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In the Sky This Week – May 5, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  5 May 2020

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This entry is part 147 of 244 in the series In the Sky This Week

Libraries across the U.S. are looking for online presentations by NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors and NASA Night Sky Network members; my wife is having me give my presentation about the Sun (and possibly a tour of the solar system using SpaceEngine) to her science classes using Google Hangouts Meet. If you are an astronomy presenter and you have the equipment to present remotely, you may want to contact libraries and schools in your area to see if they would like you to do an online presentation.

Mars continues to pull away from Saturn and Jupiter in the southeastern predawn sky; the Moon joins the early morning planets at the beginning of next week.

Mars, Saturn and Jupiter in the southeastern predawn sky this week. The Moon joins the planets early next week for a couple days. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Venus appears a bit lower each evening at dusk in the western sky.

Venus appears a bit lower than last week above the western horizon after sunset – the orbit of Venus is shown in red. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Early next week, comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) will be in the same general region of the sky as Venus, however it will probably not be as spectacular as the depiction in the image below. Use the image below as a guide where to point your binoculars or telescopes.

Comet C/2019 (ATLAS) The comet C/2019 (ATLAS) joins Venus above the western horizon after sunset early next week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon appears near the star Spica in the southern sky at midnight on May 6th.

Southern sky at midnight The Moon appears near the star Spica in the southern sky at midnight on May 6th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon appears near the star Antares in the southwestern predawn sky on May 9th.

Southwestern predawn sky The Moon appears near the star Antares in the southwestern predawn sky on May 9th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon is a waxing gibbous, visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.

The full Moon occurs on May 7th; the Moon rises at sunset, is visible high in the sky around midnight, and is visible all night.

After May 7th, the Moon will be a waning gibbous, rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.

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

Moon News: Three Companies Selected for Human Moon Landings

Our #Artemis astronauts will be landing on the Moon in style ?

Here are the three companies that were selected to provide human landing services to the Moon. https://t.co/8x2wlMLN0U pic.twitter.com/GHGGdEnJfc

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) April 30, 2020

The Sun has been spotless for 3 days. Coronal holes remain open at both poles – the southern coronal hole has a snake-like tendril reaching up towards the equator.

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) May 4, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/05/04/20200504_1024_0193.mp4

We got a monster prominence! A beautiful, long-lived looping prominence on the Sun for the last couple days.

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) May 4, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/05/04/20200504_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=10219855439850164&set=gm.3171224552888867&type=3&theater&ifg=1

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 302.6 km/sec (↑), with a density of 5.2 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1000 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: 10  (+10), this year: 1008  (+31), all time: 22,842  (+31)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2018  (last updated  Oct. 1, 2019)
Total Minor Planets
discovered: 958,258  (+116)

 

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2020 HS9
2020-May-05
4.6 LD
18.1
31
2020 HR8
2020-May-05
9.1 LD
9.6
14
2020 HZ6
2020-May-05
10.2 LD
21.7
34
2020 HL
2020-May-05
16.7 LD
9.1
35
2020 HF7
2020-May-05
9.3 LD
17.3
22
2020 HL6
2020-May-06
2.1 LD
5.4
9
438908
2020-May-07
8.9 LD
12.8
282
2020 JE
2020-May-07
11.8 LD
12.1
21
2020 JF
2020-May-07
5 LD
18.5
22
2020 HM4
2020-May-07
10.7 LD
18.1
42
2016 HP6
2020-May-07
4.3 LD
5.7
31
2020 HB6
2020-May-08
9.8 LD
9.1
52
2020 HC6
2020-May-09
2.9 LD
6
35
388945
2020-May-10
7.3 LD
8.8
295
2000 KA
2020-May-12
8.9 LD
13.5
162
2020 HS6
2020-May-14
16.1 LD
23.6
131
478784
2020-May-15
8.5 LD
3.6
28
2020 HA9
2020-May-15
18.2 LD
15.8
31
2020 HG9
2020-May-18
15.6 LD
10.7
73
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

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 the Forth, NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 16 fireballs. 
(8 eta Aquarids, 8 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). Credit: SpaceWeather.com

Fireball & Meteor News

This is the reentry, last night at 4:45 UT (6:45 local Spanish time), of the Russian Soyuz rocket Upper Stage that launched the Progress MS-14 cargoship to the International Space Station on April 25. Time and general location match the CSpOC TIP message for this reentry. https://t.co/cbjO26f5u6

— Dr Marco Langbroek ? #Vaccinate (@Marco_Langbroek) April 28, 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, 2020-05-04. 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, 2020-05-04. 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 2020-05-04. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

 

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

It's been 7 years since the name “Bennu” was bestowed upon my favorite rocky asteroid!

The asteroid is named after the ancient Egyptian bird deity, Bennu, who is linked with the Sun, creation and rebirth.

Print your very own asteroid Bennu to celebrate?https://t.co/8HaFRj9ERE pic.twitter.com/HbAe8kdSlf

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) May 1, 2020

International Space Station

.@NorthropGrumman's #Cygnus craft leaves the station next week and the Exp 63 crew practiced a medical emergency today. Read more… https://t.co/JUtHXNfUZJ pic.twitter.com/8v6TUhRt8h

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) May 4, 2020

Hubble Space Telescope

1/6 Here it is! The anniversary image of #Hubble30 features the giant nebula NGC 2014 and its neighbour NGC 2020, part of a vast star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Credit: @NASA / @ESA and @stsci https://t.co/iO1vnUPyls pic.twitter.com/pxsP5jdX4c

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) April 24, 2020

Mars Insight

My team at @NASAJPL & @DLR_en continues to take encouragement from our latest efforts to #SaveTheMole. Another push with my robotic arm has helped the mole keep pushing onward. Taking it one step at a time, and reaching out to help where I can. pic.twitter.com/Xkriknbdc0

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) April 14, 2020

Learn about #Mars and my mission from home, with lessons, activities, and even some new quizzes and games created by our partners on my seismometer team @InSight_IPGP. It’s all available for students, teachers and learners of any age, over at: https://t.co/NWxEqGoyRK pic.twitter.com/9hQReBDyjl

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) March 30, 2020

Juno Mission at Jupiter

A rose by any other name…?
This JunoCam image processed by Mary J. Murphy offers an especially colorful take on Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
Details: https://t.co/ewDmpKf9MD pic.twitter.com/760BMyR13v

— NASA's Juno Mission (@NASAJuno) May 1, 2020

BepiColombo Mission to Mercury

Thanks to all astronomers – amateur & professional alike – from around the world who observed the #BepiColombo Earth flyby on 10 April (and later too) and shared their great images! Our jury was very impressed with all entries ?

And the winners are…??https://t.co/LZTvRON1f8 pic.twitter.com/q5bBaOSY9Z

— BepiColombo (@BepiColombo) April 30, 2020

Climate

Launched not that long ago (2018), in an orbit not that far away… this GEDI (NASA’s Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation) uses powerful lasers to craft 3D maps of Earth's forests & topography from a perch aboard the @Space_Station. #MayThe4thBeWithYou https://t.co/4PeteCvXBQ pic.twitter.com/tMkHNMYFoQ

— NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) May 4, 2020

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

All Exoplanets 4152 
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2358 
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2349
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 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 45 
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2020-04-20 16:30:03) 1799  
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 1799  
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 1106  (-5)

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.


How to fix light pollution in a few pictures:

Image from: https://citiesatnight.org/index.php/light-pollution/

Binary Black Hole Merger!

We are excited to announce the discovery of #GW190412, the first binary #BlackHoles merger detected by @LIGO and @ego_virgo with clear evidence for unequal mass components. Read all about it at https://t.co/RKdgwoqE7k #GravitationalWaves pic.twitter.com/jt5ZvFfeCl

— LIGO (@LIGO) April 20, 2020

Supernova!

Another SuperNova (2020ftl) discovered on April 2, 2020 in NGC 4277. Discovered by Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey and Mirco Villi (USA, Italy). This one is a Type Ia. Current magnitude estimates are 14.3
Image taken April 26, 2020 pic.twitter.com/xMCyoZFpE1

— Doug Bock (@Mars_1956) April 27, 2020

The Local Stellar Neighborhood

Continuing with my visual tour of nearby stars and their systems, we travel to the Procyon star system, 11.46 light years distant.

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

Procyon

Procyon (α CMi, α Canis Minoris, Alpha Canis Minoris) is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Minor. To the naked eye, it appears to be a single star, the eighth brightest in the night sky with a visual apparent magnitude of 0.34.

It is actually a binary star system of a white main-sequence star of spectral type F5 IV–V, named Procyon A, and a faint white dwarf companion of spectral type DQZ, named Procyon B.

The reason for its brightness is not its intrinsic luminosity but its relative closeness to the Sun. Its distance was worked out by the European Space Agency Hipparcos astrometry satellite. It is just 11.46 light-years (3.51 parsecs) away, and is one of our nearest stellar neighbours. Its closest neighbour is Luyten’s Star, about 1.12 ly (0.34 pc) away.

Procyon forms one of the three vertices of the Winter Triangle, along with Sirius and Betelgeuse. Its colour index is 0.42, and its hue has been described as having a faint yellow tinge to it. – Wikipedia

Procyon System Architecture

Procyon Star System Architecture Procyon system architecture. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Procyon System Orbital Diagram

Procyon Star System Orbits Top-down view of the orbits of the stars in the Procyon star system – the system barycenter is highlighted. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Artist’s view of the Procyon Star System

Procyon Star System Artist’s concept of the Procyon 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.
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.
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.

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

146  |  In the Sky This Week – April 30, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  30 Apr 2020

148  |  In the Sky This Week – May 12, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  12 May 2020

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

By Robert Trembley  |  19 May 2020

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