Mars continues to move eastward away from Saturn and Jupiter in the southern predawn sky.
Mars in the southeastern predawn sky; Jupiter and Saturn in the southern predawn sky this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Mercury appears above west-northwestern horizon at sunset.
Mercury appears above the western horizon after sunset this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon appears near the star Spica the southern sky at 11:00 PM on June 2nd.
The Moon appears near the star Spica on June 2nd in the southern sky at 11:00 PM. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon appears near the star Antares in the southeastern sky at 11:00 PM on June 4th and 5th.
The Moon is a waxing gibbous – visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.
The full Moon occurs on June 5th – rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night.
After June 5th, 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 Moon from 2020-06-02 – 2020-06-08. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.Moon News
We have a spot! Sunspot AR2764 is a member of new Solar Cycle 25. The northern coronal hole appears to have opened up a bit since last week, while the southern hole remains open and large.
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) June 1, 2020:
More, beautiful, swirling prominences on the Sun’s limb over the last few days!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) June 1, 2020:
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=10220118194538867&set=gm.3243998082278180&type=3&theater&ifg=1
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 347.9 km/sec (↑), with a density of 9.0 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1445 UT.
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-SOHO
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020) (+19)
Total Minor Planets discovered: 958,618 (+92)
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 KN2 |
2020-Jun-02
|
5.8 LD
|
8.4
|
18
|
| 2020 KK7 |
2020-Jun-02
|
1.3 LD
|
15.2
|
20
|
| 2020 KD4 |
2020-Jun-02
|
10.5 LD
|
5.2
|
21
|
| 2020 KF |
2020-Jun-02
|
12.1 LD
|
10.8
|
26
|
| 2020 KJ1 |
2020-Jun-02
|
5.5 LD
|
5.1
|
19
|
| 2020 KE4 |
2020-Jun-03
|
7.7 LD
|
9.1
|
31
|
| 2020 KN5 |
2020-Jun-04
|
16.2 LD
|
12.7
|
32
|
| 2020 KA6 |
2020-Jun-05
|
11.7 LD
|
11.6
|
17
|
| 163348 |
2020-Jun-06
|
13.3 LD
|
11.1
|
339
|
| 2020 KO1 |
2020-Jun-06
|
15.5 LD
|
7.3
|
35
|
| 2020 KQ1 |
2020-Jun-06
|
13.4 LD
|
14.9
|
49
|
| 2020 KA7 |
2020-Jun-07
|
10.4 LD
|
7.3
|
31
|
| 2020 KK3 |
2020-Jun-07
|
17.8 LD
|
11.9
|
29
|
| 2013 XA22 |
2020-Jun-08
|
7.6 LD
|
6.7
|
98
|
| 2020 KZ3 |
2020-Jun-08
|
3.2 LD
|
6
|
21
|
| 2020 KY |
2020-Jun-10
|
17.3 LD
|
2.4
|
21
|
| 2020 JQ2 |
2020-Jun-11
|
15.2 LD
|
4.5
|
24
|
| 2020 JS1 |
2020-Jun-11
|
9.9 LD
|
5
|
19
|
| 2020 JU1 |
2020-Jun-13
|
19 LD
|
6.6
|
48
|
| 2020 KB3 |
2020-Jun-13
|
3.2 LD
|
7.5
|
46
|
| 2017 MF7 |
2020-Jun-14
|
3.7 LD
|
10.9
|
23
|
| 2020 KP6 |
2020-Jun-16
|
3.6 LD
|
10.8
|
38
|
| 2020 JU3 |
2020-Jun-17
|
6.9 LD
|
10.9
|
55
|
| 2020 KF3 |
2020-Jun-17
|
12.5 LD
|
3.5
|
14
|
| 2018 PD22 |
2020-Jun-19
|
17.2 LD
|
14.6
|
56
|
| 2020 KR1 |
2020-Jun-22
|
11.6 LD
|
6.8
|
42
|
| 441987 |
2020-Jun-24
|
9.8 LD
|
12.9
|
186
|
| 2017 FW128 |
2020-Jun-25
|
6.9 LD
|
5.4
|
11
|
| 2020 JX1 |
2020-Jun-29
|
3.3 LD
|
5
|
59
|
| 2019 AC3 |
2020-Jul-01
|
10.5 LD
|
3.4
|
12
|
| 2007 UN12 |
2020-Jul-04
|
16.7 LD
|
2.9
|
6
|
| 2020 KJ7 |
2020-Jul-13
|
11.9 LD
|
3.4
|
30
|
| 2009 OS5 |
2020-Jul-13
|
17.6 LD
|
2.6
|
45
|
| 2016 DY30 |
2020-Jul-19
|
9 LD
|
15.1
|
3
|
| 2002 BF25 |
2020-Jul-21
|
9.4 LD
|
6.8
|
129
|
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
On June 2, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 13 fireballs.
(13 sporadics)
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
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system.
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-06-02 – the orbit of asteroid Eros is highlighted.. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Position of the planets in the middle solar system.
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-06-02. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Position of the planets some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system.
Position of the planets in the outer solar system on 2020-06-02 – the orbit of dwarf planet Eris is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Solar System News
OSIRIS-REx: NASA’s Asteroid Sample Return Mission
SpaceX Crew Dragon Launches to the International Space Station!
International Space Station
#LaunchAmerica: Kerbal Space Program Teases Players with Possible Crew Dragon Suits
Hubble Space Telescope
Climate
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.
Fast Radio Bursts Sheds Light on Missing Matter Mystery
The Local Stellar Neighborhood
Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to the Epsilon Indi star system, about 12 light years distant.
Distance to Epsilon Indi from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.Epsilon Indi
Epsilon Indi (ε Indi, ε Ind) is a star system approximately 12 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Indus consisting of a K-type main-sequence star, ε Indi A, and two brown dwarfs, ε Indi Ba and ε Indi Bb, in a wide orbit around it. The brown dwarfs were discovered in 2003. ε Indi Ba is an early T dwarf (T1) and ε Indi Bb a late T dwarf (T6) separated by 0.6 arcseconds, with a projected distance of 1460 AU from their primary star.
ε Indi A has one known planet, ε Indi Ab, with a mass of 3.3 Jupiter masses in a nearly circular orbit with a period of about 45 years. ε Indi Ab is the closest Jovian exoplanet. The ε Indi system provides a benchmark case for the study of the formation of gas giants and brown dwarfs. – Wikipedia
Epsilon Indi System Architecture
Epsilon Indi System Diagram. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.Epsilon Indi System Orbital Diagrams
Top-down view of the orbits of the stars in the Epsilon Indi star system – the system barycenter is highlighted in red. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Oblique view of the orbits of the star Epsilon Indi A and its exoplanet – the barycenter for both A & B is shown as the blue diamond. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.
Top-down view of the orbits of the brown dwarfs in the Epsilon Indi B sub-system – the system barycenter is highlighted in red. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.Artist’s view of exoplanet Epsilon Indi Ab
Artist’s concept of exoplanet Epsilon Indi Ab. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.Artist’s view of brown dwarf Epsilon Indi Bb
Artist’s concept of brown dwarf Epsilon Indi Bb – Epsilon Indi Ba (red) and Epsilon Indi A (yellow) are shown in the distance. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.Stay safe, be well, and look up!
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
The Universe – Universe Today
