Mars and Saturn are visible in the southern sky before sunrise. Mars is getting larger in telescopes as we near opposition with the planet at the end of July.
Mars and Saturn in the southern sky at 4:30 AM, June 12, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Jupiter remains near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) in the southern sky after sunset on June 12th.
Jupiter in the south sky near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) at 10:30 PM, June 12, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Venus is almost aligned with the stars Pollux and Castor shortly after sunset on June 12th.
Venus with Pollux and Castor, 9:50 PM, June 12, 2018. Inset shows Venus’ current phase. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon
The Moon from June 12-18, 2018. Visualizations by Ernie WrightThe Moon is a waning crescent and will be new on June 13th. The Moon will be a waxing crescent after the 13th, visible in the western sky near sunset.
The Moon and Venus, 10:00 PM, June 16, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Observing Target: NCG 6910
I found this gem while scanning around the constellation Cygnus with my 8 inch Dobsonian telescope. NGC 6910, also known as the Inchworm Cluster, is an open star cluster near the star Sadr in Cygnus.
In small telescopes, NGC 6910 appears (kinda) like a three-armed starfish. Time exposures of the cluster reveal the rich nebulosity of emission nebula IC 1316, that the cluster lies within.
The Sun
The sun has been spot-free for 7 days, although from the roiling coronal loop activity rotating into view on the left side of the video below, I would bet we’ll be seeing an active region soon.
There are a couple minor coronal holes near the equator; the holes at the Sun’s poles continue to be at a much reduced size from recent months.
SpaceWeather.com says: “Earth’s magnetic field is quiet as our planet moves through a region of calm solar wind. Activity could increase on June 13th, however, when Earth enters a solar wind stream flowing from a small hole in the sun’s atmosphere. NOAA forecasters say there is a 25% chance of minor geomagnetic storms.” The solar wind speed is 298.2 km/sec, with a density of 4.2 protons/cm3.
There have been several small prominences on the Sun’s limb over the past couple days; the region of coronal activity rotating into view is clearly visible in the image below:
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.
Asteroids
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2018 LD1 |
2018-Jun-14
|
1.6 LD
|
11
|
19
|
| 2018 LK |
2018-Jun-15
|
7.7 LD
|
12.4
|
160
|
| 2018 LF1 |
2018-Jun-16
|
15.6 LD
|
14
|
46
|
| 2018 KC3 |
2018-Jun-19
|
14.6 LD
|
8.8
|
87
|
| 2017 YE5 |
2018-Jun-21
|
15.6 LD
|
15.5
|
513
|
| 467309 |
2018-Jun-23
|
17.9 LD
|
14
|
355
|
| 441987 |
2018-Jun-24
|
7.3 LD
|
12.6
|
178
|
| 2018 LD3 |
2018-Jun-24
|
19.9 LD
|
14.2
|
67
|
| 2018 LN2 |
2018-Jun-28
|
10.5 LD
|
9.4
|
87
|
| 2018 LJ1 |
2018-Jul-01
|
13.9 LD
|
2.7
|
17
|
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 33, this year: 790, all time: 18340.
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1912 (as of June 12, 2018)
Minor Planets discovered: 779,736 (as of June 12, 2018)
Fireballs
On June 11, 2018, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 50 fireballs.
In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point–Earth. Source: Spaceweather.comThe Solar System
This is the position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the solar system:
Position of the planets in the inner solar system, June 12, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, June 12, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of the planets in the outer solar system, June 12, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Exoplanets
Confirmed Exoplanets: 3,735 (5/31/2018)
Multi-Planet Systems: 614 (5/31/2018)
Kepler Candidate Exoplanets: 4,496 (8/31/2017)
TESS Candidate Exoplanets: 0
Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive
Exoplanet of the Week: Kepler-7b
Hypothetical visualization of exoplanet Kepler-7b. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Apps used for this post:
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It’s a great tool for planning observing sessions.
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.
