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In the Sky this Week – March 20, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  20 Mar 2018

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This entry is part 90 of 253 in the series In the Sky This Week

Southern predawn sky, Mar. 20, 2018

Mars continues its retrograde motion towards Saturn, as Jupiter moves slowly towards the west in the southern predawn sky.

Southern predawn sky, Mar. 20, 2018 Southern predawn sky, Mar. 20, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

A thin waxing crescent Moon joins Mercury and Venus in the western sky at dusk on March 20th; Mercury is getting dimmer each passing evening.

Western sky shortly after 8:00 PM, Mar. 20, 2018 Mercury and Venus in the western sky shortly after 8:00 PM, Mar. 20, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The bright stars Deneb and Altair are in the east as Mars and Saturn rise early in the morning sky.

Eastern sky at 4:15 AM, Mar. 20, 2018 Eastern sky at 4:15 AM, Mar. 20, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

 

The Moon

The Moon Mar 20-26 2018. Visualizations by Ernie Wright

The Moon is a waxing crescent visible in the west near sunset. The Moon will be at first quarter on March 25th, and afterwards it will be a waxing gibbous – this whole week will be great for observing the Moon with a telescope!

The Sun

The Sun had a small spot last week, but has been spot-free for a day now. There is coronal hole at the Sun’s south pole with a tendril stretching north past the equator.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/03/19/20180319_1024_0193.mp4

The solar wind speed is 449 km/sec, with a density of 5.0 protons/cm3. SpaceWeather.com says “NOAA forecasters say there is a 55% chance of G1-class geomagnetic storms on March 22nd when the solar wind currently blowing around Earth is expected to intensify. Arctic auroras are likely on the first nights of northern spring.”

The Sun’s chromosphere had a couple small prominences that lasted for several days – look at the 4:00 o’clock position on the Sun’s disk in the image below.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/03/19/20180319_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.

[widget_area area=’space-weather-twitter’ area_style=’’ class=’’ style=’’]

Asteroids

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2018 EV1
2018-Mar-22
7.8 LD
11.3
29
2018 DH1
2018-Mar-27
9.2 LD
14.4
224
2016 SR2
2018-Mar-28
18.7 LD
7.3
20
2018 FB
2018-Mar-29
4.9 LD
8.5
65
2010 GD35
2018-Mar-31
15.5 LD
11.6
45
2018 EM4
2018-Apr-01
6.2 LD
6.2
29
2004 FG29
2018-Apr-02
4 LD
14.9
22
2018 ER1
2018-Apr-02
15.6 LD
4
26
2018 EB
2018-Apr-04
10.4 LD
15.1
162
363599
2018-Apr-12
19.3 LD
24.5
224
2014 UR
2018-Apr-14
9.3 LD
4.4
17
2016 JP
2018-Apr-20
12 LD
12.7
214
2012 XL16
2018-Apr-23
15.8 LD
6.1
28
2013 US3
2018-Apr-29
10.1 LD
7.7
214
2002 JR100
2018-Apr-29
10.8 LD
7.7
49
1999 FN19
2018-May-07
9.7 LD
5.7
118
2016 JQ5
2018-May-08
6.3 LD
10.4
9
388945
2018-May-09
6.5 LD
9
295
1999 LK1
2018-May-15
13.3 LD
10
141

Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com

As of March 20, 2018 there are 1882 known potentially hazardous asteroids.

Fireballs

On Mar. 19, 2018, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 8 fireballs.

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). Credit: NOOA/SpaceWeather.com

The Solar System

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

Position of the planets in the solar system, Mar. 20, 2018 Position of the planets in the solar system, Mar. 20, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Position of the planets in the solar system, Mar. 20, 2018 Position of the planets in the solar system, Mar. 20, 2018 – alternate view. 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.

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