Starlink Satellites Cause a Stir
SpaceX has launched the first 60 of a planned 12,000 Starlink satellites, intended to provide global broadband internet service. Despite assurances to the contrary, a train of bright lights has been seen crossing the night sky, along with some reports of Iridium-like flares. Astronomers and observatories are understandably concerned, with some expressing concern that this could “ruin the night sky.”
I’m more concerned about any effect this might have on asteroid discovery and planetary defense; needless to say, I’ll be following this developing story closely.
Mars will soon be lost on the glare of the sunset in the west-northwestern sky.
Mars may be behind trees and buildings in the west-northwestern sky at sunset. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Saturn and Jupiter continue to be visible in the southern predawn sky all week; Jupiter rises in the southeast around 10:00 PM.
Saturn and Jupiter are high in the southern predawn sky all week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.A thin waning crescent Moon appears low in the eastern predawn sky for the next few days; I saw this out my kitchen window while making coffee this morning.
A waning crescent Moon appears in the eastern predawn sky on May 29th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Video: Asteroid Discovery
I first became aware of Scott Manley when I ran across his Asteroid Discovery video on YouTube in 2012; it completely blew me away; I show this every time I give my asteroids lecture – near the end, someone in the audience always says “Wooh!”
Scott has updated his Asteroid Discovery video several times, but I prefer his narrated version; the latest version with music is here:
The Moon is a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise.
The new Moon occurs on June 3rd.
The Moon from May 28-June 3, 2019. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.Moon News
https://twitter.com/JimBridenstine/status/1131571949119975425
The Sun is once again spot-free, and has been for 9 days. Coronal holes remain open at both poles, and disperse holes stretch from the south pole up past the equator.
SpaceWeather.com says: “A minor interplanetary shock wave hit Earth on May 26th at approximately 22:00 UT. The CME-like disturbance was unexpected. It caused the density of the solar wind around Earth to abruptly quadruple, while the interplanetary magnetic field doubled in strength. Earth’s magnetosphere was rattled by the impact, but it did not spark a geomagnetic storm.”
A couple long-lived prominences appeared on the Sun’s northern hemisphere, and a fountain-like prominence appeared on the southern hemisphere yesterday!
The solar wind speed is 375.7 km/sec (↓), with a density of 9.1 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 KT |
2019-May-28
|
0.8 LD
|
11.6
|
17
|
| 2003 LH |
2019-May-28
|
15.6 LD
|
7.4
|
32
|
| 2019 JH8 |
2019-May-28
|
9.1 LD
|
6.9
|
18
|
| 2019 KV |
2019-May-29
|
7.1 LD
|
5.6
|
20
|
| 2019 KH |
2019-May-29
|
15.4 LD
|
9.8
|
53
|
| 2011 HP |
2019-May-30
|
12.3 LD
|
8.4
|
135
|
| 2019 KU |
2019-Jun-01
|
16.1 LD
|
6.1
|
16
|
| 2019 KY |
2019-Jun-04
|
5.5 LD
|
6.2
|
20
|
| 2019 KS |
2019-Jun-04
|
12.3 LD
|
17.6
|
30
|
| 2019 JX2 |
2019-Jun-06
|
13.8 LD
|
7
|
43
|
| 2014 MF18 |
2019-Jun-06
|
8.8 LD
|
3
|
22
|
| 2019 KJ |
2019-Jun-14
|
12.6 LD
|
8.1
|
68
|
| 441987 |
2019-Jun-24
|
7.7 LD
|
12.6
|
178
|
| 2008 KV2 |
2019-Jun-27
|
17.8 LD
|
11.4
|
195
|
| 2016 NN15 |
2019-Jun-28
|
9.6 LD
|
8.4
|
16
|
| 2015 XC352 |
2019-Jul-01
|
11.9 LD
|
4.1
|
26
|
| 2016 OF |
2019-Jul-07
|
12.8 LD
|
8.5
|
85
|
| 2016 NO56 |
2019-Jul-07
|
3.4 LD
|
12.2
|
26
|
| 2016 NJ33 |
2019-Jul-12
|
15 LD
|
4.5
|
32
|
| 2015 HM10 |
2019-Jul-24
|
12.2 LD
|
9.5
|
68
|
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Table from SpaceWeather.com
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1983 (last updated May 8, 2019)
Minor Planets discovered: 795,139 (+68)
Asteroid News
Congratulations to Scott Manley for having an asteroid named after him!
Asteroid (33434) Scottmanley = 1999 FU
Discovered 1999 Mar. 17 by ODAS at Caussols.
Scott Manley (b. 1972) is a popular science communicator, best known for his videos on youtube combining science and games. Formerly an astrophysicist, he studied asteroid collisions at Armagh Observatory and created visualizations of the main belt and near earth asteroids.
Here’s a recent example of Scott’s video work:
Scott’s video tutorials have taught countless numbers of Kerbal Space Program players how to build and fly rockets – myself included!
On May 27, 2019, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 12 fireballs.
(11 sporadics, 1 eta Aquariid)
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.comFireball News: WOW! Indeed!
This is the position of the planets and a couple bodies in the solar system:
Solar System News: 10+ Things: Tour of Storms Across the Solar System
OSIRIS-REx: Rocks along Bennu’s Spine
Mars 2020 Rover: Send Your Name to Mars!
Landsat: Utah as Art
I haven’t posted a “Something as Art” post in a while… I need to fix that!
Climate
Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive
Exoplanet Highlight: Kepler-11 g
SpaceEngine on Steam – Soon!
Calling SpaceEngine “a game” does it no justice! I’ve created stunning imagery with SpaceEngine – which I’ve recently started including in this post every week. I’ve shown SpaceEngine to astronomy clubs, and at science fiction conventions; I showed SpaceEngine during a lecture to the Warren Astronomical Society, and (completely unintentionally) showed Mercury’s double-sunrise! I recently gave a presentation at a Science Fiction Convention – using SpaceEngine I gave a tour of the Solar System, and a few well-known locations within the Milky Way galaxy.
Kerbal Space Program – New DLC with Robotics and Deployable Science!
I’m excited beyond reason about this expansion for KSP! Robotics has been available in KSP as a community MOD for a while, but this DLC will be supported by the developers; I could see a “virtual” robotics for beginners class being taught using this.
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.
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 coming soon!
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!
July 20, 2019 is the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon.
