My wife was awarded 2019 Teacher of the Year for her school district! Connie teaches middle-school science in New Haven, Michigan – she is a volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and has an asteroid named after her – I’d like to think she’s a good influence on me.
Constance L. Martin-Trembley
Connie’s 2019 Teacher of the Year Award.
The Moon joins Saturn and Jupiter in the south-southeastern predawn sky for several days this week.
Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon near south-southeastern predawn sky on Mar. 26, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon will appear very near Jupiter on the 27th.
The Moon near Jupiter in the southern predawn sky on Mar. 27, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.And a couple days later, the Moon will appear near Saturn.
The Moon near Saturn in the southeastern predawn sky on Mar. 29, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The constellations Orion and Taurus are in the western sky after sunset; nearby, Mars continues a slow crawl towards the Pleiades star cluster.
Orion and Taurus in the southwestern sky, and Mars near the Pleiades high in the western sky after dark on Mar. 26, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.This week’s P.S.: It’s spring, and my parrots are now making it nearly impossible for me to even think; they are completely insufferable this time of year.
Globular Cluster M3
Globular Cluster M3. Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of ArizonaMessier 3 (M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It was discovered on May 3, 1764, and was the first Messier object to be discovered by Charles Messier himself. Messier originally mistook the object for a nebula without stars. This mistake was corrected after the stars were resolved by William Herschel around 1784. Since then, it has become one of the best-studied globular clusters. Identification of the cluster’s unusually large variable star population was begun in 1913 by American astronomer Solon Irving Bailey and new variable members continue to be identified up through 2004. – Wikipedia
Location of Globular Cluster M3. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
The Moon is a waning gibbous, rising after sunset, high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise. The Moon will be at last quarter on Mar. 28th, rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise. After the 28th, the Moon will be a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise.
The Moon from Mar. 26-Apr. 1, 2019. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.Moon News
https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1110217172570292225
SpaceIL’s Beresheet Moon lander, seen here during pre-launch preparations. Credit: IAI
Area of coronal loop activity on the Sun Mar. 26, 2019. Images courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams, edited by Bob TrembleyThe Sun has been spot-free for 1 day. Both northern and southern coronal holes continue to remain open, with a couple small holes appearing near the equator. A patch of coronal loop activity is rotating out of view on the Sun’s limb (left).
This last weekend, in a perfect example of why one should never predict aurora after a CME, no auroras were seen after a worldwide aurora watch was plastered all over social media; I saw numerous “Well? We’re waiting!” posts.
SpaceWeather.com says: “Tomorrow, March 27th, a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. CIRs are transition zones between slow- and fast-moving streams of solar wind. They contain density gradients and compressed magnetic fields that often do a good job sparking Arctic auroras. Springtime cracks in Earth’s magnetic field could amplify the CIR’s effect.”
Light prominence activity for the last few days – except for that exciting region on the Sun’s limb.
The solar wind speed is 364.1 km/sec (↓), with a density of 7.4 protons/cm3 (↓).
Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun’s limb (the white circle). Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechYou 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.
Sun News
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2019 CD5 |
2019-Mar-20
|
10.1 LD
|
17
|
146
|
| 2019 ES2 |
2019-Mar-20
|
7.6 LD
|
6.9
|
24
|
| 2019 DS |
2019-Mar-21
|
17.3 LD
|
8.9
|
38
|
| 2019 EA2 |
2019-Mar-22
|
0.8 LD
|
5.4
|
24
|
| 2019 FL |
2019-Mar-22
|
12.4 LD
|
11.9
|
51
|
| 2019 FF |
2019-Mar-23
|
3.2 LD
|
8.6
|
20
|
| 2019 EK2 |
2019-Mar-23
|
4.7 LD
|
8.1
|
11
|
| 2019 ER2 |
2019-Mar-25
|
8.9 LD
|
4.8
|
23
|
| 2019 EN |
2019-Mar-27
|
9.7 LD
|
15.2
|
205
|
| 2016 GE1 |
2019-Apr-04
|
3.9 LD
|
10.1
|
17
|
| 2014 UR |
2019-Apr-09
|
13 LD
|
4.6
|
17
|
| 2016 GW221 |
2019-Apr-09
|
10.1 LD
|
5.3
|
39
|
| 2014 HD177 |
2019-Apr-10
|
6.1 LD
|
14
|
102
|
| 2012 XO134 |
2019-Apr-18
|
14.8 LD
|
11
|
56
|
| 522684 |
2019-Apr-19
|
19 LD
|
11.5
|
214
|
| 2018 KK1 |
2019-May-05
|
13.9 LD
|
13.9
|
71
|
| 2017 RC |
2019-May-09
|
14.5 LD
|
10.6
|
9
|
| 2008 HS3 |
2019-May-09
|
14.6 LD
|
5.3
|
162
|
| 2018 VX8 |
2019-May-12
|
6.2 LD
|
15.5
|
118
|
| 2012 KT12 |
2019-May-18
|
3.3 LD
|
3.9
|
20
|
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1967 (last updated Feb. 26, 2019)
Minor Planets discovered: 794,082 (+549)
On Mar. 25, 2019, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 7 fireballs.
(7 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). From: Spaceweather.com
https://twitter.com/giddgvb/status/1107915505443192832
This is the position of the planets and a couple bodies in the solar system:
OSIRIS-REx – Boulders on Bennu’s South Pole
In a fit of snark, I commented “#FlatBennuSociety” to this…
Mars InSight – Still Having Issues with its Drill
Climate
Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive
Exoplanet Artwork by Bob Trembley
Incandescent mini-Neptune exoplanet Kepler-1449 b – with lens flare! This exoplanet orbits its parent star in 13.23 Earth days. Credit: Space Engine / Bob Trembley.
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.
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It’s a great tool for planning observing sessions.
Space Engine: a free 3D Universe Simulator for the PC.
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
The Universe – Universe Today
2018 is NASA’s 60th Anniversary!