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In the Sky This Week – May 22, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  22 May 2018

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This entry is part 96 of 253 in the series In the Sky This Week

Jupiter has almost left the morning sky; Mars and Saturn are slowly making their way southward. I was a bit surprised to catch a flyover of the International Space Station when I copied this image from Stellarium!

0500 May 22 2018 - South International Space Station in the southern sky at 5:00 AM, May 22, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Jupiter is in the southeastern sky after sunset, and is a great observing target.

2200 May 22 2018 - Southeast Jupiter in the southeastern sky at 10:00 PM, May 22, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon

Moon Week of May 22-28 2018 The Moon from May 22-28, 2018. Visualizations by Ernie Wright

The Moon is at first quarter on the 22nd, and then a waxing gibbous until full on the 29th. This whole week will be great for observing the moon through telescopes. The Moon is in the southwestern sky after sunset for the next few days.

2200 May 22 2018 - Southwest Moon in the southwestern sky at 10:00 PM, May 22, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Sun

We have a spot! Active Region (AR) 2710 is rotating into view on the Sun – it’s so small it may be difficult to see through telescopes for a few days.

A small sunspot on the Sun, May 22, 2018 A small sunspot on the Sun, May 22, 2018. Credit: NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.

AR2710 has a lot of coronal loop activity above it (left side of video), and coronal holes remain at both poles. Surprisingly, there are no Earthward facing coronal holes along the equator this week.

The solar wind speed is 309.5 km/sec, with a density of 13.4 protons/cm3. SpaceWeather.com says: “NOAA forecasters say there is a 40% chance of minor geomagnetic storms on May 23rd when a stream of solar wind grazes Earth’s magnetic field. The gaseous material is flowing from a northern hole in the sun’s atmosphere. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. Indeed, in Antarctica the light show has already begun.”

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/05/21/20180521_1024_0193.mp4

Yesterday at my wife’s school, I gave my lecture about the Sun, and set up my solar telescope. I was able to show 2 science classes a prominence on the limb Sun. Unfortunately it clouded over, and I was unable to show a 3rd class…. Michigan…

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/05/21/20180521_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:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2018 KS
2018-May-22
2.1 LD
7.7
9
2018 JK
2018-May-22
16.3 LD
12.5
81
2018 JG2
2018-May-25
18.5 LD
6.9
62
2018 JK3
2018-May-27
19.6 LD
21.7
173
2018 KR
2018-May-28
15.7 LD
4
18
68347
2018-May-29
9.5 LD
13.3
389
2013 LE7
2018-May-31
17.8 LD
1.7
12
2018 KE1
2018-Jun-01
10.8 LD
16.2
31
2018 EJ4
2018-Jun-10
5.6 LD
6.2
195
2015 DP155
2018-Jun-11
9 LD
4.4
170
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: 84, this year: 718, all time: 18271.
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1907 (as of May 22, 2018)
Minor Planets discovered: 774,880 (as of May 22, 2018)

Fireballs

On May 21, 2018, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 7 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 inner solar system:

Inner Solar System May 22 2018 Position of the planets in the inner solar system, May. 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
Inner Solar System May 22 2018 Position of the planets in the inner solar system – alternate view, May. 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Space Missions

InSight and the MarCO A&B CubeSats continue to pull away from Earth on their journey to Mars.

MarCo and InSight - May 22 2018 Position of the MarCo A&B CubeSats and Mars InSight, May. 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Juno is heading in towards another perijove at Jupiter.

Juno Mission at Jupiter, May 22 2018 Position of the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, May. 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Juno will pass close to Jupiter (perijove) on May 24th.

Juno Perijove 13 May 24, 2018 Jumo spacecraft at perijove 13, May. 24, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Dawn continues it mission orbiting Ceres in the main asteroid belt.

Dawn at Ceres, May 22, 2018 Position of the Dawn Spacecraft, May 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

The trajectory of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) spacecraft was altered by an encounter with the Earth’s Moon.

Position of TESS May 22, 2018 Position of the TESS Spacecraft, May 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

The OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission continues to close in on asteroid 101955 Bennu.

OSIRIS REx on the way to Bennu, May 22, 2018 OSIRIS REx on the way to asteroid 101955 Bennu, May. 22, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Exoplanets

Confirmed Exoplanets: 3,726 (5/10/2018)
Multi-Planet Systems: 613 (5/10/2018)
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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