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In the Sky this Week – August 24, 2021

By Robert Trembley  |  24 Aug 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

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

What got you into astronomy?

I recently asked the membership of the Warren Astronomical Society this question; I’m going to be recording interviews with members with the thought of putting together a presentation (probably a video) based on their responses.

I thought this was such a cool idea, I asked the same of the Vatican Observatory staff too! I’ve gotten quite a few responses.

I was a child during the Apollo era – back when Star Trek:TOS, Jonny Quest, the Time Tunnel, Lost in Space, and Land of the Giants were airing. Through my cheap refractor telescope, I showed Jupiter and Saturn to whoever was in proximity. Flint’s Longway Planetarium staff probably got tired of seeing me. Carl Sagan was always my hero – I can’t even remember when I became aware of him.

And I had a REALLY COOL high school science teacher, who made learning a lot of fun; we won’t be discussing dipping of the hands into the big vat of mercury and seeing all the glistening sparkles on the hairs of my hand, or the Van de Graaff generator handshake, or the mass-displacement experiment… using a rifle…

The Sky - In the Sky

Venus continues to appear low above the western horizon before sunset all week, getting closer to the star Spica each evening.

Western sky at dusk
Venus and the star Spica appear low in the western sky at dusk on August 24th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
Western sky at dusk
Venus appears near the star Spica low in the western sky at dusk on August 30th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The Moon appears low about the eastern horizon after sunset on August 24th.

Eastern sky at after sunset
The Moon rises in the eastern sky after sunset on August 24th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

Jupiter and Saturn continue to appear in the southern sky after sunset; the Moon, which passed by the pair of planets last week, is pulling away to the east each evening.

South-southeastern sky at midnight
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon appear high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 25th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The Moon appears high in the eastern sky with the Pleiades and the star Aldebaran in the early morning hours on August 28th.

Eastern sky after midnight
The Moon appears high in the eastern sky in the early morning hours on August 28th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon - In the Sky
  • The Moon is a 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 August 30th – rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.
Moon
The Moon from August 24-30, 2021. 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:

Lunar Outpost getting a whopping ¢10 milestone payment earlier today from NASA chief @SenBillNelson, as 10% of their $1 contract to land a robot on the Moon and scoop up lunar regolith pic.twitter.com/efj93NgipX

— Joey Roulette (@joroulette) August 23, 2021

Neil Armstrong's 'one giant leap for mankind' was taken by a giant of a man.

Yesterday, we dedicated the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility at @NASAGlenn in his honor. It's especially fitting given that the facility supports spaceflight testing for #Artemis missions to the Moon. https://t.co/wksrsI4QvI

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) August 12, 2021

The Sun - In the Sky

The Sun has one small sunspot – SpaceWeather.com says: “Sunspot AR2859 is crackling with minor B-class solar flares.” They also warn that “A solar wind stream and, possibly, two CMEs are approaching Earth. A direct hit by the stream on Aug. 25th followed by near-misses (or glancing blows) from the CMEs on Aug. 26th could spark 2 to 3 days of polar geomagnetic unrest. That’s exciting because the Arctic Circle is getting dark enough for auroras.”

The Sun on August 24, 2021. Credit: SDO/HMI

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms on August 23rd

The tornadoes are still in the upper left on the northern hemisphere! The northern coronal hole is huge, and has an enormous Earth-facing tendril. There are a couple smaller Earth-facing coronal holes.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/08/23/20210823_1024_0193.mp4

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms on August 23rd

Prominences everywhere activity – you can see the flares AR2859 is spitting out.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/08/23/20210823_1024_0304.mp4
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.

Amateur Solar Astrophotography

Active Region 12859 – 2021-08-24. Credit: Ian Blackburn.

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 310.6 km/sec ▼with a density of 18.1 protons/cm3 ▲▲ at 1400 UT.

Sun
SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image

Click here to see a near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Sun News:

What properties enabled our Sun, in its younger years, to support life on nearby Earth?

Since we can’t travel back billions of years to study the young Sun firsthand, scientists are looking to another nearby star to understand our star’s youth. https://t.co/rRspAx9A4Y pic.twitter.com/D8AkieKw4g

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) August 24, 2021

Asteroids - In the Sky
  • Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 153, this year: 1715 (+27), all time: 26,555 (-263)
  • Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2203 (+3, updated 2021-08-24)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,113,527 (updated 2021-08-17)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,086,655 (+30,162) (updated 2021-08-24)

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Velocity (km/s) Diameter (m)
2020 BC16 2021-Aug-24 15 LD 6.7 34
2011 UC292 2021-Aug-24 9 LD 8.5 98
2021 NS8 2021-Aug-25 18.4 LD 4.2 36
2013 TM4 2021-Aug-26 15.6 LD 7.3 56
2021 PL39 2021-Aug-27 15.7 LD 16.5 31
2021 PB17 2021-Aug-28 11.7 LD 6.5 30
2021 PT 2021-Aug-29 12.8 LD 7.2 146
2021 PM5 2021-Aug-29 10.3 LD 11.7 29
2017 RK15 2021-Aug-29 13.3 LD 11.6 26
2015 SW6 2021-Sep-05 15.9 LD 9.9 45
2021 QG 2021-Sep-09 6.2 LD 5.9 17
2010 RJ53 2021-Sep-09 9.6 LD 19.3 56
2020 KR2 2021-Sep-10 14.2 LD 5.1 17
2017 SL16 2021-Sep-20 12.8 LD 6.1 23
2021 NY1 2021-Sep-22 3.9 LD 9.4 176
2019 SF6 2021-Sep-26 16.4 LD 8.6 20
1998 SD9 2021-Oct-06 10.6 LD 10.8 59
2015 TQ21 2021-Oct-07 10.7 LD 20.7 12
2019 SE5 2021-Oct-11 16.3 LD 6.6 16
2020 TH6 2021-Oct-19 7.3 LD 5.9 6
1996 VB3 2021-Oct-20 8.8 LD 15.3 135
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.

Asteroid News:

Meet asteroid 2021 PH27, asteroid with the shortest orbital period.

Oh, let's just call it the "#Fasteroid."

A Dark Energy Camera was built (at @Fermilab!) to study the distant cosmos, but it's done a pretty good job on our Solar System, too.

Meet 2021PH27, asteroid with the shortest orbital period.https://t.co/zHCMDYgOo0

— Bill Higgins— Beam Jockey (@MrBeamJockey) August 24, 2021

Kerbal Space Program AsteroidDay Challenge a hit!

Thank you to the brilliant scientists and engineers around Kerbin who submitted their planetary defense plan for the 2021 @AsteroidDay Kerbal Challenge this year with guest judges @astroEdLu and @RichardGarriotthttps://t.co/YcOHybEjcm

— Asteroid Institute, a program of B612 (@b612foundation) August 20, 2021

Tourists visit an asteroid in Kerbal Space Program

I can relate to the KSP challenge – I left a docking port attached to an asteroid that I brought into orbit of Kerbin. Several rounds of tourists have visited this asteroid in Bob’s career-mode game.

Asteroid tourists pay a LOT of credits for their trip! And they don’t care one bit about radiation shielding! Yea!

Woodleigh is now potentially one of the largest impact craters in Australia

Exciting new paper in #Geology for a number of reasons: 1. Woodleigh is now potentially one of the largest impact craters in #Australia 2. The lead author is an incredibly talented undergraduate student @Morgan_ACX! This scientist is going places! https://t.co/y2XiJIpEiT pic.twitter.com/xDHFeB6ASO

— Luke Daly (@Daly_Planet) November 7, 2018
Fireballs - In the Sky

On August 23, 2021, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 13 fireballs!
(12 sporadics, 1 kappa Cygnid)

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:

Thread summary – there is no recent evidence that the core part of the Perseids are disappearing. The very old age of the core makes it unlikely it will change much in the coming decades. @StartsWithABang
@amsmeteors @IMOmeteors #Perseids

— Peter Brown (@pgbrown) August 5, 2021

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

The Solar System - In the Sky

Position of the planets & several spacecraft in the inner solar system on August 24th:

Inner Solar System
Top-down view of the inner solar system on August 24, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the middle solar system:

Middle Solar System
Top-down view of the middle solar system on August 24, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the outer solar system:

Outer Solar System
Top-down view of the outer solar system on August 24, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the extreme outer solar system – the orbit of dwarf planet Eris is highlighted:

Extreme Outer Solar System
Oblique view of the extreme outer solar system on August 24, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Solar System News:

I can't stop watching this.

This is Saturn's moon Enceladus, imaged over 14 hours. The view starts with the side illuminated by Saturn, finishing with the region that's entirely in darkness.

Watch the moon's geysers at the south pole, blasting the interior ocean into space. pic.twitter.com/7iXArkxu31

— Paul Byrne (@ThePlanetaryGuy) August 20, 2021

Spacecraft News - In the Sky

International Space Station

Space walkies!

The Exp 65 crew preps for this weekend's @SpaceX #CargoDragon mission and a pair of Russian spacewalks starting several days later. https://t.co/0KfzrxkIP4

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 24, 2021

International Space Station

#HurricaneHenri pictured nearing the U.S. east coast

#HurricaneHenri was pictured nearing the U.S. east coast on Saturday from the space station. https://t.co/S3vyRQ6u0F pic.twitter.com/rzZYm9Xqgb

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 23, 2021

HiRISE - DIgital Mars

HiPOD Extra: Topography around the Zhurong Rover

We’ve created a digital terrain model including a perspective view of a cratered cone near the Zhurong rover’s landing site.https://t.co/RGbxqdZM67 pic.twitter.com/JOgcDi8m2i

— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) August 24, 2021

NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Helicopter flew ~1,476 ft (~450 m) on 12th flight

A dozen for the books!🚁The #MarsHelicopter’s latest flight took us to the geological wonder that is the “South Séítah” region. It climbed 32.8 ft (10 m) for a total of 169 seconds and flew ~1,476 ft (~450 m) roundtrip to scout the area for @NASAPersevere. https://t.co/cM9xzI8rza pic.twitter.com/SDRVMpOPoo

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) August 17, 2021

Landsat Program

Harmonized #Landsat and #Sentinel-2 data

Version 2 of the Harmonized #Landsat and #Sentinel-2 (#HLS) data products are here! For information about dataset improvements and availability, see NASA's Land Processes DAAC (#LPDAAC) at: https://t.co/NzguCiRFUF@NASA_Landsat, @USGSLandsat, @esaoperations pic.twitter.com/LiHilJmMpj

— NASAEarthdata (@NASAEarthData) August 24, 2021

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

After finding my way through a narrow gap, I’ve made it up on top of this ridge. We call this spot “Citadelle.” Nearby are lots of good rocks to choose from for my next attempt at #SamplingMars.

Interactive map: https://t.co/uPsKFhW17J pic.twitter.com/QGPwIUtap1

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) August 23, 2021

Climate

Smoke from 5 Northern California wildfires is seen from space. @NASA’s MISR instrument detected plumes that reached an altitude of ~19K ft (~6K meters) in some areas. High-altitude plumes move smoke greater distances, which can impact communities downwind. https://t.co/Uv3qSDZ2Xb pic.twitter.com/Pa73U6P5Xg

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) August 24, 2021

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

Exoplanets - In the Sky

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

All Exoplanets 4472 (+6)
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2402
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2361
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 426
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 153 (+5)
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2021-08-14 13:00:03) 4445 (+9)
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 4445 (+9)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 3047 (-1)

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:

4,472. That's how many planets beyond our solar system we know of — so far. These worlds are many light-years away, and most seem unlike those in our own planetary neighborhood. https://t.co/G8HwE04ACN pic.twitter.com/su82XxS81E

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 23, 2021

Hypothetical visualization of exoplanet Omicron Ursae Majoris b from NASA’s Eyes on Exoplanets website.
Aurora - In the Sky
Auroras & NLCs. Taken by Thomas Kast  on August 24, 2021 @ Oulu, Oulu, Finland

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

Light Pollution - In the Sky

Black Gap Wildlife Management Area has been designated as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary

Good news! In Texas, USA, the Black Gap Wildlife Management Area has been designated an Intl. Dark Sky Sanctuary. It is located in close proximity to 2 other IDSPs, making this area one of the largest under dark-skies protection in the USA.

Learn more: https://t.co/narL7xe2yc

— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) August 19, 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/
The Universe - In the Sky

Education and STEM

NASA Astronaut Megan McArthur reads "The Day You Begin," by Jacqueline Woodson from the ISS!

Story time from the @Space_Station! 📚

NASA Astronaut @Astro_Megan is reading "The Day You Begin," by @JackieWoodson. It's a story for students going #BacktoSchool, or anyone who may be starting something new. pic.twitter.com/IQ2BJDwcPN

— NASA's Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) August 17, 2021

STEM activities for NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission

We're laser-focused on getting #BackToSchool & the @NASALaserComm team is here to help!🛰️

Check out their STEM activities & more to get students excited about the upcoming launch of the NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) mission!https://t.co/1dZmSuga9f pic.twitter.com/MQSwKspi2Y

— NASA STEM (@NASASTEM) August 24, 2021

Hubble – Beautiful Universe

HD 44179 – the Red Rectangle nebula. Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA

The star HD 44179 is surrounded by an extraordinary structure known as the Red Rectangle. It acquired its moniker because of its shape and its apparent color when seen in early images from Earth. This strikingly detailed Hubble image reveals how, when seen from space, the nebula, rather than being rectangular, is shaped like an X with additional complex structures of spaced lines of glowing gas, a little like the rungs of a ladder.

The star at the center is similar to the sun, but at the end of its lifetime, pumping out gas and other material to make the nebula, and giving it the distinctive shape. It also appears that the star is a close binary that is surrounded by a dense area of dust — both of which may help to explain the very curious shape.

The Red Rectangle is an unusual example of what is known as a proto-planetary nebula. These are old stars, on their way to becoming planetary nebulae. Once the expulsion of mass is complete a very hot white dwarf star will remain and its brilliant ultraviolet radiation will cause the surrounding gas to glow. The Red Rectangle is found about 2,300 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros (the Unicorn).

The High Resolution Channel of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys captured this view of HD 44179 and the surrounding Red Rectangle nebula — the sharpest view so far. Red light from glowing Hydrogen was captured through the F658N filter and colored red. Orange-red light over a wider range of wavelengths through a F625W filter was colored blue. The field of view is about 25 by 20 arcseconds. – NASA

Schematic illustrating the structure of the Red Rectangle nebula. Credit: NASA and A. Feild (STScI)

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.
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.

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

Stay safe, be well, and look up!

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

Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs: Astronomy at the Beach will be a live-streaming event this year

As I suspected, the Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs decided to cancel the in-person Astronomy at the Beach event this year, and will point visitors to several live-streaming telescope sessions hosted by various club members. There may be some presentations, but honestly, everyone is suffering from online meeting burnout, and we’re not planning anything like last year’s schedule.

As disappointing as this is, we all agreed that it’s nearly impossible to properly social-distance with telescopes… and children are always a large part of the visitors to this event – none of the board members wants a child to catch COVID from their equipment, or from an irresponsible member of the public.

The Sky - In the Sky

Venus appears low above the western horizon before sunset all week, and will appear a bit lower each evening.

Western horizon after sunset
Venus low in the western sky at dusk all week. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

Jupiter and Saturn appear in the southern sky after sunset; the Moon appears near Saturn at midnight on August 21st.

South-southeastern horizon at midnight
The Moon appears near Saturn in the southern sky at midnight on August 21st. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The Moon appears near Jupiter high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 22nd.

South-southeastern horizon at midnight
The Moon appears near Jupiter high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 22nd. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon appear high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 23rd and 24th.

South-southeastern horizon at midnight
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon appear high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 23rd. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
South-southeastern horizon at midnight
Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon high in the south-southeastern sky at midnight on August 24th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

The Moon appears near Uranus in the eastern sky at midnight on August 26th.

Conjunction
The Moon near Uranus in the eastern sky at midnight on August 26th. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon - In the Sky
  • The Moon is a Waxing Gibbous – visible to the southeast in early evening, up for most of the night.
  • The Full Moon occurs on August 22nd – rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night.
  • After August 22nd, the Moon will be a Waning Gibbous – rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
Moon
The Moon from August 17-23, 2021. 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:

<HEAVY SIGH!> Issues with spacesuits likely to delay 2024 Moon landings.

NASA's 2024 Astronaut Moon Landing Is Almost Certainly Not Going to Happen https://t.co/2JruRWpUJ2 pic.twitter.com/4K8Ks3D55h

— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) August 13, 2021

See also: https://www.airspacemag.com/airspacemag/21st-century-moon-suit-180973122/

The Sun - In the Sky

The Sun has one small sunspot – SpaceWeather.com says: “AR2857 has a simple and mostly stable magnetic field that poses no threat for strong flares.”

The Sun on August 17, 2021. Credit: SDO/HMI

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms on August 16th

We got tornadoes! Actually they are called “plasma indirection,” but they look like tornadoes – find them on the left side of the video on both hemispheres!

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/08/16/20210816_1024_0193.mp4

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms on August 16th

Lots of prominence activity – especially near those plasma indirections regions.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/08/16/20210816_1024_0304.mp4
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.

Amateur Solar Astrophotography

Image from Facebook Solaractivity group – 2021-08-16. Credit: Giorgio Albarello

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 460.0 km/sec ▲ with a density of 2.9 protons/cm3 ▼ at 1230 UT.

Sun
SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image

Click here to see a near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Sun News:

Early this morning, @ESASolarOrbiter completed a Venus flyby to tweak its orbit for a better view of the Sun! @ESA will round out this Venus flyby double feature with a @bepicolombo flyby on Aug. 10. More about both flybys: https://t.co/xiqYQq9h07 pic.twitter.com/pxthd9wr2p

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) August 9, 2021

Asteroids - In the Sky
  • Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 126, this year: 1688 (+65), all time: 26,818 (+391)
  • Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2200 (+4, updated 2021-08-10)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,113,527 (+2,651)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,086,655 (updated 2021-06-22)

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Velocity (km/s) Diameter (m)
2021 PJ4 2021-Aug-19 6.7 LD 16.2 46
2021 PV 2021-Aug-20 18.5 LD 13.2 39
2016 AJ193 2021-Aug-21 8.9 LD 26.2 655
2021 PG7 2021-Aug-21 19.9 LD 10.1 30
2019 UD4 2021-Aug-22 14.2 LD 5.5 86
2021 PW2 2021-Aug-23 16.5 LD 6.3 25
2020 BC16 2021-Aug-24 15 LD 6.7 34
2011 UC292 2021-Aug-24 9 LD 8.5 98
2021 NS8 2021-Aug-25 18.4 LD 4.2 36
2021 PB17 2021-Aug-28 11.7 LD 6.5 30
2021 PT 2021-Aug-29 12.9 LD 7.3 147
2021 PM5 2021-Aug-29 10.3 LD 11.7 29
2017 RK15 2021-Aug-29 13.3 LD 11.6 26
2015 SW6 2021-Sep-05 15.9 LD 9.9 45
2010 RJ53 2021-Sep-09 9.6 LD 19.3 56
2020 KR2 2021-Sep-10 14.2 LD 5.1 17
2017 SL16 2021-Sep-20 12.8 LD 6.1 23
2021 NY1 2021-Sep-22 3.9 LD 9.4 176
2019 SF6 2021-Sep-26 16.4 LD 8.6 20
1998 SD9 2021-Oct-06 10.6 LD 10.8 59
2015 TQ21 2021-Oct-07 10.7 LD 20.7 12
2019 SE5 2021-Oct-11 16.3 LD 6.6 16
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.

Asteroid News:

Find Asteroid Dembovska in the constellation Piscis

#Asteroid Dembovska, one of the Main Belt bodies with the greatest reflective power (albedo), is at its best viewing period at the constellation Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish. Locate it with this @TheSkyLive interactive map: https://t.co/oRXgyY67Zd pic.twitter.com/Vw0XbgAC5y

— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) August 12, 2021

Near-Earth asteroid Phaethon may be venting sodium vapor as it heats up when it nears the Sun

Scientists believe they now know why a near-Earth asteroid named Phaethon may be exhibiting cometlike activity. Models and lab tests suggest the asteroid gets so hot that it vents sodium vapor as it orbits close to the Sun. https://t.co/9aBJW5Kady pic.twitter.com/159rxJoxNR

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) August 16, 2021
Fireballs - In the Sky

On August 16, 2021, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 17 fireballs! WOW!
(11 sporadics, 6 Perseids)

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:

2) DESDE IBIZA/EIVISSA también lo reporta Leto Orduña (@LetoIbz) de @IbizaAstronomia.

A veces la geometría juega con nosotros: parece que "chocase" contra la Luna. El vídeo lo podéis disfrutar en nuestro listado de bólidos, en constante actualización: https://t.co/CRfB0fblVv pic.twitter.com/VTYohdzRFQ

— Red de Investigación Bólidos y Meteoritos (SPMN) (@RedSpmn) August 16, 2021

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

The Solar System - In the Sky

Position of the planets & several spacecraft in the inner solar system on August 17th:

Inner Solar System
Top-down view of the Inner solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System
Inner Solar System
Oblique view of the inner solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the middle solar system:

Middle Solar System
Top-down view of the middle solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System
Middle Solar System
Oblique view of the middle solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the outer solar system– the orbit of TNO Arrokoth is highlighted:

Outer Solar System
Top-down view of the outer solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System
Outer Solar System
Oblique view of the outer solar system on August 17, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Solar System News: Juno Turns 10!

Small storms. Big effects. A trio of @NASA & @ESA Mars orbiters watched a regional dust storm unfold in 2019. Looking at different parts of the atmosphere, the orbiters tracked water rising & escaping Mars, showing small dust storms help dry out the planet https://t.co/gLv6TP543N pic.twitter.com/p94j3m3AIr

— NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) August 16, 2021

Spacecraft News - In the Sky

International Space Station

An Astrobee robotic free-flyer

An Astrobee robotic free-flyer on the station used ISAAC software to test autonomous operations aboard the orbital lab. https://t.co/cDPLreLmQR

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 16, 2021

International Space Station

Space walkies, anyone?

The first of three spacewalks begins next week as the Exp 65 crew unpacks a U.S. cargo craft and works science. https://t.co/HntH3iJ1ur

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) August 16, 2021

HiRISE - Beautiful Mars

An unusual class of hybrid bedforms – on Mars!

HiPOD: Sand Waves of Southern Mars

This image in the Southern Hemisphere region of Terra Cimmeria displays an unusual class of hybrid bedforms. They display a consistent shape and tone, but range several orders of magnitude in size or spacing. https://t.co/SmBAW5rBss pic.twitter.com/0QMLR0gsgS

— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) August 17, 2021

NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

Helicopter sees the rover on 11th flight

On its 11th trip above the Red Planet, @NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter caught a glimpse of @NASAPersevere near the top of one in-flight photo >> https://t.co/9xhb8utJfb @NASAJPL pic.twitter.com/IyFQuRZyx5

— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) August 14, 2021

Landsat Program

Explore wildfire satellite images

25 scenes of LANDSAT ingested to HDDS for event 202108_Wildfire_RUS #Wildfire https://t.co/3HnwFXCWFS pic.twitter.com/C0cTQ3HE4I

— USGS HDDS (@USGS_HDDS) August 17, 2021

NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover

I’m headed over toward some layered rocks that I spied from a distance a few weeks ago. Can already see the landscape around me changing. It’ll be interesting to see what clues this next spot holds.

Track my location: https://t.co/uPsKFhW17J pic.twitter.com/MBk5lROLR6

— NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover (@NASAPersevere) August 13, 2021

Climate

Are you a coastal planner, a policymaker, or concerned about the future of sea level rise? The @IPCC_CH/@NASA Sea Level Projection Tool allows you to visualize and download the projection data from today's IPCC 6th Assessment Report (AR6). Dive in ⬇ https://t.co/5HOtNJ9Qce

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) August 9, 2021

Climate

Even small increases in global temperatures have big impacts, as the new @IPCC_CH #ClimateReport details. In our 2019 feature, we outlined some specific ways Earth may change with another half- or full-degree Celsius of warming. Learn more ⬇️https://t.co/86gmxVPlK7

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) August 16, 2021

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

Exoplanets - In the Sky

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

All Exoplanets 4466 (+5)
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2402 (+3)
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2361 (-5)
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 426
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 148 (+1)
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2021-08-14 13:00:03) 4436 (+22)
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 4436 (+22)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 3048 (+16)

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:

Space telescopes are the extension of humanity into the farthest reaches. They are the eyes that allow us to see beyond what is ''visible.'' They are the best of us. This week we'll release the final poster in our mission series. Can you guess who's next? https://t.co/fJvd5gJmk7 pic.twitter.com/StJvLb0PNz

— NASA Exoplanets (@NASAExoplanets) August 16, 2021

Aurora - In the Sky
The Aurora Borealis and a Perseid Meteor. Taken by John David McKinnon  on August 13, 2021 @ Mountain Portage Rapids, Slave River, Alberta, Canada

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

Light Pollution - In the Sky

Glacier National Park Certified as an International Dark Sky Park

Who's the newest fully-certified International Dark Sky Park? WE'RE the newest fully-certified International Dark Sky Park! 🥳 🎉🙌Thanks to the @IDADarkSky! Read the press release here: https://t.co/XTdTqRAZwG pic.twitter.com/p4AZGoPYpr

— Glacier National Park (@GlacierNPS) August 13, 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/
The Universe - In the Sky

Education and STEM

NASA Earth and space science resources

It’s back to school time! 📚 Encourage your students to explore Earth and space science with the resources in our Parents and Educators section: https://t.co/PviEg5NvMh

— NASA Space Place (@NASAspaceplace) August 11, 2021

High school & college students can contribute to Artemis missions

As students & teachers go #BackToSchool, @NASAArtemis is going forward to the Moon!🚀🌕

Did you know high school & college students can contribute to #Artemis missions? Artemis Student Challenges give teams real-world, hands-on experience.

Ready to join? https://t.co/2xzchUtAWF pic.twitter.com/a0ZR7gQJbD

— NASA STEM (@NASASTEM) August 16, 2021

Universe News: IceCube Neutrino Observatory Captures 3.7 Billion year old Neutrino

A neutrino that had traveled 3.7 billion years was detected by @uw_icecube, and our Fermi telescope helped trace its source to a flaring blazar — a type of galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole — in the constellation Orion. #FermiFriday https://t.co/Ovlo32qptg pic.twitter.com/xrWy25FCtb

— NASA Universe (@NASAUniverse) August 13, 2021

Hubble – Weird and Beautiful Universe: Relativistic Jet

TEXT

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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.

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

Stay safe, be well, and look up!


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