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In the Sky This Week – January 14, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  14 Jan 2020

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This entry is part 32 of 248 in the series In the Sky This Week


We’re running a membership drive this month – our goal is 150 new members. Please subscribe and help support this website and VOF education and outreach programs.

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Mars appears near the star Antares in the southeastern horizon before dawn this week; a waning crescent Moon joins them on January 20th.

The Moon appears near Mars and the star Antares in the southeastern sky before sunrise on Jan. 20th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon appears near the star Regulus at midnight on January 13th, and near the star Spica on January 17th.

Venus appears high and bright above the southwestern horizon at dusk this week.

Southwestern sky at dusk Venus appears in the southwestern sky at dusk this week. 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 January 17th, rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.

After January 17th, the Moon will be a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise.

Moon The Moon from 2020-01-14 – 2020-01-20. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Moon News

Impact craters come in many sizes. In this image, the crater on the top left, called Milichius A, is 5.6 miles (9 km) across. You can also see plenty of craters just a few yards wide. #MoonCrushMonday #MCM https://t.co/iGk1h5mGyQ pic.twitter.com/pgNA7qaYWN

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) January 6, 2020

The descent stage of the #Apollo10 LM "Snoopy" may still be orbiting the moon today. That's what a randomized trial of 50 simulations of the initial stage orbit suggest. All 50 remained in orbit after 10 years… pic.twitter.com/8qT5RUixX5

— Roger Twank (@RogerTwank) January 11, 2020

The Sun has been spot-free for 3 days; coronal holes appear at both poles, and a large coronal holes appears north of the equator.

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Jan. 13, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/01/13/20200113_1024_0193.mp4

Light prominence activity over the last couple days – except for that large prominence in the upper right side of the video below:

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Jan. 13, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/01/13/20200113_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.

Facebook: SolarActivity

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10220909573229991&set=gm.2915118168499508&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 299.5 km/sec (↓↓), with a density of 0.4 protons/cm3 (↓↓) at 1100 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

Researchers used NASA supercomputers to model how Sun-like star Kappa Ceti could erupt in a gigantic superflare — one as powerful as our Sun’s famous 1859 Carrington superstorm. More from @NASA_NCCS: https://t.co/44VVqa9ecv pic.twitter.com/4mGQ8gDNw2

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) January 13, 2020

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 62  (+20), this year: 62  (+20), all time: 21,894 (+22)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2018  (last updated  Oct. 1, 2019)
Total Minor Planets discovered: 921,902 (+8,850)

 

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2020 AO
2020-Jan-14
9.3 LD
19.5
49
2011 EP51
2020-Jan-15
19.6 LD
7.1
32
2017 RZ15
2020-Jan-15
12.1 LD
7.4
14
2020 AZ1
2020-Jan-16
8.3 LD
4
17
2019 YD3
2020-Jan-16
6.9 LD
4.8
22
2010 AE30
2020-Jan-17
11.9 LD
12.3
68
2019 YG1
2020-Jan-17
17.5 LD
4.5
32
2019 YQ3
2020-Jan-17
18.2 LD
3.1
19
2020 AD1
2020-Jan-17
9.1 LD
4.5
20
2020 AH1
2020-Jan-18
15.9 LD
8
45
2009 BH2
2020-Jan-18
14.6 LD
17.9
118
2019 YA5
2020-Jan-19
11.7 LD
5.2
22
2020 AQ1
2020-Jan-20
10.6 LD
27.6
135
2013 DU
2020-Jan-20
14.9 LD
6.4
56
2019 TF2
2020-Jan-23
16.2 LD
1.6
19
2018 BM5
2020-Jan-23
13.1 LD
8.6
12
2018 AL12
2020-Jan-30
18.2 LD
17.7
39
2017 AE5
2020-Feb-01
13.6 LD
9
123
2018 BU1
2020-Feb-02
19.4 LD
10
41
163373
2020-Feb-15
15.1 LD
15.2
589
2018 CW2
2020-Feb-17
6 LD
10.2
28
2019 BE5
2020-Feb-20
13.9 LD
14.8
34
2011 DR
2020-Feb-23
14.7 LD
5.8
25
2016 CO246
2020-Feb-23
18.4 LD
5.9
25
2012 DS30
2020-Feb-26
12.3 LD
5.4
22
2015 BK509
2020-Feb-28
18.3 LD
12.5
118
2017 BM123
2020-Mar-01
10.5 LD
8.1
65
2018 RF6
2020-Mar-10
11.2 LD
12.6
36
2008 UB95
2020-Mar-11
18.5 LD
7.6
41

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

Asteroid News

Meet Lucy, currently in development. The Lucy spacecraft will travel to the Trojan asteroids, near Jupiter.

“The #LucyMission will transform our understanding of solar system evolution.”#NASALucy pic.twitter.com/yHj35hCvCZ

— Cassini (@CassiniSaturn) January 13, 2020

On Jan. 13, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 10 fireballs. 
(9 sporadics, 1 beta Sextantid)

Fireball Orbits 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). From: Spaceweather.com

Fireball News

Check out this amazing photo of the first meteor shower of the decade courtesy of @NASA astronaut @Astro_Christina. https://t.co/cXKXpuyz9n pic.twitter.com/qgSI5LAUbE

— Mike Massimino (@Astro_Mike) January 13, 2020

Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system:

Inner Solar System Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-01-14. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Mars News: New Crater Candidate

Candidate new impact site formed between December 2007 and May 2008 – https://t.co/UXUXg1GWkW pic.twitter.com/3NpKXaEL11

— HiRISE Bot (@HiRISEBot) January 14, 2020

Position of the planets and a couple bodies in the middle solar system:

Middle Solar System Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-01-14. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Jupiter News: Amazing Citizen Scientist Image Processing!

https://twitter.com/universal_sci/status/1216884532688949249

Position of the planets in the outer solar system – the orbit of transneptunian object (38083) Rhadamanthus is highlighted:

Outer Solar System Outer Solar System 2020-01-14 – Orbit of transneptunian object (38083) Rhadamanthus is highlighted – vertical lines show distance above and below the plane of the ecliptic. Credit: JPL Small Body Database Browser / Bob Trembley.

(38083) Rhadamanthus

38083 Rhadamanthus is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). It was discovered in 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey. It was originally thought to be a plutino but no longer is.

Rhadamanthus was discovered on 17 April 1999 by the Deep Ecliptic Survey.

Rhadamanthus is named after the Greek mythological figure. The name was announced in the circular of the Minor Planet Center of 24 July 2002, which stated “Rhadamanthus was a son of Zeus and Europa. Because of his just and upright life, after death he was appointed a judge of the dead and the ruler of Elysium, a blissfully beautiful area of the Underworld where those favored by the gods spent their life after death. The name was suggested by E. K. Elliot. – Wikipedia

NASA’s Interactive Real-Time Web-based Orrery:

[iframe src=’https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/orrery/’ height=600 percent=100 style=””]

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

My first rehearsal for sample collection is in April. I’ll practice leaving orbit, maneuvering to a checkpoint 420 ft (125 m) above Nightingale, and returning to orbit. In the second rehearsal I’ll fly even closer to Nightingale, hovering just 164 ft (50) m above Bennu’s surface. pic.twitter.com/MwO6YR27dF

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) January 9, 2020

International Space Station: Spacewalk Tomorrow

.@Astro_Christina and @Astro_Jessica are getting ready for Wednesday's spacewalk as the rest of the crew works a variety of @ISS_Research today. Read more… https://t.co/Q6EREcFnzy pic.twitter.com/PCWvksv3Pe

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) January 13, 2020

Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

The final speaker of the #AAS235 @NASA_TESS splinter session is Eliza Kempton. She highlighted how many of the exoplanets being discovered by TESS are prime targets for @NASAWebb – JWST can be used to reveal the properties of the atmospheres of exoplanets! pic.twitter.com/e3r199OeWn

— NASA_TESS (@NASA_TESS) January 7, 2020

Man! I have GOT to attend some of these conferences!

Hubble Space Telescope: 30 Years!

Soon to arrive on your doorstep — yes, it’s been 30 years now for the great Hubble Space Telescope. Read all about it! pic.twitter.com/NWHkMuQE37

— David Eicher (@deicherstar) January 13, 2020

ASTERIA Cubesat: Goes Silent

I’ve gone quiet 🛰☹️
My team misses me, but we did great work for 2+ years – 8x my planned 90 day mission!https://t.co/0ynnCkJSCy

— ASTERIA (@ASTERIA_CubeSat) January 6, 2020

Climate: Arctic Sea Ice Decline Animation

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004700/a004786/sea_ice_minimum_1080p30.mp4

Source: Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 1979-2019 with Area Graph 

Exoplanet

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78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

69  |  To err is human… to admit it, is science

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  25 Mar 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

31  |  In the Sky This Week – November 12, 2019

By Robert Trembley  |  12 Nov 2019

33  |  In the Sky This Week – September 17, 2019

By Robert Trembley  |  17 Sep 2019

34  |  In the Sky This Week – June 4, 2019

By Robert Trembley  |  4 Jun 2019

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