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In the Sky This Week – June 25, 2019

By Robert Trembley  |  25 Jun 2019

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This entry is part 40 of 253 in the series In the Sky This Week

Moon

The Moon appears in the eastern early morning sky all week.

Moon Animation of the Moon in the eastern predawn sky from June 26-30, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Venus appears very low in the east-northeastern sky just before sunrise all week; a very thin waning crescent Moon joins Venus on the morning of July 1st.

Moon and Venus Venus appears very low near the east-northeastern sky just before sunrise; on July 1st, the Moon appears near Venus. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Saturn rises shortly after sunset; Jupiter, high in the southern sky, made an exceptional observing target this last weekend at the Warren Astronomical Society’s Star Party and Open House – free to the public every 4th Saturday of the month!

Saturn rising Saturn just rising, and Jupiter high in the southeastern sky at 11:05 PM on June 25th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Early in the morning, Saturn and Jupiter are both high in the southern sky – perfect observing targets!

Saturn and Jupiter Saturn and Jupiter high in the southern sky at 1:00 AM on June 26th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Mercury and Mars might be a wee bit of a challenge to see low in the west-northwestern sky at dusk all week.

Mercury and Mars Mercury and Mars might be hard targets to see in the west-northwestern sky just before sunset all week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Jupiter’s Moons

After clearly seeing Jupiter’s cloud bands and moons in a very small telescope – and through the very large telescope in the Warren Astronomical Society’s Stargate Observatory this last weekend, I just could not choose a different target! Go see Jupiter! Show your neighbors!

Jupiter Jupiter at 11:00 PM on June 25, 2019. Moons: G=Ganymede, I=Io, e=Europa, C=Callisto. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Here’s a pic I took of Jupiter in 2012:

Jupiter Jupiter in a small telescope. Credit: Bob Trembley, Jan. 10, 2012 – 8″ Dobsonian


The Moon is at last quarter on June 25th –  rising around midnight, visible to the south after sunrise.

After June 25th, the Moon will be a waning crescent – visible low to the east before sunrise.

The new Moon occurs on July 2nd.

Moon The Moon from June 25-July 1, 2019. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Moon News – #Apollo50th Anniversary Approaches!

We’re 26 days away from our #Apollo50th anniversary, when humans walked on another world for the first time in history! As we move forward to send the first woman and the next man to the Moon in five years, take a look back at our historic legacy: https://t.co/0FisxPhb50 pic.twitter.com/XuaFBz3sUH

— NASA (@NASA) June 24, 2019

This following video is a recreation of the flight of Apollo 11 using Kerbal Space Program – with some actual command module audio, and music from the soundtrack of the Apollo 13 movie – pretty cool! What I find impressive is the author’s use of RCS thrusters and ullage motors; the author also includes a few moments of video showing how the spacecraft’s orbit changes while under thrust.

XKCD XKCD’s Orbital Mechanics Comic

Speaking of orbital mechanics, XKCD created this comic about KSP. *I* didn’t study anything even remotely like orbital mechanics in high school or college… I also didn’t have the luxury of having a job at NASA, but I sure remember the first time I saw my trajectory change from sub-orbital to orbital in KSP and saying “Oh! THAT’s how that works!” Then saying that again when I preformed a Hohmann transfer to the Mun, and watching my perspective change as I entered into the Mun’s Sphere of Influence (SOI). Then again when performing an interplanetary transfer, and entering into the SOI of the Sun.

Young students, even kids are playing this “game” and learning orbital mechanics! I’m… currently, *ahem* at 3386 hours in KSP…

And then there’s the whole “Kerbal Space Program has RUINED several Science Fiction movies for me” – but that’s a tale for another time!


There are 2 small spots on the Sun – they are members of old solar cycle 24 – I can barely make out AR2742, but they are both visible in the videos below by their coronal activity.

AR2742 and AR2743 AR2742 and AR2743 on June 25, 2019. Images Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams. Editing: Bob Trembley

Coronal holes continue to pepper the Sun’s southern hemisphere; both poles have large coronal holes.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/movies_1080/20190624_1080_0193.mp4

SpaceWeather.com says: “Earth’s mesosphere is still unusually wet. The proof was in the skies of the USA on June 24th when noctilucent clouds appeared at record-low latitudes for the second time this month. Electric-blue waves rippled over Las Vegas, NV; Joshua Tree and Pollock Pines, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; and Albuquerque NM.  The American display followed an equally extreme outburst over Europe on the night of the summer solstice. Noctilucent clouds aren’t restricted to the Arctic anymore; everyone everywhere should be alert for the next display.”

Light prominence on the Sun; if you look closely, you can spot some short-lived pillar prominences popping up and disappearing quickly.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/movies_1080/20190624_1080_0304.mp4

The solar wind speed is 322.0 km/sec (↓), with a density of 4.3 protons/cm3 (↓).

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
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.


Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2019 LC1
2019-Jun-19
19.2 LD
9.9
26
2019 LB2
2019-Jun-20
6.5 LD
3.4
15
2019 LM1
2019-Jun-23
9.8 LD
8.7
25
2019 LC5
2019-Jun-23
13.6 LD
11.1
42
441987
2019-Jun-24
7.7 LD
12.6
178
2008 KV2
2019-Jun-27
17.8 LD
11.4
195
2016 NN15
2019-Jun-28
9.6 LD
8.4
16
2019 LR4
2019-Jun-29
11.3 LD
8.3
31
2019 LV1
2019-Jun-29
5.2 LD
6.2
27
2015 XC352
2019-Jul-01
11.9 LD
4.1
26
2016 OF
2019-Jul-07
12.8 LD
8.5
85
2016 NO56
2019-Jul-07
3.4 LD
12.2
26
2019 KD3
2019-Jul-12
15.5 LD
8
89
2016 NJ33
2019-Jul-12
15 LD
4.5
32
2015 HM10
2019-Jul-24
12.2 LD
9.5
68
2010 PK9
2019-Jul-26
8.2 LD
16.5
155
2006 QQ23
2019-Aug-10
19.4 LD
4.7
339
454094
2019-Aug-12
17 LD
8.2
148
2018 PN22
2019-Aug-17
17.1 LD
2.3
11

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: 176  (-12?), this year: 1147  (-84?), all time: 20404 (+35)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1983  (last updated  May 8, 2019)
Minor Planets discovered: 796,033  (+48)

5th Annual International Asteroid Day – June 30th

Watch the "Asteroids" trailer here! A short film created by the @UW that is part of #asteroidday We are just days away from our live broadcast! https://t.co/wwbGiy8nAr

— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) June 25, 2019

I will be lecturing at the Cranbrook Institute of Science on June 29th as part of their AsteroidDay event.



On June 24, 2019, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 24 fireballs.
(23 sporadics, 1 Northern June Aquilid)

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 & Meteor News:

Geostationary Lightning Mapper Satellite (GOES-16) sees 3-5 kT bolide explode near Puerto Rico!

 

This is the position of the planets and a couple bodies in the solar system:

Prof. Robert A. Millikan, Fr. Georges Lemaître and Prof. Albert Einstein at CalTech in January 1933.

Solar System News

Study shows how icy outer #solarsystem satellites may have formed @tokodai_news @NatureAstronomy https://t.co/0ZRxdMgDq3

— Phys.org (@physorg_com) June 25, 2019

 


OSIRIS-REx

When looking at Bennu, I’m struck by the fact that the rocks in some parts are positioned so chaotically, while in others — like here — the rocks are arranged by size. Bennu’s formative processes are so intriguing… and we still have so much to learn about rubble pile asteroids. pic.twitter.com/8F1guj4f8S

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) June 24, 2019

NASA / SpaceX

https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1143475678173642760

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Celebrates 10 Years!

Omg look how cute I was on my first day at the Moon 10 years ago #OTD! I’ve learned SO much since then. Here are 10 highlights I’ve learned about @NASAMoon in my 10 years (and counting) here. #LRO10th https://t.co/6HcrAPJMDD pic.twitter.com/8a9HUhZNTr

— NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (@LRO_NASA) June 24, 2019

Climate – Lightening Lightening Everywhere!

Yesterday's #GOES16 #GLM CONUS Retrospective pic.twitter.com/A96G8lcekh

— 𝘋𝘳. 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙚𝙡 𝙅. 𝙋𝙚𝙩͛𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 (@WeatherArchive) June 23, 2019

Exoplanet

All Exoplanets 4003  
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2351 
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2343  
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2421
Confirmed Planets with K2 Light Curves for Stellar Host 414 
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 381 
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 534 
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 20 
TESS Project Candidates 759  (+6)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 472  (+1) 

Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive

Exoplanet Discovery Video

This is REALLY cool, and you should watch and share it!!

Exoplanet Artwork by Bob Trembley

“Syzygy.” An eclipse seen from a hypothetical exomoon of a gas giant exoplanet orbiting the star Wolf 359. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley

 

You can explore exoplanets on your own with NASA’s Eyes on Exoplanets (beta) interactive website!

This Hubble Picture of the Week shows the spiral galaxy Messier 98, estimated to contain about a trillion of stars, and full of cosmic dust and hydrogen gas. Credit: @ESA / @Hubble_Space / @NASA , V. Rubin et al. https://t.co/driWVrMiMl pic.twitter.com/r9S8xGiIsH

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) June 24, 2019


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

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