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In the Sky This Week – November 13, 2018

By Robert Trembley  |  13 Nov 2018

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This entry is part 121 of 248 in the series In the Sky This Week

Conjunction of Venus and Spica

There will be twin “morning stars” in the eastern predawn sky for the next several days; Venus will appear very near the star Spica for the next week.

Conjunction of Venus and Spica Conjunction of Venus and the star Spica in the predawn sky, Nov. 13, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
Conjunction of Venus and Spica Conjunction of Venus and the star Spica in the predawn sky, Nov. 19, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

A waxing crescent Moon joins Saturn in the southwestern sky on Nov. 13th.

Moon and Saturn The Moon and Saturn in the southwestern sky shortly after sunset on Nov. 13, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

In the south, Mars joins that same waxing crescent Moon on Nov. 13th.

Mars and the Moon Mars and the Moon in the southern sky shortly after sunset on Nov. 13, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon appears very close to Mars high in the southern sky on Nov. 15th after sunset. Apparently this is the week for conjunctions…

Conjunction of Mars and the Moon Conjunction of Mars and the Moon in the southern sky shortly after sunset on Nov. 15, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Observing Target: NGC 7000 – The North America Nebula

The North America Nebula is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus; the shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America. The nebula covers an area more than four times the size of the Moon, but has low surface brightness, and cannot typically be seen with the unaided eye.

NGC 7000 NGC 7000 (The North America Nebula). Credit: Zachary Grillo & the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator
The North America Nebula Location of NGC 7000 – The North America Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.
NGC 7000 This image layout reveals how the appearance of the North America nebula can change dramatically using different combinations of visible and infrared observations from the Digitized Sky Survey and NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, respectively.
In this progression, the visible-light view (upper left) shows a striking similarity to the North American continent. The image highlights the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico regions. The red region to the right is known as the “Pelican nebula,” after its resemblance in visible light to a pelican.
The view at upper right includes both visible and infrared observations. The hot gas comprising the North America continent and the Pelican now takes on a vivid blue hue, while red colors display the infrared light. Inky black dust features start to glow in the infrared view.
In the bottom two images, only infrared light from Spitzer is shown — data from the infrared array camera is on the left, and data from both the infrared array camera and the multiband imaging photometer, which sees longer wavelengths, is on the right. These pictures look different in part because infrared light can penetrate dust whereas visible light cannot. Dusty, dark clouds in the visible image become transparent in Spitzer’s view. In addition, Spitzer’s infrared detectors pick up the glow of dusty cocoons enveloping baby stars.
Color is used to display different parts of the spectrum in each of these images. In the visible-light view (upper right) from the Digitized Sky Survey, colors are shown in their natural blue and red hues. The combined visible/infrared image (upper left) shows visible light as blue, and infrared light as green and red. The infrared array camera (lower left) represents light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns as blue, 4.5 microns as green, 5.8 microns as orange, and 8.0 microns as red. In the final image, incorporating the multiband imaging photometer data, light with a wavelength of 3.6 microns has been color coded blue; 4.5-m

Comets

Comet Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto (C/2018 V1) was discovered last week by three amateur astronomers!

Comet Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto Comet Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto. Taken by Michael Jäger on November 11, 2018 @ Turmkogel Austria

This week, look for the comet near the conjunction of Venus and Spica.

Comet C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto Position of Comet C/2018 V1 Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto, Nov. 13, 2018 Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The Moon

This week is excellent for lunar observations! The Moon is a waxing crescent in the southweatern sky at dusk, and is heading towards first quarter on Nov. 16th; after the 16th, the Moon will be a waxing gibbous visible in the southern skies after sunset.

Moon The Moon from Nov. 13-19, 2018. Visualizations by Ernie Wright.

The Sun

The sun has a wee spot… so small, it can only be seen in hi-rez images. In the animation below, the location of the spot is visible as the bright region of coronal loop activity near the equator. The months-old northern coronal hole remains open, and a small southern hole has reopened. SpaceWeather.com says “Earth is exiting a stream of solar wind that ignited an explosion of almost-mythical auroras over the Arctic Circle on Nov. 10th and 11th. Another stream of solar wind is coming. Estimated time of arrival: Nov. 18th. Stay tuned.”

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/11/12/20181112_1024_0193.mp4

I really wish a couple of these nice huge prominences would have been visible last weekend, when I had my solar telescope set up a Windycon – a science fiction convention near Chicago…

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2018/11/12/20181112_1024_0304.mp4

The solar wind speed is 471.2 km/sec, with a density of 4.3 protons/cm3.

SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun’s limb (the white circle).
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 VB7
2018-Nov-07
15.5 LD
7
37
2018 VP6
2018-Nov-07
7.9 LD
12.2
14
2010 VQ
2018-Nov-07
15.6 LD
3.8
10
2018 VS6
2018-Nov-08
1.5 LD
11.8
15
2018 VN7
2018-Nov-08
2.6 LD
13.1
30
2018 VA2
2018-Nov-09
1.9 LD
6.7
14
2018 VG6
2018-Nov-09
15.8 LD
5.5
18
2018 VV4
2018-Nov-09
6.3 LD
10.6
18
2018 VR3
2018-Nov-09
1.9 LD
8.2
15
2018 VS4
2018-Nov-09
14.7 LD
10.1
25
2018 VM6
2018-Nov-10
9.3 LD
16.6
96
2018 VD5
2018-Nov-10
4.5 LD
9.4
9
2018 VS1
2018-Nov-10
3.6 LD
10.6
17
2018 VR1
2018-Nov-10
13.2 LD
9.3
18
2018 VX1
2018-Nov-10
1 LD
6.1
11
2018 VY4
2018-Nov-11
5.5 LD
12.6
14
2018 VH5
2018-Nov-11
6 LD
6
13
2018 VA4
2018-Nov-11
3.1 LD
7.4
8
2018 VZ6
2018-Nov-12
9.5 LD
10.3
27
2018 VN6
2018-Nov-12
1.9 LD
14.2
8
2018 VC7
2018-Nov-13
0.9 LD
4.5
12
2018 VR6
2018-Nov-13
8 LD
9.5
12
2018 VF5
2018-Nov-13
9.7 LD
6.8
11
2018 UQ1
2018-Nov-13
9.4 LD
12.3
148
2018 VU7
2018-Nov-13
6.4 LD
9.4
13
2018 VO3
2018-Nov-14
4.1 LD
7.7
14
2018 VX5
2018-Nov-14
3.6 LD
8.3
27
2018 VK1
2018-Nov-14
10.2 LD
2.3
12
2018 VW4
2018-Nov-14
9.8 LD
12.5
45
2018 VD7
2018-Nov-14
9.1 LD
11
26
2007 UL12
2018-Nov-15
16.4 LD
25.8
235
2018 VV7
2018-Nov-15
12.2 LD
8.3
21
2018 VT4
2018-Nov-18
11.1 LD
4.4
18
2018 VQ6
2018-Nov-20
11.4 LD
7.9
22
2018 VP7
2018-Nov-20
7.7 LD
5.7
16
2009 WB105
2018-Nov-25
15.2 LD
18.9
71
2018 VT7
2018-Nov-25
8.2 LD
2.3
9
2008 WD14
2018-Nov-27
7.4 LD
9.3
93
2001 WO15
2018-Nov-28
13.6 LD
11.7
107
2018 VE4
2018-Nov-30
15.1 LD
4.8
30
2018 TG6
2018-Dec-02
3.9 LD
1.4
12
2013 VX4
2018-Dec-09
4.1 LD
6.6
65
2018 VX6
2018-Dec-10
16.6 LD
11.2
71
2015 XX169
2018-Dec-13
17 LD
5.8
12
2017 XQ60
2018-Dec-21
11.3 LD
15.6
47
163899
2018-Dec-22
7.4 LD
6.2
1232
418849
2018-Dec-23
16.6 LD
17.6
269
2014 AD16
2019-Jan-04
12.9 LD
9.4
12
2016 AZ8
2019-Jan-07
11.6 LD
9.1
224
2013 YM2
2019-Jan-09
7.3 LD
4.3
20

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: 122, this year: 1744, all time: 19142.
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 1936 (as of Nov. 13, 2018)
Minor Planets discovered: 789,069 (as of Oct. 30, 2018)

Fireballs

On Nov. 12, 2018, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 19 fireballs.

Fireball orbits In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits from Nov 12, 2018 intersect at a single point–Earth. Source: Spaceweather.com

The Solar System

This is the position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the solar system:

Inner Solar System Position of the planets in the inner solar system, Nov. 13, 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
InSight Approaching Mars InSight and MarCOs approaching Mars – Nov. 13 2018. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Spacecraft

Parker Solar Probe 

#ParkerSolarProbe has set a new record for spacecraft speed at 213,200 miles per hour, and it will go even faster throughout the mission. Going that fast — a consequence of getting close to the Sun — is actually a matter of slowing down at the right time: https://t.co/iot79IXSD9 pic.twitter.com/KWjEXnXz5b

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 12, 2018

OSIRIS-REx

The journey continues… I now have less than 60 million kilometers (37 million miles) to travel before I'm scheduled to arrive at Bennu on Dec. 3. #ToBennuAndBack

More on my progress: https://t.co/rACre4nDe4 pic.twitter.com/NUVgSYWiPg

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) November 12, 2018

Mars InSight

No matter how many times we may have done it before, landing on #Mars is hard! My mission is no different. Thousands of steps need to work perfectly together. More on landing: https://t.co/E46jVgdbKw pic.twitter.com/p08h8CBEij

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) November 1, 2018

Exoplanet

All Exoplanets 3837
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2344
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2327
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2426
Confirmed Planets with K2 Light Curves for Stellar Host 376
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 354
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 473
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 1

-Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive


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.


2018 is NASA’s 60th Anniversary!
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