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In the Sky This Week – May 12, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  12 May 2020

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This entry is part 148 of 248 in the series In the Sky This Week

Conjunction

When it comes to astronomy, asteroids are pretty much my favorite subject; the Sun comes in #2 by a wide margin. I have a presentation about the Sun that I’ve given numerous times – I’m modifying it to present remotely to my wife’s middle-school science students, and creating a worksheet based on my presentation. Here’s me giving my Sun presentation to the Warren Astronomical Society before the total solar eclipse of 2017:

I’ve also suggested to my wife that she show the following videos to her science students:

Mars continues to pull away from Saturn and Jupiter in the southeastern predawn sky; the Moon joins the early morning planets from May 12-15th.

Conjunction The Moon appears near the planets for several days in the southeastern predawn sky from May 12-15. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Mercury appears low on the northwestern horizon at sunset this week.

Mercury Mercury low on the no northwestern horizon at sunset this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Venus appears a bit lower each evening on the northwestern horizon after sunset.  Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) will be north of Venus and the star Capella, but may require binoculars or a telescope to see.

Comet C/2019 (ATLAS) appears north of Venus above the northwestern horizon after sunset this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

 

The Moon is a waning gibbous, rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.

The third quarter Moon occurs on May 14th, rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.

After May 14th, the Moon will be a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise (my favorite).

Moon The Moon from 2020-05-12 – 2020-05-18. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Moon News

This week on #NASAatHome Spaceport Series, we're talking #Artemis, which is @NASA's program which will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.

Live at 1 p.m. ET we'll talk with experts about launch complex 39B, which is ready for launch: https://t.co/qoF1zGbqZm pic.twitter.com/7XrfsPhh5F

— NASA's Kennedy Space Center (@NASAKennedy) May 11, 2020

The Sun has been spotless for 9 days. Coronal holes remain open at both poles, and smaller holes pepper the face of the Sun.

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) May 11, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/05/11/20200511_1024_0193.mp4

Light prominence on the Sun for the last couple days – a short-lived pyramidal “flame” prominence appears on the Sun’s limb in the video below.

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) May 11, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/05/11/20200511_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=10222217117797788&set=gm.3187890681222254&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 303.4 km/sec (↑), with a density of 8.4 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1116 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

 

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 19  (+9), this year: 1017  (+9), all time: 22,850  (+8)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2018  (last updated  Oct. 1, 2019)
Total Minor Planets
discovered: 958,278  (+20)

 

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2000 KA
2020-May-12
8.9 LD
13.5
162
2020 JK
2020-May-14
14.8 LD
20.1
56
2020 HS6
2020-May-14
16 LD
23.6
131
478784
2020-May-15
8.5 LD
3.6
28
2020 HA9
2020-May-15
18.2 LD
15.8
33
2020 HG9
2020-May-18
15.6 LD
10.6
71
136795
2020-May-21
16.1 LD
11.7
892
163348
2020-Jun-06
13.3 LD
11.1
339
2013 XA22
2020-Jun-09
10.6 LD
6.5
98
2017 MF7
2020-Jun-14
3.7 LD
10.9
23
2018 PD22
2020-Jun-19
17.2 LD
14.6
56
441987
2020-Jun-24
9.8 LD
12.9
186
2017 FW128
2020-Jun-25
6.9 LD
5.4
11
2019 AC3
2020-Jul-01
10.5 LD
3.4
12
2007 UN12
2020-Jul-04
16.7 LD
2.9
6

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

On May 11, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 2 fireballs. 
(1 sporadic, 1 eta Aquari)

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: SpaceWeather.com

Fireball & Meteor News

Last night there was what appears to be a large fireball caught between 22:34:12 and 22:34:22 travelling SE to NW captured from #Thatcham @VirtualAstro @UKMeteorNetwork @UKspace pic.twitter.com/WE3gCfUXXg

— BikesBrew&Bivi (@uk_wildcamp) May 12, 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, 2020-05-12. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets in the middle solar system.

Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-05-12 – the orbit of comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system.

Outer Solar System Position of the planets in the outer solar system on 2020-05-12 – the orbit of transneptunian object 2007 OR10 is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

 

OSIRIS-REx: NASA’s Asteroid Sample Return Mission

That mood tho.

This image was taken on April 28 from a distance of 6 miles (10 km). It was captured two weeks after Checkpoint rehearsal, and two days before orbit re-entry.

Image details: https://t.co/c9QD60HUoJ pic.twitter.com/8dSHpwzY1P

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) May 11, 2020

International Space Station

The @NorthropGrumman #Cygnus spacecraft was released from the @CSA_ASC #Canadarm2 robotic arm at 12:09pm ET today. It will orbit Earth until the end of May for more space research. Read more… https://t.co/UVtTaifId3 pic.twitter.com/wTfIymPbdr

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) May 11, 2020

Hubble Space Telescope

#HubbleClassic This image of the nebula K 4-55 was the last of many beautiful pictures taken by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 over >15 years. Astronauts removed & replaced the camera during Servicing Mission 4, which launched #OTD in 2009: https://t.co/fqEmwWlqmf pic.twitter.com/N8aqJWWMyR

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) May 11, 2020

Mars Insight

I recently spotted evidence of an eclipse on Mars. Watch closely as the surface gets dimmer, and my solar power dips just before 11:25 a.m. Phobos—the bigger of Mars’ two moons—was responsible for this one, as it slipped between the sun and me. pic.twitter.com/HNvDj7bQkS

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) May 5, 2020

Juno Mission at Jupiter

With nods to @BackyrdAstroGuy for the idea, here’s some Jupiter for your phone’s wallpaper image.

@NASAJuno Perijove 26 pic.twitter.com/QqMKEVyoFV

— Kevin M. Gill (@kevinmgill) May 9, 2020

BepiColombo Mission to Mercury

How to browse the images from the monitoring cameras on @BepiColombo @ESA_Bepi at @ESA's Planetary Science Archive (https://t.co/uIlGw0i0fu) in six simple steps. CC @esascience @esapsanews pic.twitter.com/zckN0IwziH

— ESA ESDC (@ESAesdc) May 6, 2020

Climate

Volcanic activity has shaped Greenland and Antarctica, but it's not to blame for today's rapidly melting polar ice sheets. Learn why. https://t.co/Nbv5Ri7nJK

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) May 6, 2020

? 416.41 parts per million (ppm) #CO2 in the atmosphere May 7, 2020 ? Up from 414.24 ppm a year ago ? Mauna Loa Observatory @NOAA data & graphic: https://t.co/MZIEphYygh ? https://t.co/DpFGQoYEwb tracking: https://t.co/PTTkLiPGm2 ? View & share often ? pic.twitter.com/KlO3gUkVAw

— CO2_Earth (@CO2_earth) May 8, 2020

Kerbal Space Program

While not exactly spacecraft news, the KSP twitter feed has been posting a LOT of educational and space-related news – this one was pretty cool!

#DidYouKnow

In March 5, 2019 NASA has successfully tested an advanced air-to-air photographic technology in flight, capturing the first-ever images of the interaction of shockwaves from two supersonic aircraft in flight.

Credits: @NASA Photo pic.twitter.com/eLjaR7zaYT

— Kerbal Space Program (@KerbalSpaceP) April 28, 2020

 

Exoplanet
ex·o·plan·et /ˈeksōˌplanət/, noun: a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.

All Exoplanets 4154  (+2) 
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2360  (+2) 
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2351  (+2)
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2418  (-2)
Confirmed Planets with K2 Light Curves for Stellar Host 430
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 397
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 46  (+1) 
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2020-05-09 13:00:01) 1835  (+36)
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 1835  (+36)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 1133  (+27)

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.

Inquiring minds want to know…have we seen a change in #lightpollution as a result of lockdowns around the world? @jamieacarter explores this question with IDA Director of Public Policy @JohnBarentine, who weighs in with some interesting observations https://t.co/YWJKsRfBUd

— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) May 11, 2020

Zoom to Star Cluster Terzan 5

This is an optical zoom to the star cluster:

This prompted me to fire up SpaceEngine, and create a virtual fly-to the star cluster:

The Local Stellar Neighborhood

Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to the 61 Cygni star system, 11.41 light years distant.

61 Cygni Distance to 61 Cygni from Sol; the plane (green) is aligned with the orientation of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

61 Cygni

61 Cygni /ˈsɪɡni/ is a binary star system in the constellation Cygnus, consisting of a pair of K-type dwarf stars that orbit each other in a period of about 659 years. Of apparent magnitude 5.20 and 6.05, respectively, they can be seen with binoculars in city skies or with the naked eye in rural areas without photopollution.

61 Cygni first attracted the attention of astronomers when its large proper motion was first demonstrated by Giuseppe Piazzi in 1804. In 1838, Friedrich Bessel measured its distance from Earth at about 10.4 light-years, very close to the actual value of about 11.4 light-years; this was the first distance estimate for any star other than the Sun, and first star to have its stellar parallax measured. Among all stars or stellar systems listed in the modern Hipparcos Catalogue, 61 Cygni has the seventh-highest proper motion, and the highest among all visible stars or systems.

Over the course of the twentieth century, several different astronomers reported evidence of a massive planet orbiting one of the two stars, but recent high-precision radial velocity observations have shown that all such claims were unfounded. No planets have been confirmed in this stellar system to date. 

61 Cygni is relatively dim, so it does not appear on ancient star maps, nor is it given a name in western or Chinese systems. – Wikipedia

61 Cygni System Architecture

61 Cygni 61 Cygni system architecture. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

61 Cygni System Orbital Diagram

61 Cygni Top-down view of the orbits of the stars in the 61 Cygni star system – the system barycenter is highlighted. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

61 Cygni Location

61 Cygni Location of the 61 Cygni star system. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Artist’s view of the 61 Cygni Star System

61 Cygni Artist’s concept of the 61 Cygni star system. SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley

Stay safe, be well, and look up!


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.
Universe Sandbox: a space simulator that merges real-time gravity, climate, collision, and material interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Includes VR support.
SpaceEngine: a free 3D Universe Simulator for Windows. Steam version with VR support available.
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It’s a great tool for planning observing sessions. A web-based version of Stellarium is also available. A new version of Stellarium has been released:

"meteor shower plugin 2.0.6: radiants are twinkling" by axd1967 @ 12-May-2020 08:40:47 https://t.co/dDNG87LQYB

— Stellarium Dev. Team (@StellariumDev) May 12, 2020


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
Light Pollution – NASA’s Black Marble
The Universe – Universe Today

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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

147  |  In the Sky This Week – May 5, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  5 May 2020

149  |  In the Sky This Week – May 19, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  19 May 2020

150  |  In the Sky This Week – May 26, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  26 May 2020

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