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In the Sky This Week – March 3, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  3 Mar 2020

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This entry is part 10 of 246 in the series In the Sky This Week

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars

Yesterday, I gave the “In the News / In the Sky” presentation at the meeting of the Warren Astronomical Society – how convenient that all the news I covered, and all the images I created for that presentation would appear today’s post!

Early-risers continue to have Saturn, Jupiter and Mars to observe above the southeastern horizon.

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars Saturn, Jupiter and Mars appear across the southeastern predawn sky this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The waxing gibbous Moon appears near the constellation Orion high in the southern sky on March 3rd.

Moon near Orion The Moon near Orion high in the southern sky on Mar. 3rd. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

On March 5th, the Moon appears near the star Pollux.

Moon near Pollux The Moon near the star Pollux high in the southern sky on Mar. 5th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon appears near the star Regulus on March 7th.

Moon near Regulus The Moon near the star Regulus in the eastern sky on Mar. 7th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

 

The Moon is currently a waxing gibbous, one day past first quarter – it will be visible to the southeast in early evening, and be up for most of the night.

The Full Moon occurs on March 9th – rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and up all night.

Moon The Moon from 2020-03-03 – 2020-03-09. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Click this image to go to the NASA 2020 Moon Phase and Libration site. Click the image of the Moon on that site to download a high-rez image of the current Moon phase with the names of craters and other features shown – many along the terminator.

Moon News: NASA is Accepting Astronaut Applications

Want to go to the moon? NASA is now taking new astronaut applications https://t.co/y5hL0cvtow pic.twitter.com/W3UR2I0ol4

— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) March 3, 2020

After listening-to "Packing for Mars" by @mary_roach, I realize that although I DO wish to see the Earth from space, I'd prefer to forgo all of the… um… "issues" with human bodies and micro-gravity, thankyouverymuch!https://t.co/Mr6ht51pkV

— AstroBalrog (@AstroBalrog) March 3, 2020

This April we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of a successful failure: Apollo 13.

Data from our Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter now makes it possible to show what the Apollo 13 astronauts saw as they flew around the far side of the Moon on their trajectory back to Earth. pic.twitter.com/UHryIIWhyz

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) February 25, 2020

The Sun has been spotless for 30 days. The northern coronal hole remains small, while the southern coronal hole continues to be huge.

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Mar. 2, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/03/02/20200302_1024_0193.mp4

Some large prominence activity on the Sun over the last couple days!

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Mar. 2, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/03/02/20200302_1024_0304.mp4
Videos courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
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=10219230225700201&set=gm.3024539570890700&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 423.6 km/sec (↑), with a density of 7.5 protons/cm3 (↑↑) at 0947 UT.

Near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):

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-SOHO

Sun News

#DidYouKnow that #SolarOrbiter is more than 10 million km away from Earth today? ???️

Follow the journey of our daring mission that will get closest ever views of the #Sun via this interactive #DataViz tool ?https://t.co/FGD8xiouq3#WhereisSolarOrbiter #WeAreAllSolarOrbiters pic.twitter.com/fBI69ZSwQw

— ESA's Solar Orbiter (@ESASolarOrbiter) March 3, 2020

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 0, this year: 550  (+45), all time: 22,379  (+45)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2018  (last updated  Oct. 1, 2019)
Total Minor Planets
discovered: 948,262  (+5762!!)

 

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2020 DA4
2020-Mar-04
2.5 LD
9
26
2018 RF6
2020-Mar-10
11.2 LD
12.6
36
2020 CA3
2020-Mar-10
13.8 LD
6.3
30
2008 UB95
2020-Mar-11
18.5 LD
7.6
41
2018 GY
2020-Mar-15
6.2 LD
9.5
39
2020 DP4
2020-Mar-22
3.5 LD
8.2
33
2012 XA133
2020-Mar-27
17.4 LD
23.7
235
2010 GD35
2020-Mar-29
15.3 LD
12
43
2006 FH36
2020-Mar-30
11.3 LD
5.1
93
2019 GM1
2020-Apr-02
9 LD
4.2
14
2015 FC35
2020-Apr-04
10.5 LD
13.8
148
2020 DT3
2020-Apr-05
17.6 LD
11.8
182
2019 HM
2020-Apr-10
7.2 LD
3.2
23
363599
2020-Apr-11
19.2 LD
24.5
224
2019 HS2
2020-Apr-26
13.6 LD
12.6
17
2019 GF1
2020-Apr-27
18.7 LD
3.2
12
52768
2020-Apr-29
16.4 LD
8.7
2457

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

https://twitter.com/Aero_Jenna/status/1232777580924821504

There is a new Minor Planet Center circular with a few newly named asteroids:
https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2020/MPC_20200205.pdf

 

On Mar. 2, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 6 fireballs. 
(6 sporadics)

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:

WOW…. Absolutely incredible view of a #meteor/ #fireball over Zagreb, Croatia Friday morning 28th February! Other countries like Italy and Slovenia also saw the meteor! Video captured by ? Tomislav Čar https://t.co/sEahvLqBbl #severeweather pic.twitter.com/7LfEV4Axaf

— WEATHER/ METEO WORLD (@StormchaserUKEU) March 1, 2020

Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system.

Inner Solar System Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets in the middle solar system.

Middle Solar System Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets, dwarf planets and transneptunian objects in the outer solar system:

Outer Solar System Position of the planets, a few dwarf planets and transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Oblique view of the orbits of the planets in the outer solar system.

Outer Solar System Oblique view of the orbits of the planets in the outer solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Oblique view of the orbits of the planets and dwarf planets in the outer solar system.

Outer Solar System with Dwarf Planets Oblique view of the orbits of the planets and dwarf planets in the outer solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Orbits of the planets and comets in the outer solar system.

Outer Solar System with Comets Oblique view of the orbits of the planets and comets in the outer solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Orbits of the planets and asteroids in the outer solar system… yikes!

Outer Solar System with Asteroids Oblique view of the orbits of the planets and asteroids in the outer solar system, 2020-03-03. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Solar System News: Earth has a Temporary Mini-Moon

Here's an animated GIF of our new mini-moon 2020 CD3, discovered by @WierzchosKacper. Rotating frame keeps the Earth/Sun line stationary. Orbital elements courtesy of IUA MPEC. https://t.co/dok3jn3G9hhttps://t.co/x1DXWLq2vm pic.twitter.com/O3eRaOIYjB

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) February 26, 2020

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Who’s ready for tomorrow's low-altitude flyover of site Nightingale? Observations will take place from a distance of 820 ft (250 m). The goal is to collect high-resolution imagery of the site so that the team can locate the best areas for collecting a sample. pic.twitter.com/Z5PZ5zrX3X

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) March 2, 2020

Psyche Mission

NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX Friday for the Falcon Heavy launch of the Psyche mission to a large metallic asteroid of the same name in 2022. https://t.co/iP3O3WZFWk pic.twitter.com/qwbTpZFgOh

— SpaceNews (@SpaceNews_Inc) February 29, 2020

Juno Mission at Jupiter

My JunoCam imager recently caught something remarkable: two storms in #Jupiter’s atmosphere in the act of merging. Details: https://t.co/94HGked5B6 ? Image processed by Tanya Oleksuik. pic.twitter.com/2NbpH6zZIr

— NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) March 3, 2020

International Space Station

The 2020 CineSpace film competition is now open! ?️

Submit your @NASA-inspired videos from now until July 15 and premiere in the @cinemaHTX film festival in November! For more info, visit: https://t.co/Q8j5hzRVUM pic.twitter.com/uXdeE2Y5Cu

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 2, 2020

Hubble Space Telescope

To celebrate #Hubble30, we selected over 30 education venues across Europe to receive high-quality large-format prints of Hubble's anniversary image for display.

Credit: @ESA / @Hubble_Space https://t.co/sUsMxtwoXM pic.twitter.com/YIy6fulW5j

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) February 24, 2020

Northrup Grumman Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1)

Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) docked successfully with Intelsat’s-901 communications satellite in orbit on Tuesday, the first time two commercial satellites have ever docked in orbit https://t.co/23nvuaG4Vk pic.twitter.com/lD2XoV6Dwj

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) February 28, 2020

Climate

Here is a friendly reminder that we live on a beautiful planet ??

In the style of Van Gogh's painting 'Starry Night,' ? the image ⬇️ shows greenish phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants) swirling in the dark water around Gotland, a Swedish island. https://t.co/ayc3Kpemaq

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) March 2, 2020

Exoplanet

All Exoplanets 4126
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2356
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2347
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2420 
Confirmed Planets with K2 Light Curves for Stellar Host 430
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 397
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 891
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 41
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2020-02-12 04:30:01) 1660
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 1734  (-26)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 1102  (+15)

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.

Take part in a Star Count! This is another #citizenscience project to map our view of the night sky.

Watch the video for details! https://t.co/X5zzFFSMWh

— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) February 27, 2020

Infant Binary System with Twisted Protoplanetary disks

Astronomers spot two baby stars locked in a gravitational waltz that's twisting their planet-forming disks into a pretzel-shaped knot. https://t.co/WNYTKJlLhf

— Astronomy Magazine (@AstronomyMag) March 1, 2020

Astronomers Detect Gigantic Outburst from Center of a Galaxy 390 Million Light Years from Earth

The explosion took place at the center of a galaxy that's about 390 million light years from Earth. https://t.co/zmh2lQ6ANI

— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 28, 2020

A Fundamental Universal Constant Stays Constant by a Black Hole

Stars near the Milky Way’s black hole reveal that the fine-structure constant doesn’t change. https://t.co/6bxN1FUgqo

— Science News (@ScienceNews) March 2, 2020

The Local Stellar Neighborhood

Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to Luyten 726-8, 8.74 light years distant.

Distance to Luyten 726-8 Distance to the Luyten 726-8 system from Sol. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Luyten 726-8

Luyten 726-8 (UV Ceti or Gliese 65) is a binary star which is one of Earth’s nearest neighbours. It is about 8.7 light years from Earth in the constellation Cetus. One of the pair, UV Ceti, was the archetype for the class of flare stars.

The star system was discovered in 1948 by W.J Luyten in the course of compiling a catalogue of stars of high proper motion; he noted its exceptionally high proper motion of 3.37 arc seconds annually and catalogued it as Luyten 726-8.

The two stars are of nearly equal brightness, with apparent magnitudes of 12.57 and 11.99 as seen from Earth. They orbit one another every 26.5 years. The distance between the two stars varies from 2.1 to 8.8 AU. Its own nearest neighbour is Tau Ceti, 0.88 pc (2.87 ly) away from it.

Both the stars are variables. The most spectacular is Luyten 726-8B, which was given the variable star designation UV Ceti (the other star is also known as BL Ceti). Although UV Ceti was not the first flare star discovered, it is the most prominent example of such a star, and similar flare stars are now known as UV Ceti type variable stars. This star goes through fairly extreme changes of brightness: for instance, in 1952, its brightness increased by 75 times in only 20 second

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

78  |  What Do We Lose When We Sacrifice Science?

By Br. Guy Consolmagno  |  27 May 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

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

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

9  |  In the Sky This Week – January 21, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  21 Jan 2020

11  |  In the Sky This Week – February 18, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  18 Feb 2020

12  |  In the Sky This Week – February 12, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  12 Feb 2020

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