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In the Sky this Week – April 13, 2021

By Robert Trembley  |  13 Apr 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

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Mars helicopter to get software upgrade

The Ingenuity rovercraft detected an issue during a high-speed spin test of the rotors on April 9th; this occurred during a transition from ‘Pre-Flight’ to ‘Flight’ mode. The helicopter is safe and healthy and has communicated telemetry to Earth – which has been analyzed by engineers; a flight software update is being reviewed and validated at JPL.

I mentioned this to my wife before she left for work this morning – the path that software update has to take through the Mars Relay Network to get to Ingenuity just AMAZES me!

#MarsHelicopter 1st flight attempt delayed to no earlier than April 14

During the high-speed spin test, the sequence ended early during the transition from "preflight" to "flight" mode. The helicopter is safe & healthy. The team is diagnosing the issue. https://t.co/ysnZzKR7qM pic.twitter.com/lP3NrIvGBs

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 10, 2021

#MarsHelicopter update: Ingenuity is healthy, but it needs a flight software update. While the development of the software is straightforward, validating and uplinking it will take time. We will set a new flight date next week. https://t.co/b0MzMIPGKz pic.twitter.com/R2wYKaCxqY

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) April 13, 2021

  • The Sky
  • The Moon
  • The Sun
  • Asteroids
  • Fireballs
  • The Solar System
  • Spacecraft News
  • Exoplanets
  • Aurora
  • Light Pollution
  • The Universe

Mars appears high in the western sky after sunset; the waxing crescent Moon can be seen in the western sky at dusk, appearing near the star Aldebaran on April 15th, and nearby Mars on April 16 and 17th.

Western sky at dusk,
Mars and the waxing crescent Moon in the western sky at dusk from April 15-17th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The waxing crescent (almost first quarter) Moon appears high in the southwestern sky after sunset near the star Pollux on April 19th.

Southwestern sky after sunset
The waxing crescent Moon appears in the southwestern sky after sunset near the star Pollux on April 19th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

Jupiter and Saturn appear low above the southeastern horizon before dawn all week; I spotted the pair this morning as I was seeing my wife off to work – Jupiter was easy to spot, Saturn was MUCH dimmer than Jupiter.

Southeastern sky before dawn
Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southeastern sky before dawn. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The Moon is a Waxing Crescent – visible toward the southwest in early evening.

The First Quarter Moon occurs on April 20th – it will be visible high in the southern sky in early evening.

Moon
The Moon from 2021-04-06 – 2021-04-12. 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:

My wife and I followed the events of Apollo 13 as they happened; the astronauts returned to Earth on her birthday!

#OTD 51 years ago, #Apollo13 launched from @NASAKennedy. About 2 days later, an explosion occurred in the service module, altering the trajectory of the rest of the mission. Learn how Mission Control worked with the crew to safely return them to Earth: https://t.co/98wYM0LOXd pic.twitter.com/wKradB4Yev

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) April 11, 2021

Sunspot AR2813 is decaying, and poses no threat for strong flares. Credit: SDO/HMI

The Sun has a spot – a different spot from last week. SpaceWeather.com reports:

“NEW SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR2814 has doubled in size since yesterday, when it first appeared in the sun’s southern hemisphere. The active region is crackling with minor B-class solar flares and poses a growing threat for stronger C-class eruptions.”

Intense coronal loop activity over the sunspot region; the southern coronal hole is very large, and there is a large and smaller coronal hole on the Sun’s face.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/04/12/20210412_1024_0193.mp4
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms on April 12, 2021

Huge, ginormous and beautiful prominences, oh MY! So much so they were featured on SpaceWeather.com on April 13th!

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/04/12/20210412_1024_0304.mp4
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms on April 12, 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.

 

Solar Activity on Facebook – Run by Volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Pamela Shivak

Sun
SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for April 13th, 2021 is this fantastic prominence capture by Osamu Oshima from Japan. Osamu comments: “Today’s Active Prominence. In Japan, nice prominence was seen at morning time. DayStar Quantum,SW 150mm refractor,Powermate2.5x,ASI174MM.”

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 345.7 km/sec, with a density of 8.0 protons/cm3 at 1050 UT.

Near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):

SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image
Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun’s limb (the white circle). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech-SOHO

Sun News

Are you an educator or makerspace enthusiast? Beta test this new @TweetAurora and NASA STEAM Innovation Lab project and be among the first to 3D print a model of Earth's magnetosphere. For more: https://t.co/RfnFLMGeET pic.twitter.com/t7OKelS7V3

— NASA HEAT (@NASAHEAT) April 5, 2021

  • Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) discovered this month: : 148 this year: 858, all time: 25,672 (+105)
  • Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2176 (+3, updated 2021-04-13)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,073,570 (+2024)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,043,047 (updated 2021-03-16)

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Velocity (km/s) Diameter (m)
2021 GQ2 2021-Apr-15 7.7 LD 17.6 41
2020 UY1 2021-Apr-15 16 LD 8.7 22
2021 GE6 2021-Apr-15 2.9 LD 3.3 6
2017 HG4 2021-Apr-16 7.6 LD 4.1 10
2021 GG2 2021-Apr-16 9.6 LD 7.1 23
2020 HE5 2021-Apr-17 8.5 LD 4.3 10
2021 GU5 2021-Apr-17 5.2 LD 8.3 24
2021 GX3 2021-Apr-18 9.3 LD 6.6 13
2021 GM3 2021-Apr-19 2.1 LD 5.2 7
2021 GL3 2021-Apr-19 8.2 LD 10.8 23
2019 HQ 2021-Apr-20 14.8 LD 8.8 20
2021 GJ3 2021-Apr-21 3.9 LD 13.5 63
2021 GD3 2021-Apr-21 10.8 LD 3.5 16
2020 HO5 2021-Apr-22 16.5 LD 3.3 7
2021 GP4 2021-Apr-23 18 LD 8.9 36
2019 PS1 2021-Apr-23 14.5 LD 10 16
2016 QE45 2021-Apr-24 13.2 LD 15.3 162
2021 FK3 2021-Apr-24 15.8 LD 14 118
2015 HA177 2021-Apr-26 18.7 LD 8.7 10
2019 HF4 2021-Apr-26 7.8 LD 6.8 11
2021 EZ4 2021-Apr-29 14.9 LD 2.5 21
2019 VT3 2021-May-01 12.1 LD 5.9 8
2021 AF8 2021-May-04 8.8 LD 9.4 344
2018 JP 2021-May-05 10.6 LD 7.8 12
2021 AE4 2021-May-06 18.5 LD 9.1 153
2021 GK1 2021-May-11 1.5 LD 2 13
2015 KJ19 2021-May-14 15.1 LD 23 118
478784 2021-May-18 15.8 LD 5 27
2021 FN4 2021-May-24 6.1 LD 8.3 90
2013 VO11 2021-May-25 3.8 LD 10.1 8
2018 LB 2021-Jun-01 2.9 LD 7.7 22
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com

Asteroid News:

Q: What do we consider “near” Earth?
A: About 30 million miles.

There’s nothing to fear when it comes to Near Earth Objects (NEOs). Find out how our Planetary Defense Coordination office maintains watch for comets and asteroids in our latest tumblr post: https://t.co/V8fmjvids8 pic.twitter.com/uWOBGhjqVk

— NASA (@NASA) March 14, 2021

On April 5, 2021, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 4 fireballs!
(4 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

WOAH! Big flash and streak across sky in West Palm Beach. Happened moments ago while we were on Facebook Live for a @CBS12 story.

Working to figure out what it was. pic.twitter.com/VDl9pFtb3h

— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) April 13, 2021

Bright Exploding #Fireball spotted between #Florida & The #Bahamas last night around 10:15pm EDT.

Map & Videos:https://t.co/wOcy9kouSQ

If you saw this event, please report it here: https://t.co/N0EuOVkOgj pic.twitter.com/u7syBdpfKE

— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) April 13, 2021

If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society and the International Meteor Organization!

Position of the planets and several spacecraft in the inner solar system:

Inner Solar System
Position of the planets and several spacecraft in the inner solar system on April 12th, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the middle solar system:

Middle Solar System
Position of the planets in the middle solar system on April 12th, 2021. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets, and a several transneptunian objects in the outer solar system.

Outer Solar System
Position of the planets and several transneptunian objects in the inner solar system on April 12th, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

International Space Station:

Three new crew mates are getting used to station life as another three-person crew preps for return to Earth on Friday. More… https://t.co/KBK1cEp9kO pic.twitter.com/rIUvlod8Tv

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) April 13, 2021

HiRISE – on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:

Hi3D: Maja Valles

Maja Valles are a large system of ancient outflow channels that begin at Juventae Chasma and end at Chyrse Planitia. Parts of it are covered with thin volcanic debris.https://t.co/QqdGwoiiow

NASA/JPL/UArizona#Mars #science pic.twitter.com/dqzNvk4JIv

— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) April 12, 2021

Hubble Space Telescope:

Social media is no stranger to stars that fade, but a fading supernova is new. Hubble observed SN 2018gv and watched its bright light go out in 2019. Best part? There’s video 📹: https://t.co/c1aMtH9EuC pic.twitter.com/krawmksmVC

— Hubble Space Telescope (@HubbleTelescope) April 9, 2021

Landsat:

Arches National Park was established #OTD in 1929. Although you can’t see the arches from space that this park is named for, this #Landsat 8 image shows the reddish browns of the sandstone & white of the salts that helped form these unique structures. #findyourpark pic.twitter.com/bci4JhgNBt

— USGS Landsat Program (@USGSLandsat) April 12, 2021

📢With #Landsat identified 295,906 waterbodies & generate #timeseries history of surface area dynamics of each waterbody every ~16 days since 1987.
Krause et al. Mapping & Monitoring the Multi-Decadal Dynamics of Australia’s Open Waterbodies Using Landsat.https://t.co/7AZaGXEMSM pic.twitter.com/emlfOcBUxA

— Mike Wulder (@mikewulder) April 12, 2021

Climate:

UPDATE: Greenland & Antarctica have been losing ice mass at a combined avg rate of 429 billion metric tons (BMT) per year since 2002.

1 BMT of ice placed in Central Park, NYC would be 341 m (1,119 ft) high. (The park is 4 km x 0.8 km, or 2.5 mi x 0.5 mi.)https://t.co/Zrlzwqm7ni

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) April 9, 2021

See a list of current NASA missions here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/?type=current

Exoplanet

ex·o·plan·et /ˈeksōˌplanət/, noun: a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.

All Exoplanets 4375
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2394
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2366
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 426
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 122
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2021-03-27 13:00:02) 2614  (+13)
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 2645 (+44)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 1463 (+38)

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

What do we mean by "hot Jupiters," "warm Neptunes," and "super-Earths"? When thinking about the variety of exoplanets out there among the stars, it's helpful to understand characteristics they share with planets in our own solar system. https://t.co/cu0eGw2hMG pic.twitter.com/eaYLHMDZZD

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) April 12, 2021

Visit NASA’s Eyes on Exoplanets site and explore exoplanets in 3D: https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/exo/#/

Exoplanet HD 17156 b from NASA’s Eyes on Exoplanets website.
Aurora Borealis. Taken by Catalin Tapardel on March 2, 2021 @ Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

SpaceWeather.com Realtime Aurora Gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/aurora_gallery.html

What do Allen’s Hummingbirds, Wood Thrushes, and Golden-winged Warblers have in common? They all rely on dark night skies for successful migrations. Learn how you can help protect the birds we all love. https://t.co/wwr5nwwH3P #IDSW2021

— Audubon California (@AudubonCA) April 12, 2021

Visit an International Dark Sky Park: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/

If you live in Michigan, visit the Michigan Dark Skies site: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/darkskies/

For Teachers – #BlackHoleWeek:

Black holes pack a lot of stuff into a small space! To become a black hole, it’s not about how much stuff an object has, but how much it’s been smooshed.

How small does something need to be? And what things could become black holes? Follow along to find out! #BlackHoleWeek⚫ pic.twitter.com/H0KTMnrzMj

— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) April 12, 2021

🌀 Lurking in the inky void of space, black holes pose a challenge to study. But, this hasn’t stopped the fascination from astronomers. During #BlackHoleWeek, we’re uncovering some of the ways scientists are able to “see” black holes: https://t.co/SrTVKz6rxz pic.twitter.com/liVEjwFlDV

— NASA (@NASA) April 12, 2021

Hubble:

This video begins with a ground-based view of the night sky, before zooming in on a Hubble image of the Andromeda galaxy — otherwise known as M31.

The new Hubble image of the galaxy is the biggest Hubble image ever released and shows over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters embedded in a section of the galaxy’s pancake-shaped disc stretching across over 40 000 light-years.

Credit: NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey 2, N. Risinger (Skysurvey.org), J. Dalcanton (University of Washington, USA), B. F. Williams (University of Washington, USA), L. C. Johnson (University of Washington, USA), the PHAT team, and R. Gendler.

Cover image: A very VERY tiny crop from the 4.3 GB full-size image of the Andromeda Galaxy from the Hubble Space Telescope.


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.
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

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