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In the Sky This Week – June 5, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  5 Jun 2018

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This entry is part 98 of 246 in the series In the Sky This Week

Moon with Mars and Saturn

The Moon joins Mars and Saturn in the southern sky before sunrise.

Moon with Mars and Saturn A waning gibbous Moon with Mars and Saturn in the southern sky at 4:30 AM, June 6, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Jupiter is very close to the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) after sunset on June 5th – so close you might be able to get the double-star and Jupiter with its moons in the same view through a telescope!

Jupiter near star Zubenelgenubi II Jupiter in the south sky near the double-star Zubenelgenubi II (Alpha Librae) at 10:30 PM, June 5, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Venus aligns with the stars Pollux and Castor on June 10th shortly after sunset.

Venus aligns with Pollux and Castor, June 10, 2018 Venus aligns with Pollux and Castor, 9:50 PM, June 10, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon

Moon Week of June 5-11 2018 The Moon from June 5-11, 2018. Visualizations by Ernie Wright

The Moon is a waning gibbous, and will be at third quarter on June 6th. The Moon will be a waning crescent after the 6th, visible low in the eastern sky before dawn.

Observing Target: M57

The constellation Lyra is high in the eastern sky after sunset; the boxed area in the image below is the location of M57 – the Ring Nebula:

Location of M57 in Lyra Location of M57, the Ring Nebula in the constellation Lyra. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

M57 is a planetary nebula – expanding shells of luminous gas expelled by stars at the ends of their lives. Planetary nebulae can be some of the most beautiful objects in the sky.

M57 The Ring Nebula M57, The Ring Nebula in Lyra. Image Credit: NASA/Hubble Heritage

When viewed in infrared light, the Ring Nebula shows even older shells of gas expelled thousands of years ago. These ghostly shells appear almost like petals of a flower:

Ring Nebula A composite image of the Ring Nebula combining visible-light observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope and infrared data from the ground-based Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. Image Credit: Credit: NASA, ESA

The Sun

Active Region AR2712 is rotating out of view, leaving the Sun spot-free. AR2712’s coronal loop activity can be seen on the right side of the video below. There is a large coronal hole at the Sun’s north pole; the hole at the south pole appears to have reduced in size.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/06/04/20180604_1024_0193.mp4

SpaceWeather.com says: “Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind that sparked G1-class geomagnetic storms and apparitions of STEVE during the weekend. NOAA forecasters have reduced the chance of additional storms on June 4th to 25% as the solar wind speed subsides.” The solar wind speed is 430.9 km/sec, with a density of 7.9 protons/cm3. 

There are several long-lived prominences on the Sun’s limb, AR2712 is the bright orange area rotating out of view on the right side of the image below:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/06/04/20180604_1024_0304.mp4
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.

Asteroids

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

We got HIT! Asteroid 2018 LA was discovered about 8 hours before it plowed into Earth’s atmosphere at around 38,000 mph and exploded over southern Africa. At the time of this writing, no strewn field or meteorites have yet been found – I’d bet by this time next week someone will have found something.

Asteroid Day LogoNow might be a good time to mention that June 30th is International Asteroid Day, with worldwide events held each year on the anniversary of the Tunguska impact of 1908, with the goal of raising public awareness about asteroid impact hazards.

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2018 KE1
2018-Jun-01
10.8 LD
16.2
33
2018 LA
2018-Jun-02
0 LD
17
3
2018 LC
2018-Jun-02
17.5 LD
5.7
33
2018 EJ4
2018-Jun-10
5.6 LD
6.2
195
2015 DP155
2018-Jun-11
9 LD
4.4
170
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

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: 6, this year: 762, all time: 18312.
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1912 (as of June 5, 2018)
Minor Planets discovered: 779,736 (as of June 5, 2018)

Fireballs

On June 4, 2018, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 12 fireballs.

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point–Earth. Source: Spaceweather.com

The Solar System

This is the position of the planets in the solar system:

Inner Solar System May 29 2018 Position of the planets in the inner solar system, May. 29, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Middle Solar System May 29 2018 Position of the planets in the middle solar system, May. 29, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Solar System From Behind the Sun Looking Towards Earth May 29 2018 Solar System from behind the Sun looking towards Earth May 29 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Exoplanets

Confirmed Exoplanets: 3,730 (5/24/2018)
Multi-Planet Systems: 613 (5/24/2018)
Kepler Candidate Exoplanets: 4,496 (8/31/2017)
TESS Candidate Exoplanets: 0
Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive


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.

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More Posts in this Series:
"In the Sky This Week"

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

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

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

97  |  In the Sky This Week – May 29, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  29 May 2018

99  |  In the Sky This Week – June 12, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  12 Jun 2018

100  |  In the Sky This Week – June 19, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  19 Jun 2018

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