Laboratory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to Groombridge 1618, about 15.88 light years distant.
Groombridge 1618 is 15.88 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Groombridge 1618
Groombridge 1618 is a star in the northern constellation Ursa Major. With an apparent visual magnitude of +6.6, it lies at or below the threshold of stars visible to the naked eye for an average observer. It is relatively close to Earth, at 15.88 light years. This is a main sequence star of spectral type K7.5 Ve, having just 67% of the Sun's mass. There is a suspected planetary companion with an orbital period of 122 days.
Properties
This star was first identified as entry 1618 in the work A Catalog of Circumpolar Stars by Stephen Groombridge published posthumously in 1838. It has such a proper motion across the sky that it guaranteed the star was quite nearby and made it an early candidate for parallax measurements. In 1884 the parallax angle was measured as 0″.322 ± 0″.023, which is larger than the modern value of 0″.205.
Groombridge 1618 has a stellar classification of K8 V, which means it is a K-type main sequence star that is generating energy by fusing hydrogen at its core. It has 67% of the mass of the Sun, 61% of the Sun's radius, but radiates only 15% of the Sun's energy and only 4.6% of the Sun's energy in the visible light spectrum. The effective surface temperature of the star's photosphere is about 4,000 K, giving it an orange hue.
It is a BY Draconis variable with a surface magnetic field strength of 750 G. The chromosphere is relatively inactive and produces star spots comparable to Sun spots. However, like UV Ceti, it has been observed to undergo increases in luminosity as a flare star.
Planetary System
A search for excess infrared emission from this star by the Infrared Space Observatory came up negative, implying that Groombridge 1618 does not possess a nearby debris disk (such as Vega does). However, observations using the Herschel Space Observatory showed a small excess suggesting a low-temperature debris disk. The data can be modeled by a ring of coarse, highly-reflective dust at a temperature below 22 K orbiting at least 51 AU from the host star. If this star does have a companion, astrometric measurements appear to place an upper bound of 3–12 times the mass of Jupiter on such a hypothetical object (for orbital periods in the range of 5–50 years).
Those observations collated by Marcy & Benitz (1989), tend towards a single notable object with periodicity of 122 days as a planetary object with minimum mass 4 times that of Jupiter. This candidate planet has not been confirmed and the signal the authors had found could have been due to intrinsic stellar activity from the star's young age. If confirmed, the planet would be within the star's habitable zone. - Wikipedia
Groombridge 1618 System Diagram
Groombridge 1618 System Diagram (Unconfirmed). Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artist Renderings of (Unconfirmed) Exoplanet Groombridge 1618 b
Artistic rendering of unconfirmed gas giant exoplanet Groombridge 1618 b seen from an asteroid moon. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artistic rendering of red dwarf star Groombridge 1618 seen from an asteroid moon of an unconfirmed gas giant exoplanet. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
What I was listening to when I was editing this:
Apologies for the tardiness of this post
One of the parrots we've owned for nearly 2 decades passed and it hit me incredibly hard.
A better pic of Orion. pic.twitter.com/LU1TMWZQvO
— AstroBalrog (@AstroBalrog) December 6, 2020
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
NASA Confirms New SIMPLEx Mission Small Satellite to Blaze Trails Studying Lunar Surface
A small satellite mission to understand the lunar water cycle – detecting and mapping water on the lunar surface in order to investigate how its form, abundance, and location relate to geology – has received NASA approval to proceed with the next phase of its development.
An illustration of NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft. Credit: Lockheed Martin
On Nov. 24, the Lunar Trailblazer, a mission selected under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, passed its Key Decision Point-C (KDP-C) milestone, obtaining agency-level endorsement to begin final design of hardware and build. The milestone also provides the project’s official schedule and budget determination.
“Lunar Trailblazer will confirm whether water on the Moon is tightly bound in crystalline rock, as recently suggested by NASA’s SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) observations, or loosely bound and mobile as a function of temperature,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “This SIMPLEx mission bolsters our portfolio of targeted science missions designed to test pioneering technologies while reducing overall costs using new streamlined processes.”
Producing the highest resolution basemaps to locate ice or water trapped in rock at the Moon’s surface, Lunar Trailblazer will help support NASA’s Artemis program, which includes establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon by the end of the decade and preparing for crewed missions to Mars.
Map of known water ice deposits near the lunar south pole, from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Image via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/AmericaSpace.
“We’re excited to help answer big planetary science questions with a small satellite by making the new maps of water on the Moon,” said Bethany Ehlmann, the mission’s principal investigator, of Caltech. “Given the importance of water on the Moon for future robotic and human missions, Lunar Trailblazer will provide critical basemaps to guide future exploration.”
Peering into the Moon’s permanently shadowed regions, Lunar Trailblazer will detect signatures of ice in reflected light, and it will pinpoint the locations of micro-cold traps less than a football field in size. Collecting measurements at multiple times of day over sunlit regions, the mission will help scientists understand whether the water signature on the illuminated surface changes as the lunar surface temperature changes by hundreds of degrees over the course of a lunar day.
“Lunar Trailblazer will vastly advance our understanding of water cycles on airless bodies like the Moon,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. “By measuring both direct light and low levels of terrain-scattered light, Lunar Trailblazer will generate comprehensive maps of surface water ice, even in the Moon’s darkest regions.”
Selected in 2019, Lunar Trailblazer is the second mission from the current round of programs to receive confirmation and plans to deliver its flight system in October 2022, with a currently planned February 2025 launch. The Janus mission received its confirmation in early September 2020 and will investigate the formation and evolution of small, deep-space “rubble pile” asteroids. The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission is still in formulation, with its KDP-C planned for summer of 2021.
“Lunar Trailblazer has a talented, multi-institutional team whose collective effort resulted in a successful formulation phase and confirmation review,” said Calina Seybold, Lunar Trailblazer Project manager, at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “I am thrilled that the team has earned the privilege of continuing to our final design and fabrication phase.”
For information on NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission, visit: https://trailblazer.caltech.edu/
For information on NASA’s small satellite activities, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute
Article Source: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-confirms-new-simplex-mission-small-satellite-to-blaze-trails-studying-lunar-surface
Resources:
Lunar Trailblazer will be in a polar orbit above the Moon, at a height of 100 km (+/- 30 km).
Illustration of the lunar trailblazer's orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech (KISSCaltech video).
Lunar Trailblazer on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LunarTrailblazr
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.
-
- 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:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 219, this year: 2638, all time: 24,494 (+82)
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
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
In the Sky This Week – November 17, 2020
Mercury appears with Venus in the eastern predawn sky all week; both planets appear a bit closer to the horizon each morning - by next week, Mercury will be much closer to the horizon.
Conjunction of Mercury, Venus and the star Spica in the eastern predawn sky, Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Mars and Uranus continue to appear high in the eastern sky after sunset.
Mars and Uranus appear high in the eastern sky after sunset. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
If you have a large enough 'scope, you can see Uranus:
This is my shot before scaling it up to the closeup. Uranus is only 15 pixels wide. I took a lot of creative interpretations of the data to get the details you see in the final image, so I would consider it more an artistic rendering than a photo. pic.twitter.com/HbbjhxULFH
— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) November 16, 2020
Jupiter and Saturn continue to appear in the south-southwestern sky at dusk, and setting in the southwest a few hours after sunset; from Nov 17-20, the waxing crescent Moon joins the pair of planets.
A waxing crescent Moon joins Saturn and Jupiter in the southwestern sky at dusk from Nov. 17-20. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
My wife told me that she had her astronomy students look for the constellation Cassiopeia - here it is after sunset, and before sunrise.
-
- The constellation Cassiopeia appears high in the north-northeast sky after sunset. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
-
- The constellation Cassiopeia appears in the north-northwest predawn sky. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon is a waxing crescent, visible toward the southwest in early evening.
The first quarter Moon occurs on Nov. 22nd. - it will be visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
After Nov. 22nd the Moon will be a waxing gibbous - visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.
The Moon from 2020-11-17 - 2020-11-23. 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. 23rd. - showing the play of shadows along the terminator. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
ANNOUNCEMENT: On the inaugural launch of @ulalaunch's Vulcan rocket, they are sending @astrobotic's Peregrin lander to the moon, and your name can be on it! My latest video explains how to get on the payload. (free) pic.twitter.com/42T1EsXqVP
— TJ Cooney 🚀 (@TJ_Cooney) November 12, 2020
Today's #MoonCrushMonday features some lunar-inspired artwork. Let's see your Moon art! 🎨
Art: Acrylic on canvas by Ashley Balzer pic.twitter.com/oJvm2NVhpc
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) November 16, 2020
The Sun has has new sunspot is emerging on it's limb - you can see it in the lower left of the animation below. There are several regions of coronal activity in the Sun's southern hemisphere; the northern coronal hole, apparently unsatisfied with being small for more then a week, has returned to being GINORMOUS! The southern coronal hole is small, and there are a couple small holes peppering the northern hemisphere.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 16, 2020:
Moderate prominence activity over the last couple days; one prominence in the lower left rises far above the Sun's limb.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 16, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 Tuesday, November 17th, 2020 goes out to Gabriel Corban for this great limb shot of NOAA AR 2781.
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 304.7 km/sec (↓), with a density of 3.6 protons/cm3 (↓) at 1425 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
An absolutely amazing close up of the sun!
(Credit: Tom Bridgman/NASA) pic.twitter.com/eS2MIdfvYX
— Universal-Sci (@universal_sci) November 13, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 138, this year: 2556, all time: 24,412 (+108)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,026,969 (-591)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,026,969 (-591)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 VS4 |
2020-Nov-17
|
4.3 LD
|
8.3
|
15
|
| 2020 VG4 |
2020-Nov-17
|
2.1 LD
|
8
|
7
|
| 2020 VY |
2020-Nov-17
|
16.2 LD
|
11.6
|
36
|
| 2020 VU5 |
2020-Nov-18
|
6.4 LD
|
4.8
|
12
|
| 2020 VQ2 |
2020-Nov-18
|
4 LD
|
10.8
|
15
|
| 2020 VX4 |
2020-Nov-18
|
1.1 LD
|
11.4
|
12
|
| 2020 VK4 |
2020-Nov-19
|
5.1 LD
|
3.2
|
8
|
| 2020 VP4 |
2020-Nov-19
|
2.8 LD
|
3.6
|
10
|
| 2020 VA1 |
2020-Nov-20
|
11.7 LD
|
8.7
|
38
|
| 2020 VR2 |
2020-Nov-21
|
6 LD
|
6.6
|
13
|
| 2020 VW2 |
2020-Nov-23
|
18.5 LD
|
6.8
|
13
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-23
|
5 LD
|
4.8
|
49
|
| 2020 TJ8 |
2020-Nov-24
|
16.8 LD
|
4.6
|
33
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
| 2020 VO2 |
2020-Nov-26
|
12.6 LD
|
6.2
|
17
|
| 2020 KZ2 |
2020-Nov-28
|
5.7 LD
|
3.9
|
10
|
| 2020 VF6 |
2020-Nov-28
|
8.4 LD
|
17.8
|
36
|
| 153201 |
2020-Nov-29
|
11.2 LD
|
25.1
|
490
|
| 2020 VT5 |
2020-Nov-30
|
17.7 LD
|
16.3
|
40
|
| 2020 SO |
2020-Dec-01
|
0.1 LD
|
3.9
|
6
|
| 2020 VQ5 |
2020-Dec-01
|
19.9 LD
|
12.1
|
39
|
| 2019 XH2 |
2020-Dec-02
|
16.1 LD
|
6.4
|
6
|
| 2018 PK21 |
2020-Dec-08
|
12.2 LD
|
3.1
|
23
|
| 2019 XQ1 |
2020-Dec-13
|
18.4 LD
|
8.6
|
30
|
| 2020 VY1 |
2020-Dec-16
|
13.3 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
|
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 16, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 50 fireballs.
(23 sporadics, 15 Leonids, 1 Northern Taurid, 1 Nov. omega Orionid)
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
#MeteorShower LEONIDS PEAK ON NOVEMBER 17-18! ☄️
The peak of the Leonid meteor shower will dazzle the Philippine skies on the predawn hours of Nov 17 and 18. Here are the quick things you need to know about #Leonids!
Tips for Observing a Meteor Shower: https://t.co/d3o45I6GOT pic.twitter.com/aVUawgVbQK
— Earth Shaker PH (@earthshakerph) November 17, 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, 2020-11-17. 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, 2020-11-17. 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, 2020-11-17. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System.
Solar System News
#Venus phosphine update: answer to the Villanueva+20 Matters Arising posted on arXiv, with recalibrated ALMA data. Main points:
1) JCMT analysis confirmed, no mix with SO2;
2) thermomod in prep;
2) new ALMA data affected PH3 signal, abundance revised⬇️, detection now 'tentative' https://t.co/3D4rsxhz3x— Luca Maltagliati (@LucaPlanets) November 17, 2020
OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
Boulders on Bennu are riddled with small craters — likely a result of micro-meteorites impacting the boulders over time. So, what led scientists to this epiphany?
Learn more about what one of our mission scientists saw in Bennu’s shadows: https://t.co/cVJiLqaLmG pic.twitter.com/CdHIXDiUTc
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) November 12, 2020
International Space Station: #SpaceStation20th
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/Unf1ScdVFB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 16, 2020
WELCOME ABOARD! SpaceX's newly launched capsule with four astronauts has arrived at the International Space Station, their new home until spring. https://t.co/BEI8OEmVsf pic.twitter.com/JAKs7rn2oK
— ABC News (@ABC) November 17, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
Hi3D 16 Nov 20: A Recent Crater in the Southern Mid-Latitudes
Nothing beats a nice impact crater in 3D, especially a geologically recent one without a lot of shadows.https://t.co/BYKalpqeop
NASA/JPL/UArizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/fOhFvR0DS8
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) November 16, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope:
In this #HubbleFriday image, the galaxy LRG-3-817 appears as a long arc, left of the central galaxy cluster. It looks warped due to gravitational lensing, which happens when a huge distribution of matter sits between Earth and a distant source of light: https://t.co/gN2zBRVJuU pic.twitter.com/rb1hK1Z1xi
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 13, 2020
Climate:
UPDATE: October 2020 was tied for the fourth warmest October globally since modern record-keeping began in 1880, measuring at 0.9 °C (1.6 °F) above the 1951-1980 baseline average. The seven most recent Octobers have also been the warmest.https://t.co/AKvhatrHCO pic.twitter.com/fVasWZPM4C
— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) November 16, 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
Before we reveal week 2 of the Color Your Universe coloring pages, let's see how your universe is looking. Here are just a few of our favorites. Post your colorful world(s) with #ColorWithNASA for a chance to be featured. https://t.co/HgHqkrT8V2 pic.twitter.com/mBkLcmnIwG
— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) November 16, 2020
Question: How can we connect the pandemic & the night sky?
Answer: People are unable to travel to places to see the night sky. It's our responsibility to take this movement and bring it to all communities. We are fighting for access to the cosmos for everybody. #UnderOneSky2020
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) November 14, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
This stunning #HubbleClassic features galaxy M106 and its unusual set of spiral arms. It's a collaboration between Hubble and amateur astronomers, combining observations from Hubble and from astrophotographers on the ground: https://t.co/RvSbNcP9lH pic.twitter.com/fvas3QIn6H
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 17, 2020
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to Gliese 3618 (LHS 288, Luyten 143-23) , about 15.8 light years distant.
Gliese 3618 is about 15.8 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 3622 (LHS 292)
LHS 288 (Luyten 143-23) is a red dwarf around 15.8 light years from the Sun, the closest in the constellation Carina (near Eta Carinae). It is far too faint to be seen with the unaided eye, with an apparent magnitude of 13.92.
Recent studies suggest it may harbour a planet with a mass as small as 2.4 Jupiter, but the possibility that it passed over an undetected faint star could not be eliminated. - Wikipedia
Artist Rendering of the Gas Giant Exoplanet Orbiting Gliese 3618
Artistic rendering of an exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 3618. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine.
Artist Rendering of a Hypothetical Moon Orbiting Gliese 3618's Gas Giant
This system has a large exoplanet, massing more than Jupiter - it's very likely that this exoplanet will have several moons; the Wikipedia article above indicates a single exoplanet in this system - SpaceEngine, however, has multiple exoplanets with their own moons. I wanted to see of the catalogs that SpaceEngine uses have been updated, and that led me down a path of discovery I was not expecting; I did a starch on "star catalogs" and I was amazed at how many there have been! I see a bit of research in my future.
Artistic rendering of an exomoon orbiting the gas giant in the Gliese 3618 system - the moon is illuminated by the gas giant (left) and red dwarf star (right). 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
In the Sky This Week – November 10, 2020
Mars appears high in the eastern sky after sunset, and it appears high in the southern sky at midnight.
Mars appears high in the eastern sky after sunset. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Mercury appears with Venus in the eastern predawn sky all week - the planets are joined by the waning crescent Moon on the mornings of Nov. 12th and 13th.
Mercury and Venus appear in the eastern predawn sky all week - they are joined by the waning crescent Moon on Nov. 12th and 13th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The conjunction of the two planets, the Moon and the star Spica on the morning of Nov. 13th is likely to be distracting to drivers travelling eastward - drive safe!
Conjunction of Mercury, Venus, the Moon and the star Spica in the eastern predawn on Nov. 13th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the south-southwestern sky at dusk - still great observing targets, but look quick - you only have a couple hours before they set in the southwest.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
I was wondering what those 2 stars were I was seeing through the skylight as I was making my coffee at 3:00 AM... "I'll bet they are Castor and Pollux in the constellation Gemini." Called it! 🙂
Castor and Pollux appear nearly overhead at 3:00 AM. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
I really miss having people look through my telescope and say "Oh WOW!" or use my virtual reality headset to fly over the rings of Saturn and have their minds completely blown away...
The Moon is a waning crescent - visible low to the east before sunrise.
The new Moon occurs on Nov. 15th.
After Nov. 15th, the Moon will be a waxing crescent, visible toward the southwest in early evening.
The Moon from 2020-11-10 - 2020-11-16. 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. 11th. - showing the play of shadows along the terminator. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
The technologies we're developing for #Artemis – to help our astronauts explore more of the lunar surface than ever before – won't fit in one picture. Check out our #NASAMoonKit, showing some of the new innovations we're building and testing for the Moon: https://t.co/nPhhQoFAoZ pic.twitter.com/szW4FXkyWp
— NASA Technology (@NASA_Technology) November 6, 2020
Sunspot AR2781 is large and poses a slight threat for M-class solar flares.
AR2781 taken by Alan Friedman on November 8, 2020 @ Buffalo, NY
Sunspot AR2781 has a lot of coronal activity associated with it - you can see it in the Sun's southern hemisphere in the video below. Both the northern and southern coronal holes have reduced in size from last week.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 9, 2020:
Moderate prominence activity over the last couple days; the region of AR2781 looks like a huge orange wound on the Sun's face.
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 9, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 November 9th, 2020 is this awesome image of AR2781 by Stefano Filzoli. Details: November 07, 2020 - h. 12:35 UT Refractor D.150 f/32 + Combo Quark + Asi174M. https://www.astrodelciel.it/
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 322.4 km/sec (↓), with a density of 3.7 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1229 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
Did you know that the solar cycle has been regularly recorded by hand since 1755? In fact, some sunspot measurements date as far back as 3,000 years ago!
🎧 Check out @NASA's Curious Universe podcast to learn more about solar cycle history: https://t.co/fBUG43qE7p pic.twitter.com/FBTgJjCo7L
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 9, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 32, this year: 2448, all time: 24,304 (+50)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,027,560 (+2,399)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,027,560 (+2,399)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 UN3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
11.6 LD
|
7.6
|
48
|
| 2020 UL3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
15.4 LD
|
11.2
|
76
|
| 2020 VC1 |
2020-Nov-12
|
4.3 LD
|
6.1
|
28
|
| 2020 VC |
2020-Nov-12
|
13.8 LD
|
11.2
|
34
|
| 2020 TB9 |
2020-Nov-14
|
13.1 LD
|
6
|
24
|
| 2020 ST1 |
2020-Nov-14
|
19.1 LD
|
8.1
|
146
|
| 2019 VL5 |
2020-Nov-15
|
8.5 LD
|
8.2
|
23
|
| 2020 UB5 |
2020-Nov-16
|
20 LD
|
4.4
|
34
|
| 2020 VY |
2020-Nov-17
|
16.2 LD
|
11.6
|
38
|
| 2020 VA1 |
2020-Nov-20
|
11.7 LD
|
8.8
|
38
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-23
|
5 LD
|
4.8
|
49
|
| 2020 TJ8 |
2020-Nov-24
|
16.8 LD
|
4.6
|
33
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
| 2020 KZ2 |
2020-Nov-28
|
5.7 LD
|
3.9
|
10
|
| 153201 |
2020-Nov-29
|
11.2 LD
|
25.1
|
490
|
| 2020 SO |
2020-Dec-01
|
0.1 LD
|
3.9
|
6
|
| 2019 XH2 |
2020-Dec-02
|
16.1 LD
|
6.4
|
6
|
| 2018 PK21 |
2020-Dec-08
|
12.2 LD
|
3.1
|
23
|
| 2019 XQ1 |
2020-Dec-13
|
18.4 LD
|
8.6
|
30
|
| 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
|
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 9, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 11 fireballs.
(14 sporadics, 2 Northern Taurids)
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
Nice fireball caught over Québec yesterday.
Event page: https://t.co/bWB32clJxa pic.twitter.com/a5DRKfZvJv
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) November 10, 2020
Fireball caught over the #NewYork & #Connecticut on Nov 8 - 215+ reports so far.
Maps, traj & video:https://t.co/Vh3bWJX0Ge pic.twitter.com/qK2JEoHCDK
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) November 9, 2020
November issue of eMeteorNews online - https://t.co/l8W9oToaPJ Download eMeteorNews
The online content of September - October 2020 has been edited and archived in eMeteorNews (eMN_2020_6, November issue). MeteorNews is available without membership requirements. If you... pic.twitter.com/obZBbAxIkG
— MeteorNews (@eMeteorNews) October 31, 2020
If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society!
Position of the planets in the inner solar system:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-11-10. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
I created this image and used it in a comment to a post an astronomer buddy made on Facebook.
Artist's concept of Mars seen from the surface of Phobos. Credit: Bob Trembley / SpaceEngine
Position of the planets in the middle solar system:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-11-10. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
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, 2020-11-10. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Solar System News
In other news...
The solar system is a LOT more fragile than I would've thought.
Comets? They're essentially made of frozen cappuccino froth.https://t.co/behvIdf8lo
— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) November 4, 2020
Voyager 2 Contacted Using Upgraded Radio Antenna
Since March, @NASAVoyager 2 has been flying solo because of repairs and upgrades to the antenna we use to talk to the spacecraft. On Oct. 29, we sent commands to Voyager 2 for the first time in months — and the spacecraft responded to the call. 📡〰️🛰 https://t.co/TdFCAEQ4QO pic.twitter.com/6d3Drg6HgU
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 3, 2020
International Space Station: #SpaceStation20th
The Exp 64 crew worked physics, biology and spacewalk preps today as four @Commercial_Crew astronauts count down to a Nov. 14 launch to the station. More... https://t.co/Yir7AEH1nF pic.twitter.com/ORLxEFSvza
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 9, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD 10 Nov 20: Erosion of a Crater Rim near Maadim Vallis
There is possible hydro-erosion and riverbed-like deposits in this image, and it will be interesting to learn if the crater might have pushed up some layered sediments from the canyon floor. https://t.co/gS385yNjiS pic.twitter.com/vLAK5VzHoW
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) November 10, 2020
Hubble Space Telescope: ULLYSES program
Stars are the building blocks of the cosmos! ✨ To better understand them, Hubble has embarked on its largest observing project yet.
The ULLYSES program uses Hubble’s ultraviolet sensitivity to learn more about the birth and evolution of stars: https://t.co/7xho1emixr pic.twitter.com/p0XefkZ7yk
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 5, 2020
Climate:
The result? Coastal communities around the planet are experiencing flooding during high tides as well as increased storm surges — the intense waves that accompany hurricanes and tropical cyclones. pic.twitter.com/LGWqMYQjML
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) November 5, 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
The exoplanet Kepler-70b has an average temperature hotter than the Sun’s surface. It used to be Jupiter-sized until it spent some time inside its now-dead star, a trip that destroys most planets – but not this one.#MondayMotivation: This day is yours.https://t.co/hMOHOpUfCt pic.twitter.com/cATP5KLDDN
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) November 9, 2020
Here's exciting new research from a team of scientists out of Germany, the USA, & Ireland. Results show that if street light modernization projects are done according to IDA’s lighting principles they reduce #lightpollution in meaningful & measurable ways!https://t.co/MyGKlIxBMx
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) October 29, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
This galaxy is "hot." 😎 To be precise, some of the stars pictured in this Hubble image are over six times hotter than our Sun! The blue color of this galaxy, UGCA 193, shows that many of its stars “burn” at very high temperatures: https://t.co/kUzko3vSkX#HubbleFriday pic.twitter.com/C7FZ9y4ChP
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 6, 2020
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to Gliese 3622 (LHS 292), about 14.9 light years distant.
Gliese 3622 is about 14.9 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 3622 (LHS 292)
LHS 292 is a red dwarf in the constellation Sextans. It is far too faint to be seen with the unaided eye and requires a large amateur telescope to be seen visually. It lies relatively close to our star system at a distance of about 14.9 light years. It is a flare star, which means it can suddenly increase in brightness for short periods of time.. - Wikipedia
Artist Rendering of Hypothetical Exoplanet Orbiting Gliese 3622
Artistic rendering of an exoplanet and asteroid moon orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 3622. 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
In the Sky This Week – November 3, 2020
The sample head overflowing with bits of asteroid Bennu has been safely stowed in the return capsule of NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft - I can stop waving my hands frantically and breathe a bit easier! Now, I have to hurry-up-and-wait for launch windows and the time-consuming interplanetary Hohmann orbital mechanics before that sample is returned to Earth in 2023.Like Douglas Adams said: "Space is Big!"
I REALLY want a piece of Bennu; I asked Dolores Hill several questions about a possible privately-funded sample return mission with a larger sample head.
Dolores said “A huge sampling head may or may not be helpful. If ours had been too big, it would have made it harder to locate a large enough, safe site. A larger head would be heavier - require more gas to flow through it, etc. But, who knows, the engineers know how to scale up. Almost anything is possible given enough resources.
Regarding paying for itself..."In my opinion, it would depend on what the investors wanted from such a mission” - in my case samples for sale to collectors or researchers.
Dolores said that the OSIRIS-REx mission cost ~$800 million over 14 years, not including the launch vehicle! YIKES! Guess I’d need to find some wealthy investors or collectors!
I asked if there were any quarantine requirements for extraterrestrial samples? “Not for Bennu samples because of its history and the surface has been bathed by solar UV for a long time. That said, we will try to keep the pristine returned sample as clean as possible from us (terrestrial contaminants).”
Dolores told me that The TAGSAM (sample collection head) will undergo studies and be archived at NASA-JSC as space hardware; she thinks the next sample return mission will be a NASA-ESA Mars mission.
Mars appears high in the Eastern sky after sunset; at midnight, Mars appears high in the southern sky. Mars sets in the west around 4:00 AM.
Mars appears in the eastern sky after sunset. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Mercury appears with Venus in the eastern predawn sky from now until Nov. 25th - Mercury will appear its highest on Nov. 8th.
Mercury and Venus appear in the eastern predawn sky all week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the south-southwestern sky at dusk, and set in the southwest around 9:00 PM.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
The Moon appears high in the west-southwestern predawn sky near the constellation Orion for several mornings.
-
- The Moon appears near the star Aldebaran high in the west-southwestern predawn sky on Nov. 3rd. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
-
- The Moon appears above the constellation Orion high in the west-southwestern predawn sky on Nov. 4th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
The Moon is a waning gibbous - rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
The third quarter Moon occurs on Nov. 8th - it rises around midnight, and is visible to the south after sunrise.
After Nov. 8th the Moon will be a waning crescent - visible low to the east before sunrise.
The Moon from 2020-11-03 - 2020-11-09. 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. 8th. - showing the play of shadows along the terminator. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
KREEP material likely originated in the late stage of a lunar magma ocean more than 4 billion years ago. KREEP-rich materials were found in rocks from each Apollo site, so scientists expected to find thorium (an element found with rare earths) all over the Moon. #NASAHalloween pic.twitter.com/TVIucamLVh
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) October 30, 2020
The Sun has 2 spots! AR2781, which is rotating into view on the Sun's limb looks to be pretty large!
Sunspot AR2781 - polarity of the sunspot (+/-) marks it as a member of Solar Cycle 25. Images from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Sunspot AR2781 has a lot of coronal activity associated with it - you can see it in the lower left of the video below.
The northern coronal hole has diminished after weeks of being large to monstrous - the southern coronal hole remains small, but has an enormous tendril snaking around the southern hemisphere.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 2, 2020:
Lots of Prominence activity! That new sunspot is just crackling!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) November 2, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020 goes out to Jhon Henry Osorio Orozco for capturing this new, unnamed Active Region coming around the southeastern limb.
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 345.4 km/sec (↓), with a density of 0.9 protons/cm3 (↓↓) at 1244 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
Our Wind mission launched 26 years ago today! This spacecraft orbits between the Sun and Earth, measuring the heated gas of charged particles that shapes near-Earth space and fills the space between the planets. https://t.co/fwNicarUCk pic.twitter.com/qztGXuxIQK
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 1, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 1, this year: 2413, all time: 24,254 (+15)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,025,161 (+5,632)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,025,161 (+5,632)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 UA3 |
2020-Nov-03
|
5.6 LD
|
6
|
16
|
| 2020 HF4 |
2020-Nov-03
|
16.2 LD
|
2.9
|
11
|
| 2020 UR2 |
2020-Nov-04
|
14 LD
|
4.8
|
27
|
| 2020 UM2 |
2020-Nov-04
|
14.9 LD
|
2.8
|
13
|
| 2010 JL88 |
2020-Nov-05
|
10.5 LD
|
15.7
|
16
|
| 2020 UW2 |
2020-Nov-06
|
14.6 LD
|
6.2
|
38
|
| 2020 TY1 |
2020-Nov-07
|
14.7 LD
|
13
|
106
|
| 2019 XS |
2020-Nov-07
|
15.5 LD
|
9.4
|
51
|
| 2018 VS4 |
2020-Nov-09
|
14.9 LD
|
10.1
|
25
|
| 2020 UN3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
11.6 LD
|
7.6
|
54
|
| 2020 UL3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
15.4 LD
|
11.2
|
82
|
| 2020 TB9 |
2020-Nov-14
|
13.1 LD
|
6
|
24
|
| 2020 ST1 |
2020-Nov-14
|
19.1 LD
|
8.1
|
150
|
| 2019 VL5 |
2020-Nov-15
|
8.5 LD
|
8.2
|
23
|
| 2020 UB5 |
2020-Nov-16
|
20 LD
|
4.4
|
34
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-23
|
5 LD
|
4.8
|
49
|
| 2020 TJ8 |
2020-Nov-24
|
16.8 LD
|
4.6
|
32
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
| 2020 KZ2 |
2020-Nov-28
|
5.7 LD
|
3.9
|
10
|
| 153201 |
2020-Nov-29
|
11.2 LD
|
25.1
|
490
|
| 2020 SO |
2020-Dec-01
|
0.1 LD
|
3.9
|
6
|
| 2019 XH2 |
2020-Dec-02
|
16.1 LD
|
6.4
|
6
|
| 2018 PK21 |
2020-Dec-08
|
12.2 LD
|
3.1
|
23
|
| 2019 XQ1 |
2020-Dec-13
|
18.4 LD
|
8.6
|
30
|
| 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
|
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 2, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 11 fireballs.
(8 sporadics, 2 Northern Taurids, 1 Orionid)
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
Doorbell video of the fireball seen across Alabama, Georgia & Tennessee tonight! ☄
Did you see it?#meteor #Fireball #Alabama#Georgia #Tennessee pic.twitter.com/HNgYlaGf92— ~Marietta (@MariettaDaviz) November 2, 2020
If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society!
Position of the planets in the inner solar system:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-11-03. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-11-03 - the orbit of comet 67P is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
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, 2020-11-03 - the orbit of TNO Arrokoth highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Solar System News
Jupiter & Saturn will be at their closest separation in the sky since 1623 at only 0.1° apart (that's 1/5th the size of the Moon in the sky). This happens on 21st Dec 2020, but before then you'll see Jupiter chase Saturn after sunset every night (made w/ https://t.co/Biw3kajWUt) pic.twitter.com/rzhOdyJNq7
— James O'Donoghue (@physicsJ) November 3, 2020
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission:
Now that the sample is sealed up in the Sample Return Capsule, I can finally share this video from TAG!
This is the view from one of my navigation cameras… pretty intense, huh? #ToBennuAndBack
More details: https://t.co/JUSk8YDaow pic.twitter.com/TqPUm9YBvU
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 30, 2020
International Space Station: #SpaceStation20th
The capability to launch crewed spacecraft returned to America in 2020 for the first time in 9 years when NASA and @SpaceX's Demo-2 mission took flight. Millions watched as @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug flew on Crew Dragon Endeavour for the first #LaunchAmerica mission. pic.twitter.com/TFYcAAGzxP
— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 3, 2020
Join #AstronautSnoopy in celebrating the 20th anniversary of humans living on the @Space_Station with these free curriculums for kids ages 4-11. Learn about the history and what it's like to live and work in space. Download now at https://t.co/ScDONjl3OO#SpaceStation20th pic.twitter.com/KP5IndvvwD
— PEANUTS (@Snoopy) November 2, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD 3 Nov 20: Layered Bedrock
This observation targets a highly textured bedrock surface in northeastern Tyrrhena Terra. This location has a high probability of being a sedimentary deposit.
NASA/JPL/UArizonahttps://t.co/S7ZrvUzkPZ#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/13BF00Bq2y
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) November 3, 2020
Climate:
The Landsat mission observes crops from space, helping farmers put food on your dinner table. In this data sonification, see and hear how crops in the U.S. have changed over 20 years.
Listen and subscribe to @NASA’s Curious Universe podcast to learn more: https://t.co/5oHlVtyUdn pic.twitter.com/YSsrBTmhKk— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) November 2, 2020
For @NASAJPL’s Severine Fournier, studying our planet knows no borders. Rising seas affect everyone on Earth. That’s why NASA and international partners are launching a new satellite to continue studying our changing global ocean: https://t.co/KHVts2ulO7#SeeingTheSeas pic.twitter.com/rEMhumQrJJ
— NASA 360 (@NASA360) November 1, 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.
Exoplanets are far away and hard to see, especially next to much bigger and brighter stars. One way to spot them, though, is to look to their stars. An orbiting exoplanet can change the star's light. https://t.co/H05z2oDI03#MondayMotivation: Small acts can have a big effect. pic.twitter.com/e4PqBkT1yj
— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) November 2, 2020
We are thrilled to announce more of our 2020 Global Conference speakers! Each of these individuals, from all over the globe, offers a unique perspective in the effort to protect the night.
Learn about them here: https://t.co/HUyKLr5rjn
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) November 3, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
Once upon a time, two spiral galaxies collided into each other and created the galaxy NGC 34, seen in this #HubbleFriday image.
NGC 34’s bright center is a result of the ongoing merger, which began a burst of new star formation and lit up surrounding gas: https://t.co/uphJdAfMoY pic.twitter.com/P1rBHifZuC
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) October 30, 2020
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to the Gliese 412 (Lalande 21258) system, about 15 light years distant.
Gliese 412 is about 15.8 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 412
Gliese 412 is a pair of stars that share a common proper motion through space and are thought to form a binary star system. The pair have an angular separation of 31.4″ at a position angle of 126.1°. They are located 15.8 light years distant from the Sun in the constellation Ursa Major. Both components are relatively dim red dwarf stars.
The two stellar components of this system have a projected separation of about 152 AU, and an estimated orbital semimajor axis of 190 AU. The primary has about 48% of the Sun's mass, while the secondary is only 10%. The primary has a projected rotation velocity at the equator of less than 3 km/s; the secondary has a rotation velocity of 7.7±1.7 km/s.
The primary star was monitored for radial velocity (RV) variations caused by a Jupiter-mass companion in a short period orbit. It displayed no significant excess of RV variation that could be attributed to a planet. A search of the system using near-infrared speckle interferometry also failed to detect a companion orbiting at distances of 1–10 AU. Nor has a brown dwarf been detected orbiting within this system.
The space velocity components of this system are U = 141, V = –7 and W = 7. They are members of the halo population of the Milky Way galaxy.
The secondary is a flare star that is referred to as WX Ursae Majoris. It is characterized as a UV Ceti type variable star that displays infrequent increases in luminosity. This star was observed to flare as early as 1939 by the Dutch astronomer Adriaan van Maanen.
Component B (WX Ursae Majoris) has been identified as an X-ray source, while no significant X-ray emission was detected from component A. This system had not been studied in X-rays prior to ROSAT. The Gaia DR2 release gives a parallax of 204.059±0.169 mas for B, indicating a distance of around 16 ly. - Wikipedia
Gliese 412 System Diagram
Gliese 412 System Diagram. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 412 Orbital Diagram
Gliese 412 Orbital Diagram. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Artist Rendering Gliese 412 B
Artistic rendering of Gliese 412 B - Gliese 412 A is in the distance to the right. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Cover Image:
Captured on Oct. 28, this imaging sequence shows NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft completing the final step of the sample stowage process: closing its SRC. To seal the SRC, the spacecraft closes the lid and then secures two internal latches. The sample of Bennu is now safely stored and ready for its journey to Earth.
The image sequence was captured by the StowCam camera. StowCam, a color imager, is one of three cameras comprising TAGCAMS (the Touch-and-Go Camera System), which is part of OSIRIS-REx’s guidance, navigation, and control system. TAGCAMS was designed, built and tested by Malin Space Science Systems; Lockheed Martin integrated TAGCAMS to the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft and operates TAGCAMS. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin
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
In the Sky This Week – October 27, 2020
I'm a volunteer ambassador for NASA's OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission - I can not tell you how excited I am about the recent successful, maybe overly successful, sample acquisition from the surface of asteroid Bennu! The sample head is full of rocks an dust, and apparently a large rock has prevented a mylar flap from sealing the sample head, and some smaller rocks are escaping! The sample head should be safely stowed away today - that can't happen soon enough for me!
The pandemic has prevented me from doing in-person lectures about the mission, but I've been covering the mission in these weekly posts, and I was able to book Dolores Hill from the OSIRIS-REx mission to speak at the Astronomy at the Beach event - so I don't feel too awful about my lack of lecturing...
The red giant star Arcturus competes with Venus for the title of "morning star" in the eastern predawn sky ... Venus wins!
Venus and the red giant star Arcturus appear in the eastern predawn sky all week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
The Moon dances with Mars from Oct. 27th - 31st in the eastern sky after sunset.
The Moon dances with Mars from Oct. 27th - 31st in the Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southern sky at sunset - the pair of planets appear low on the southwestern horizon at 10:30 PM.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southwestern sky at dusk. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
The Moon is a waxing gibbous - visible to the southeast in early evening, up for most of the night.
The full Moon occurs on Nov. 1st - it rises at sunset, is visible high in the sky around midnight, and is visible all night.
After Nov. 1st, the Moon will be a waning gibbous - rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
The Moon from 2020-10-27 - 2020-11-02. 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 Oct. 27th (left) and Nov. 2nd (right) - showing the play of shadows. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Moon News
We’ve known that hydroxyl (OH and/or H2O) exists on the Moon for over a decade, since detection from the missions @CassiniSaturn, Deep Impact, and @ISRO's Chandrayaan-1, but these missions could not separate the OH signal from an H2O signal.
Full video: https://t.co/32sqpu606N pic.twitter.com/YnuKI1E4E0
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) October 26, 2020
Sunspot AR2778 is the largest of new solar cycle #25; SpaceWeather.com says "The primary dark core of AR2778 is about the size of Earth. Altogether, the sunspot group sprawls 90,000 km across the face of the sun, dimensions which make it an easy target for backyard solar telescopes. Amateur astronomers with safely-filtered optics are encouraged to monitor developments." When I was editing the image below, I noticed the tiny sunspot in the upper right - it's not labeled on SpaceWeather.com, and I'm not sure if this is a new sunspot or an older one.
Sunspots on 2020-10-27. Credit: NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams. Edited by Bob Trembley.
The southern coronal hole has diminished from last week - the northern coronal hole has made up for it in size and tendrils; there are several regions of intense coronal loop activity.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) October 26, 2020:
Prominences everywhere! Keep you eye on the middle of the Sun's northern hemisphere during the last second of the video below!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) October 26, 2020:
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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.
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 October 27th, 2020 is this awesome prominence lifting off by Jim Ferreira from California using a Daystar filter.
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 508.0 km/sec (↑↑), with a density of 7.9 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1320 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
Our STEREO mission launched 14 years ago today! STEREO provides valuable data on the Sun, its atmosphere, and the inner solar system. Earlier this year, STEREO captured these views of comet ATLAS as it swooped by the Sun. https://t.co/UdrmLJJvbh pic.twitter.com/7WLXsxtyvT
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) October 25, 2020
As you get into the sinister spirit for #Halloween, look to the cosmos for creepy celestial displays. 👻✨ In 2014, active regions on the Sun traced out an eerie jack-o’-lantern’s face, seen in ultraviolet light by our Sun-watching satellite. https://t.co/uI9DCMr3RQ pic.twitter.com/CZDb0hdzwL
— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) October 24, 2020
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 313, this year: 2400, all time: 24,254 (+245)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,019,529 (+3,464)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,019,529 (+3,464)
Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 993,960
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 UU4 |
2020-Oct-27
|
1.9 LD
|
11.1
|
15
|
| 2020 TD8 |
2020-Oct-27
|
1.6 LD
|
7.6
|
14
|
| 2020 UC4 |
2020-Oct-27
|
6.2 LD
|
8.8
|
21
|
| 2005 UV64 |
2020-Oct-27
|
19.3 LD
|
3.5
|
18
|
| 2020 TQ2 |
2020-Oct-27
|
16.3 LD
|
5.2
|
26
|
| 2020 TR5 |
2020-Oct-28
|
4 LD
|
8.8
|
20
|
| 2020 TS5 |
2020-Oct-28
|
9.4 LD
|
5.7
|
21
|
| 2020 UN1 |
2020-Oct-28
|
4.1 LD
|
10.1
|
29
|
| 2020 TM7 |
2020-Oct-28
|
5.4 LD
|
12.9
|
28
|
| 2020 OK5 |
2020-Oct-29
|
6.4 LD
|
1.3
|
29
|
| 2020 UD4 |
2020-Oct-29
|
9.5 LD
|
7.6
|
16
|
| 2020 TO8 |
2020-Oct-29
|
14.7 LD
|
8.9
|
24
|
| 2020 TR2 |
2020-Oct-29
|
8.8 LD
|
14.5
|
54
|
| 2020 UN5 |
2020-Oct-30
|
11.5 LD
|
9.1
|
14
|
| 2020 UX3 |
2020-Oct-31
|
13.4 LD
|
16.2
|
36
|
| 2018 VP1 |
2020-Nov-02
|
1.1 LD
|
9.7
|
2
|
| 2020 UA3 |
2020-Nov-03
|
5.6 LD
|
6
|
16
|
| 2020 UW1 |
2020-Nov-03
|
20 LD
|
12.8
|
58
|
| 2020 HF4 |
2020-Nov-03
|
16.2 LD
|
2.9
|
11
|
| 2020 UR2 |
2020-Nov-04
|
13.9 LD
|
4.7
|
27
|
| 2020 UM2 |
2020-Nov-04
|
14.9 LD
|
2.8
|
13
|
| 2010 JL88 |
2020-Nov-05
|
10.5 LD
|
15.7
|
16
|
| 2020 UW2 |
2020-Nov-06
|
14.7 LD
|
6.2
|
39
|
| 2020 TY1 |
2020-Nov-07
|
14.7 LD
|
13
|
107
|
| 2019 XS |
2020-Nov-07
|
15.5 LD
|
9.4
|
51
|
| 2018 VS4 |
2020-Nov-09
|
14.9 LD
|
10.1
|
25
|
| 2020 UN3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
11.7 LD
|
7.6
|
55
|
| 2020 UL3 |
2020-Nov-10
|
15.4 LD
|
11.2
|
79
|
| 2020 TB9 |
2020-Nov-14
|
13.1 LD
|
6
|
24
|
| 2020 ST1 |
2020-Nov-14
|
19.1 LD
|
8.1
|
149
|
| 2019 VL5 |
2020-Nov-15
|
8.5 LD
|
8.2
|
23
|
| 2020 UB5 |
2020-Nov-16
|
20 LD
|
4.4
|
36
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-23
|
5 LD
|
4.8
|
49
|
| 2020 TJ8 |
2020-Nov-24
|
16.8 LD
|
4.6
|
32
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
| 2020 KZ2 |
2020-Nov-28
|
5.7 LD
|
3.9
|
10
|
| 153201 |
2020-Nov-29
|
11.2 LD
|
25.1
|
490
|
| 2020 SO |
2020-Dec-01
|
0.1 LD
|
3.9
|
6
|
| 2019 XH2 |
2020-Dec-02
|
16.1 LD
|
6.4
|
6
|
| 2018 PK21 |
2020-Dec-08
|
12.2 LD
|
3.1
|
23
|
| 2019 XQ1 |
2020-Dec-13
|
18.4 LD
|
8.6
|
30
|
| 2017 XQ60 |
2020-Dec-21
|
10.8 LD
|
15.6
|
47
|
| 2011 CL50 |
2020-Dec-24
|
3.1 LD
|
3.4
|
11
|
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 October 26, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 8 fireballs.
(6 sporadics, 2 Orionids)
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
Uma bola de fogo brilhante explodiu no céu noturno em Porto Rico por volta de 07:45 UTC em 17 de outubro de 2020.
A trajetória sugere que ela se moveu sobre o canal de Mona em direção a Desecheo, de acordo com a Sociedade de Astronomia de Caribe (SAC).#boladefogo #fireball pic.twitter.com/db6jQIVKMr
— EXOSS Meteors 🇧🇷 ☄️💫 (@exossorg) October 25, 2020
Position of the planets in the inner solar system:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-10-27. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-10-27. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
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, 2020-10-27 - the orbit of TNO Haumea is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Solar System News
Soooooo, about that whole "phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus" thing.https://t.co/o4JJsJ75RW
— Philth Plaigue (@BadAstronomer) October 26, 2020
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission:
Tomorrow, the OSIRIS-REx mission will begin the process to stow its abundant sample of asteroid Bennu. It’s a few days earlier than originally anticipated, but the team is working hard to make sure we get every bit of Bennu we possibly can. More details: https://t.co/b7Wnoz219q pic.twitter.com/PXIlkZhnzi
— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) October 26, 2020
International Space Station: #SpaceStation20th
For 20 years, astronauts have been snapping photos of Earth from the @Space_Station. Astronauts are trained for the job of collecting images for this scientific dataset, now more than 3 million pictures strong. #SpaceStation20th pic.twitter.com/8fzqgLAo8H
— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) October 26, 2020
Calling all Kerbonauts! We’re partnering with @NASA to celebrate 20 years of human presence on the @Space_Station. What would 20 years of Kerbal presence look like? Read the thread for details. ⬇️ #SpaceStation20th pic.twitter.com/KoTeGVp5vQ
— Kerbal Space Program (@KerbalSpaceP) October 26, 2020
HiRISE - on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
HiPOD 27 Oct 20: Irregular Depressions near Makhambet Crater
Also visible in a Context Camera image, our image shows a small section of irregular, circular depressions, filled with small crested dunes. https://t.co/L5xhPI6bFl
NASA/JPL/UArizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/tyRQp5860Z
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) October 27, 2020
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter:
After Chandrayaan-1, the next evidence for water on the moon came from @LRO_NASA in 2013, confirming the existence of hydrogen-rich areas near the Moon's south pole and strongly suggesting the presence of water! pic.twitter.com/mdnxIK9ZLi
— NASA History Office (@NASAhistory) October 22, 2020
Climate: View the Earth as your Mother, not as a trash can.
"We are interdependent on each other, as well as on our Mother Earth." — His Holiness Pope Francis (@Pontifex) https://t.co/W33P8D2qWk
— TEDCountdown (@TEDCountdown) October 25, 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.
💀 Dead galaxies!
☢️ Radiation bursts!
👻 Ghostly matter!Our new Galaxy of Horrors posters are here, just in time for #Halloween! Download them now ... if you dare: https://t.co/w7soVV982L #NASAHalloween pic.twitter.com/y6OVCROYbB
— NASA Exoplanets☠️ Where every day is Halloween (@NASAExoplanets) October 26, 2020
Have you registered for the 2020 Global Conference yet? Join us 11/13-14 for a global conversation about the cultural and environmental threat that #lightpollution poses to people worldwide. Advance registration is free but required to reserve your spot: https://t.co/Lwl8j4dwGO pic.twitter.com/U44uq6Ytb1
— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) October 26, 2020
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
This #HubbleClassic features a cluster of stars called Hodge 301, at lower right, embedded in the Tarantula Nebula. Many of the cluster's stars have already exploded as supernovae, shocking gas in the nebula and creating the filaments in the upper left: https://t.co/ttgN82J5Tc pic.twitter.com/Ph6JqW6LSI
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) October 27, 2020
Tour of the Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to the Ross 780 (Gliese 876) system, about 15 light years distant.
Gliese 1002 is about 15 light years from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 876
Gliese 876 is a red dwarf approximately 15 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. It is one of the closest known stars to the Sun confirmed to possess a planetary system with more than two planets, after Gliese 1061, YZ Ceti, Tau Ceti, and Luyten's Star; as of 2018, four extrasolar planets have been found to orbit the star. The planetary system is also notable for the orbital properties of its planets. It is the only known system of orbital companions to exhibit a near-triple conjunction in the rare phenomenon of Laplace resonance (a type of resonance first noted in Jupiter's inner three Galilean moons). It is also the first extrasolar system around a normal star with measured coplanarity. While planets b and c are located in the system's habitable zone, they are giant planets believed to be analogous to Jupiter.
On June 23, 1998, an extrasolar planet was announced in orbit around Gliese 876 by two independent teams led by Geoffrey Marcy and Xavier Delfosse. The planet was designated Gliese 876 b and was detected by Doppler spectroscopy. Based on luminosity measurement, the circumstellar habitable zone (CHZ) is believed to be located between 0.116 and 0.227 AU. On January 9, 2001, a second planet designated Gliese 876 c was detected, inside the orbit of the previously-discovered planet. The relationship between the orbital periods initially disguised the planet's radial velocity signature as an increased orbital eccentricity of the outer planet. Eugenio Rivera and Jack Lissauer found that the two planets undergo strong gravitational interactions as they orbit the star, causing the orbital elements to change rapidly. On June 13, 2005, further observations by a team led by Rivera revealed a third planet, designated Gliese 876 d inside the orbits of the two Jupiter-size planets. In January 2009, the mutual inclination between planets b and c was determined using a combination of radial velocity and astrometric measurements. The planets were found to be almost coplanar, with an angle of only 5.0+3.9
−2.3° between their orbital planes.On June 23, 2010, astronomers announced a fourth planet, designated Gliese 876 e. This discovery better constrained the mass and orbital properties of the other three planets, including the high eccentricity of the innermost planet. This also filled out the system inside e's orbit; additional planets there would be unstable at this system's age. In 2014, reanalysis of the existing radial velocities showed the possible presence of two additional planets. These planets would have almost the same mass as Gliese 876d. In 2018 a study using hundreds of new radial velocity measurements found no evidence for these planets. If this system has a comet disc, it is undetectable "brighter than the fractional dust luminosity 10−5" of a recent Herschel study. None of these planets transit the star from the perspective of Earth, making it difficult to study their properties.
GJ 876 is a candidate parent system for the ʻOumuamua object. The trajectory of this interstellar object took it near the star about 820,000 years ago with a velocity of 5 km/s, after which it has been perturbed by six other stars. - Wikipedia
Gliese 876 System Diagram
Ross 780 (Gliese 876) System Diagram. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Gliese 876 Orbital Diagrams
Ross 780 (Gliese 876) Orbital Diagram - Top View. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Ross 780 (Gliese 876) Orbital Diagram - Side View. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Artist Rendering of a Hot Subneptune Exoplanet Orbiting Gliese 876
Artistic rendering of a hot subneptune exoplanet orbiting red dwarf star Gliese 876. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Cover Image:
Captured on Oct. 22, this series of three images shows that the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) sampling head on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is full of rocks and dust collected from asteroid Bennu, as well as the fact that some of these particles are escaping the sampler head. Analysis by the OSIRIS-REx team suggests that bits of material are passing through small gaps where the head’s mylar flap is slightly wedged open. The mylar flap (the black bulge visible in the 9 o’clock position inside the ring) is designed to keep the collected material locked inside, and these unsealed areas appear to be caused by larger rocks that didn’t fully pass through the flap. Based on available imagery, the team suspects there is plentiful sample inside the head, and is on a path to stow the sample as quickly as possible. The images were taken by the spacecraft’s SamCam camera as part of the sample verification procedure following the spacecraft’s Oct. 20 sample collection attempt. The TAGSAM system was developed by Lockheed Martin Space to acquire a sample of asteroid material in a low-gravity environment. Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona
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