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
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:
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-SOHOSun News
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.comFireball? 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.
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
Mars Perseverance Rover Landing Video: #CountdownToMars
International Space Station:
HiRISE – on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter:
Hubble Space Telescope
Juno at Jupiter:
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:
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
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.
Visit an International Dark Sky Park: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/
For Kids:
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
