In the Sky This Week – February 19, 2019

After a heavy snow, the full Moon put on a stunning show this frigid morning; I was able to see Jupiter out my kitchen window, but Venus and Saturn were obscured by low clouds. As I was shoveling, I thought about how my house blocks the sunlight – which never melts snow off my driveway – while the neighbors across the street have nice clear driveways, baked by the Sun… As tends to happen with me, thoughts wander to something astronomical – this time: permanently shadowed regions on the Moon and Mercury.

Last Saturday, my wife and I got to see a fantastic presentation by astronaut Terry Virts about his time on the International Space Station! We got a signed copy of his book: “View from Above.”

[show_if device=’desktop’]Observing Target | The Moon | The Sun | Asteroids | Fireballs | Comets | Solar System | Spacecraft | Exoplanets | The Universe 

Several planets are in the southeastern predawn sky all week; Venus and Saturn are very close to each other on the morning of Feb. 19^th.

Venus and Saturn spread apart all week – the change should be noticeable each morning!

Conjunction of Venus and Saturn in the southeastern predawn sky over the week of Feb. 19-27, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Mars and Uranus are in the west-southwestern sky before midnight.

Mars and Uranus are in the west-southwestern sky before midnight on Feb. 19th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The image from the tweet below is from last week when Mars and Uranus were very close to each other in the sky.

On the evening of Feb. 19^th, the Moon will be in the constellation Leo, near the star Regulus.

The Moon in the eastern sky in the constellation Leo near the star Regulus before midnight on Feb. 19, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

In the southern hemisphere, seen from Beaufort West, South Africa, this same patch of sky is visible to the northeast, and flipped:

The Moon in the northeastern sky in the constellation Leo newr the star Regulus before midnight on Feb. 19, 2019- seen from Beaufort West, South Africa. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The waning gibbous Moon will be visible low in the southeastern sky after midnight on Feb. 24^th.

The Moon low in the southeastern sky after midnight on Feb. 24, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon

There has been an ongoing discussion/argument among southeastern Michigan astronomers about showing the full Moon to the public; it’s BRIGHT and many of the finer details are washed out. BUT, the reactions from the public are typically the same if they are observing the full Moon, or a first-quarter Moon… they just don’t care – and I’ll take any “Oh WOW!” I can get with my telescope! The full and gibbous Moon also tends to wash out most deep-sky objects.

That being said, there are beautiful features on the Moon that cannot be seen during the full Moon – some can only be observed during a single day; the “Straight Wall” can only be seen on day 8 of the Moon’s orbit.

The Straight Wall. Credit: Bob Trembley, 28 Mar 2015. Taken through the Stargate Observatory’s 8″ Refractor with my Samsung Galaxy S5 Smartphone.

When the Moon is at first quarter, the terminator between sunlit and dark regions is filled with shadows and highlights on craters and mountains; you can watch these features change over the course of several hours.

The Astronomical League has a Lunar Observing Program with 100 targets for you to observe during several phases of the Moon.

International Observe the Moon Night will be held on Oct. 5, 2019 – you can find clubs hosting observing events on the NASA Night Sky Network.

The Moon will be full on Feb. 19^th – rising at sunset, high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night. The rest of the week, the Moon will be a waning gibbous – rising after sunset, high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.

The Moon from Feb. 19-25, 2019. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

The Sun has been spot-free for 19 days; coronal holes remain open at both northern and southern poles, and there’s a rather interesting area of coronal activity along the equator:

Area of coronal activity on the Sun Feb. 19, 2019. Images courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, edited by Bob Trembley

SpaceWeather.com says: “A stream of solar wind is about to hit Earth’s magnetic field. Estimated time of arrival: Feb. 20th. The gaseous material is flowing from a trans-equatorial fissure in the sun’s atmosphere. Arctic sky watchers can expect minor geomagnetic storms and auroras mixed with bright moonlight when the fast-moving stream arrives.”

Some small prominences all over the Sun the last couple days – the area of coronal loop activity can be seen in the animation below as the bright orange region.

The solar wind speed is 329.2 km/sec (↓), with a density of 2.2 protons/cm³ (↓).

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

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com

On Feb. 18, 2019, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 10 fireballs.
(10 sporadics)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits from Feb. 17, 2019 intersect at a single point–Earth. Source: Spaceweather.com

This is the position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the solar system.

OSIRIS-REx – First Bundle of Mission Data Available

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Sees InSight Seismometer’s Wind and Thermal Shield

NASA Ice Giant Orbiters – This is from the “I WISH” Department

I’ve seen a LOT of calls for Ice Giant orbiter missions on Twitter in recent weeks – I couldn’t agree more!

So, I created this pic of a concept Uranus Orbiter using Space Engine and Kerbal Space Program:

Artist Concept Uranus Orbiter. Credit: Space Engine / Kerbal Space Program / Bob Trembley

NASA Climate

-Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive

https://twitter.com/brett7three/status/1097816436406448128

Exoplanet Artwork by Bob Trembley

On an icy Moon of gas giant planet within the Orion Nebula. Credit: Space Engine / Bob Trembley.

I’m creating several posters for an Astronomy Night event to be held at my wife’s school in March; this image will be one of them:

Tightly Wound Arms of Dust Encircle Nucleus of Galaxy NGC 2787. Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA).

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.
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It’s a great tool for planning observing sessions.
Space Engine: a free 3D Universe Simulator for the PC.

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
The Universe – Universe Today

July 20, 2019 is the 50^th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.