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In the Sky this Week – October 12, 2021

By Robert Trembley  |  12 Oct 2021  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

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Feature|The Sky|The Moon|The Sun|Asteroids|Fireballs|The Solar System|Spacecraft News|Exoplanets|Aurora|Light Pollution|The Universe|

Endeavour Space Academy: No Agenda Survives Contact with the Students

Once again, I had a list of topics… but this time only a couple of them got covered… student questions and the discussions they spawned took me on tangents I was not expecting, and required me to retrieve a lot of images.

One student asked “What is the Sun made of?” I quickly described the Sun, and showed a comparison of the Sun and the Earth – which got a “WOW!” Apparently, I really need to give my Sun lecture!

I showed this “Life Cycle of Stars” video:

I showed the “Cosmic Eye” video – an updated version of the 1977 “Powers of Ten” video…

This video got us into a discussion about galaxies: their structure, and where our Sun is in the Milky way. I showed the students a portion of “Hubble’s UItra Deep Field in 3D” video; I said “You see all those galaxies in that tiny little portion of the sky? Spread that out over the entire sky!” Eyes got wide.

I discussed Citizen Science projects, and had the students sign-up for a Zooniverse account, and encouraged them to look at the plethora of projects and choose one to participate in. I mentioned that I’ve heard of several students like them having been credited with discovering things like exoplanets![1][2]

Students that had smartphones were asked to install Celestron Skyportal – a free app that has that cool “window on the sky” feature. Skyportal is a custom version of the very popular SkySafari, and is free to use; if you have a Celestron telescope, you can control it with this app too!

This week, we discussed the Big and Little Dipper, asterisms, and star-hopping. We showed the students how to star-hop to Polaris and Arcturus from the Big Dipper. We asked them to see if they could resolve Mizar as a double star.

The big and small dippers
Star-hopping from the big dipper to the little dipper. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/01/high-school-students-discover-exoplanets-during-mentoring-program/

[2] https://www.space.com/high-schoolers-alien-planet-discovery-tess

The Sky - In the Sky

Broken record time: Jupiter and Saturn are excellent viewing targets in the southeastern sky after sunset; the Moon appears near the two planets from Oct. 13-15th.

Southern sky after sunset

Southern sky after sunset

Southern sky after sunset

Southern sky after sunset

Broken record time – the flip side: Venus continues to appear low above the southwestern horizon after sunset, moving slightly southward towards the star Antares each evening. Venus will remain close to the star Antares until Oct. 18th – it will be closest to Antares on the 15th and 16th. Venus oddly maintains its height above the horizon, while Antares gets lower with each evening.

Southwestern horizon after sunset
Venus appears low above the southwestern horizon with the star Antares after sunset. Credit: Bob Trembley / Stellarium.
The Moon - In the Sky
  • The First Quarter Moon occurs on Oct. 12th – visible high in the southern sky in early evening.
  • After Oct. 12th the Moon will be a Waxing Gibbous – visible to the southeast in early evening, and up for most of the night.
  • The Full Moon occurs on Oct. 20th – rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night.
Moon
The Moon from Oct. 12 – 18, 2021. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

If you click on the Moon image above, or click this link, you will go to NASA’s Moon Phase and Libration, 2021 page – it will show you what the Moon looks like right now. If you click the image on that page, you will download a high-rez TIFF image annotated with the names of prominent features – helpful for logging your lunar observations!

Moon News – International Observe the Moon Night is Oct. 16th!

On this year’s International #ObserveTheMoon Night, you’ll see a waxing gibbous phase. But each day offers a new, beautiful shape in our sky. Follow the Moon this month by keeping your own observation journal. https://t.co/id0nGpha5c pic.twitter.com/N3LT7EZCwk

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) October 11, 2021

The Sun - In the Sky

The Sun has 3 spots – one large and two smaller; one is rotating out of view. SpaceWeather.com says: “The magnetic field of sunspot AR2882 is decaying, reducing the chance of another strong flare”

The Sun on September 21, 2021. Credit: SDO/HMI

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms on October 11th.

Intense coronal loop activity on top of AR2882 – something very active is rotating into view in the northern hemisphere. The north pole coronal hole is open and large, the south pole coronal hole is still pretty much closed up. Three large coronal holes pepper the Sun’s face.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/10/11/20211011_1024_0193.mp4

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms on October 11th.

LOTS of prominence activity again – that thing rotating into view seems very active. AR2882  is flashing with flares.

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2021/10/11/20211011_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.

Amateur Solar Astrophotography

AR 12882 (12/10/2021) Credit: Salvo Lauricella

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 454.8 km/sec ▲ with a density of 17.9 protons/cm3 ▲ at 1316 UT.

Sun
SOHO LASCO C2 Latest Image

Click here to see a near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Sun News:

Liftoff! 🚀 The CLASP2.1 mission was successfully launched at 11:40am MT from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

CLASP2.1 was designed to measure the magnetic field in a critical slice of the Sun’s atmosphere, and preliminary indications show good data was achieved. https://t.co/uXQGAfbM0c

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) October 8, 2021

Asteroids - In the Sky
  • Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 133, this year: 2286 (+123), all time: 27,117 (+248)
  • Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs): 2218 (+5 updated 2021-10-12)
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (NASA): 1,113,527 (updated 2021-08-17) – not been updated for many weeks.
  • Total Minor Planets discovered (MPC): 1,130,259 (-162, updated 2021-10-12)

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid Date(UT) Miss Distance Velocity (km/s) Diameter (m)
2021 SF1 2021-Oct-12 6.2 LD 3.4 13
2021 TN1 2021-Oct-12 7.5 LD 3.6 19
2021 TN9 2021-Oct-12 10.4 LD 8.6 15
2021 TP8 2021-Oct-14 4.4 LD 12.2 10
2021 TS3 2021-Oct-14 10.9 LD 4.2 13
2021 TC1 2021-Oct-14 14.6 LD 6.6 31
2021 SM1 2021-Oct-14 6.9 LD 7.2 27
2021 TT4 2021-Oct-14 5.1 LD 3.1 9
2021 TN6 2021-Oct-14 10 LD 19.8 33
2021 SM3 2021-Oct-15 13 LD 15.8 96
2021 TU9 2021-Oct-15 15 LD 8.8 25
2021 TK10 2021-Oct-15 5.9 LD 9.8 12
2020 TH6 2021-Oct-19 7.3 LD 5.9 6
2021 TX2 2021-Oct-19 9 LD 10.7 33
1996 VB3 2021-Oct-20 8.8 LD 15.3 135
2021 TV3 2021-Oct-21 13.3 LD 12.8 47
2021 TE4 2021-Oct-21 8.3 LD 6 15
2021 SG2 2021-Oct-21 15.9 LD 5.9 25
2021 RE10 2021-Oct-21 15.5 LD 5.1 56
2021 TE1 2021-Oct-23 9.5 LD 12.5 47
2017 SJ20 2021-Oct-25 18.7 LD 15.7 120
2019 UW6 2021-Oct-26 8 LD 11.1 17
2009 WY7 2021-Nov-02 19.2 LD 14.7 54
2017 TS3 2021-Nov-02 13.9 LD 9.9 131
2005 VL1 2021-Nov-04 17 LD 5.2 18
2020 KA 2021-Nov-06 14.9 LD 4.8 11
2021 SP3 2021-Nov-08 15.6 LD 9.3 70
2019 XS 2021-Nov-09 1.5 LD 10.7 65
2017 WG14 2021-Nov-10 18.6 LD 11.6 45
2007 VD138 2021-Nov-12 16 LD 7.7 44
2004 UE 2021-Nov-13 11.1 LD 13.2 224
2016 VR 2021-Nov-15 8 LD 8.7 20
2010 VK139 2021-Nov-15 6.4 LD 13.9 65
2019 VL5 2021-Nov-15 8.6 LD 8 23
2016 JG12 2021-Nov-20 14.4 LD 7.5 112
2021 KH2 2021-Nov-21 19.3 LD 6.5 31
3361 2021-Nov-21 15.1 LD 8.1 511
2014 WF201 2021-Nov-24 13.2 LD 5.5 27
2009 WB105 2021-Nov-25 15.1 LD 18.9 71
2019 BB5 2021-Nov-25 18.8 LD 8.3 16
1994 WR12 2021-Nov-29 16.1 LD 8.8 123
Notes: LD means “Lunar Distance.” 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. 1 LD also equals 0.00256 AU. MAG is the visual magnitude of the asteroid on the date of closest approach.

Asteroid News:

We have asteroid shapes!!!

This is VERY cool!

☄️ Using the @ESO's VLT, astronomers have imaged 42 of the largest objects in the Main #Asteroid Belt! 😍
It is the first time that such a large group of asteroids have been imaged so sharply ⏩ https://t.co/YXm6yHPmce pic.twitter.com/mlvztiGmFi

— Europlanet 🇪🇺 (@europlanetmedia) October 12, 2021

Discussion of the Hera Mission

Hear Heli Greus, @ESA_Tech Product Warranty and Safety Manager describing the efforts made to launch #HeraMission in 2024. #AsteroidDay #WSW2021 https://t.co/WVyYiPeDvE pic.twitter.com/h55lFZT2oR

— Asteroid Day ☄ (@AsteroidDay) October 10, 2021
Fireballs - In the Sky

On October 11, 2021, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 14 fireballs!
(14 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 News:

Hao Qin was taking a long-duration sky image when he captured by accident the brightest meteor he had ever seen. Clearly a fireball, the disintegrating space-rock created a trail so bright it turned night into day for about two seconds earlier this month https://t.co/Cl6xeEM6x7 pic.twitter.com/mfFjRmnsJR

— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973b) October 12, 2021

If you see a bright meteor or a fireball, please REPORT IT to the American Meteor Society and the International Meteor Organization!

The Solar System - In the Sky

Position of the planets & several spacecraft in the inner solar system on October 12th:

Inner Solar System
Top-down view of the inner solar system on Oct. 12, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the middle solar system:

Middle Solar System
Top-down view of the middle solar system on Oct. 12, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Position of the planets in the outer solar system:

Outer Solar System
Top-down view of the outer solar system on Oct. 12, 2021. Credit: Bob Trembley / NASA Eyes on the Solar System

Solar System News

NASA is coming out of a signal blackout period with Mars rovers and spacecraft as the Red Planet moves out from behind the sun

(Story by me for @space_explored)https://t.co/kxXrEssLF3

— Arin Waichulis (@arinwaichulis) October 12, 2021

Spacecraft News - In the Sky

The Lucy mission was ALL OVER Social Media!

LAUNCH ALERT: The @SLDelta45 Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral predicts a 90 percent chance of favorable weather for the #AtlasV launch of the #LucyMission scheduled for Sat. at 5:34amEDT (0934 UTC).

Full details: https://t.co/RPT8Xwp5Cp pic.twitter.com/S0GdX6vtnF

— ULA (@ulalaunch) October 12, 2021

Parker Solar Probe will Fly-by Venus on Oct. 15, 2021

Parker Solar Probe

International Space Station

The Exp 65 crew works robotics, combustion, and life science as the station orbits higher today. A Russian trio preps for return to Earth this weekend. https://t.co/XN5zgrUBPA

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) October 12, 2021

HiRISE - Beautiful Mars

HiRISE 4K: Layering within a Crater in Tyrrhena Terra

The science goal is simple: to look for impact-related deformation of the layers. Tyrrhena Terra is south of the Martian equator and immediately northeast of the massive Hellas impact basin.https://t.co/k4HSlRgGZz pic.twitter.com/KzXdnXoLKi

— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) October 12, 2021

Landsat Program

To celebrate #EarthObservationDay, try your hand at one of our State Puzzles using the Remote-Sensing Classroom! Other resources available include more #Landsat games, Earth Shot collections, and remote sensing lesson plans.

Visit the classroom today 🧩 https://t.co/wf89Mb39nE pic.twitter.com/2xlujevuNi

— USGS Landsat (@USGSLandsat) October 12, 2021

Climate change mission control

In addition to existing Earth science programs, NASA is exploring a new concept: A kind of climate change mission control to help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments develop their climate resilience strategies. 

Read more on my blog: https://t.co/yn2JDhq5oA pic.twitter.com/uSoUY0N8Qm

— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) October 6, 2021

Interactives app allows you to explore Earth science and climate change

Teachers and students, whether you're back in school virtually or in person, our interactives can help you explore Earth science and climate change. Check out our popular Climate Time Machine, our coloring pages, and more: https://t.co/dOJTenfoWJ #BackToSchool #BacktoSchool2021 pic.twitter.com/rvMVNpie7S

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) October 7, 2021

See a list of current NASA missions here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions?mission_status=current

Exoplanets - In the Sky

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

All Exoplanets 4528 (+3)
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2402
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2361
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 467
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 159 (+3)
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2021-10-08 13:00:03) 4548 (+37)
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 4548 (+37)
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 3055 (+12)

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.

Exoplanet News:

🎶Four thousand, five hundred, twenty-eight planets!🎶
Adding three new worlds this week? We're good with it. https://t.co/TyJv4k4D1W

— 🕸️NASA Hex-oplanets💀 (@NASAExoplanets) October 9, 2021

Aurora - In the Sky
Auroras. Taken by Wioleta Gorecka on December 10, 2021 @ Iceland, Hvalfjörður

SpaceWeather.com Realtime Aurora Gallery: https://spaceweathergallery.com/aurora_gallery.html

Light Pollution - In the Sky

Stark Parks in Ohio designated as an Urban Night Sky Place!

We are ending the week with some fantastic news. @StarkParks Fry Family Park in Ohio, USA has been designated an Urban Night Sky Place! The park is located in southern Stark County, approximately 8 miles from Canton, Ohio. 📷: Terry Mann

Learn more: https://t.co/jZknbMmmaK pic.twitter.com/NWL8BimSUV

— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) October 8, 2021

  • Visit an International Dark Sky Park: https://www.darksky.org/our-work/conservation/idsp/parks/
  • If you live in Michigan, visit the Michigan Dark Skies site: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/darkskies/
The Universe - In the Sky

Education and STEM

Moon Phase and Libration

LEGO and NASA #BuildToLaunch episode 5

Did you know @NASA hires more than 20 different types of engineers? Meet one of them in this week's @LEGO_Education #BuildToLaunch episode! Janelle Wellons shares what it's like to be an Instrument Operations Systems Engineer at @NASAJPL. https://t.co/XR8KvUHHyR

— NASA STEM (@NASASTEM) October 12, 2021

Our Solar System

The image above is an artist’s rendering shows the eight major planets of our solar system lined up as if they were transiting the Sun. The graphic is intended to show the accurate scale of the planets, relative to each other and the Sun. Credit: NASA.

Software 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.
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.

Feature|The Sky|The Moon|The Sun|Asteroids|Fireballs|The Solar System|Spacecraft News|Exoplanets|Aurora|Light Pollution|The Universe|

Stay safe, be well, and look up!

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