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In the Sky This Week – September 15, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  15 Sep 2020

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This entry is part 165 of 244 in the series In the Sky This Week

I’ve been working with the Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs (GLAAC) on their annual Astronomy at the Beach event – Sept. 25 & 26; we’re holding the event online this year for obvious reasons. We have a fantastic set of speakers for the event, and several astronomers will be live-broadcasting from their observatories and driveways across Michigan and from Arizona!

Our headliners are Br. Guy & Dan Davis – co-authors of Turn Left at Orion, David Levy – comet discoverer extraordinaire and author on the Sacred Space Astronomy site, and Dolores Hill of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission. Several astronomers from GLAAC-member clubs will be giving presentations and participating in panel discussions about astronomy and space science; I will be giving three presentations myself and monitoring the event’s “Ops Channel” over the weekend. Several of the persons giving presentations are volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors – like my wife and I. Many of the presenters have expressed a willingness to do presentations remotely for in-school and at-home schools!

Website and Schedule: https://www.glaac.org/astronomy-at-the-beach-2020/

The multi-month conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter appears in the southern sky after sunset near the constellation Sagittarius – the pair of planets set in the wee hours of the morning.

Conjunction Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southern sky at midnight this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

I was alerted during the last night’s meeting of the Warren Astronomical Society that there would be some shadow-transits on Jupiter during the Astronomy at the Beach event – as I was writing this post I got to wondering if there would be any this week, and BOY are there ever!

Mars appears in the eastern sky around midnight this week; I heard at last night’s meeting of the Warren Astronomical Society that you may be able to see the planet Uranus from dark sky site with your naked eye!

Eastern sky at midnight Mars appears high in the eastern sky at midnight this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

Venus appears in the eastern predawn sky all week, each morning a bit lower towards the horizon; the stars Procyon and Sirius form a temporary asterism with Venus across the east-southeastern sky. I’m told that many of the “UFO calls” the Michigan Science Center gets is because of Venus… well it IS bright!

Eastern predawn sky Venus appears in the eastern predawn sky this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

A waxing crescent Moon appears in the southwestern sky at dusk from Sept. 19-23rd – be sure to look for earthshine!

Southwestern sky at dusk A waxing crescent Moon appears in the southwestern sky at dusk from Sept. 19-23rd. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.

The smoke from the western wildfires was a topic of discussion during last night’s meeting of the Warren Astronomical Society.

Seattle before, yesterday, & today. (Same time of the day)#seattlesmoke #WAwildfires pic.twitter.com/iOSIb9MaiU

— Dr. Naresh Hanchate, PhD (@Naresh_hanchate) September 12, 2020

 

The Moon is a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise.

The new Moon occurs on Sept. 17th – no annoying moonlight to add to your obscured view because of clouds from the western state’s forest fires.

After Sept. 17th, the Moon will be a waxing crescent, visible to the southwest in the early evening.

Moon The Moon from 2020-09-15 – 2020-09-21-++. 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, 2020 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 TIF image annotated with the names of prominent features – helpful for logging your observations!

Moon Annotated close-up of the Moon on Sep. 21st. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.

Moon News

College students! Help @NASA launch to the Moon by joining #Artemis Student Challenges!

Interested in designing spacesuit user interfaces to assist astronauts with lunar exploration? Join the #NASASUITS info-session on 9/16 at 5pm ET! ??

Session ?: https://t.co/Nq79eBKt8q pic.twitter.com/l5myGf8jRF

— NASA STEM – Inspiring the #Artemis Generation (@NASASTEM) September 15, 2020

International Observe the Moon Night – Sept. 26th

A time to come together with fellow Moon enthusiasts and curious people worldwide. Everyone on Earth is invited to learn about lunar science and exploration, take part in celestial observations, and honor cultural and personal connections to the Moon. Note that we encourage you to interpret “observe” broadly.

  • NASA Night Sky Network
  • Moon.NASA.Gov

 

International Observe the Moon Night this year conveniently falls on the weekend of the Astronomy at the Beach event!

The Sun has not had a spot in 25 days; the northern coronal hole has gone from monstrous to yawning, the coronal hole at the south pole also remain s open and fairly large.

The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) September 14, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/09/14/20200914_1024_0193.mp4

Lots of prominence activity over the last several days; lots of filament activity too – keep your eye on the face of the Sun in the lower left of the animation below.

The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) September 14, 2020:

https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/assets/img/dailymov/2020/09/14/20200914_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.

Solar Activity on Facebook – Run by Volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Pamela Shivak

Sun SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for September 14th, 2020 goes to Horváth Attila Róbert Hozé for this awesome prominence image.
Congratulations Hoźe and thank you for sharing your work with our group. Details: “The pictures were taken on 12,09,2020 Lunt LS 50 Hydrogen Alpha Filter System integrated into Bresser Messier 127/1200 acromat, 2,5x Televue Powermate 3000mm focus.With ASI290 MM camera. Average of 10% of 3,000 pieces 10 ms frames.”

Solar Corona

Solar wind speed is 368.6 km/sec (↑), with a density of 3.9 protons/cm3 (↓) at 1321 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

Sun News

The Sun's activity has a major impact on astronauts & the spacecraft they travel in — so understanding the solar cycle is key as we explore further beyond Earth. https://t.co/PfNMSADs9V

Join us as scientists discuss solar cycle prediction on Sept. 15: https://t.co/v6bb2jABe2 pic.twitter.com/XvECPrh2mE

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) September 13, 2020

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) discovered this month: 116  (+99), this year: 1864  (+107), all time: 23,710  (+108)
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037  (last updated  June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets
discovered: 994,936  (+524)

 

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Asteroid
Date(UT)
Miss Distance
Velocity (km/s)
Diameter (m)
2020 RA4
2020-Sep-15
11.3 LD
9
15
2020 RJ2
2020-Sep-16
3.5 LD
3.9
5
2020 RW3
2020-Sep-16
6.7 LD
12
18
2020 RN1
2020-Sep-17
18.5 LD
9.8
31
2014 QJ33
2020-Sep-17
6.7 LD
8.7
65
2020 RQ3
2020-Sep-19
6.2 LD
25.4
31
2017 SL16
2020-Sep-20
8.9 LD
6.4
25
2020 RA2
2020-Sep-23
18.4 LD
5.4
23
2020 RO
2020-Sep-25
15.3 LD
11.8
78
2020 RF4
2020-Sep-26
11.7 LD
13.8
43
2020 PM7
2020-Sep-29
7.5 LD
8.3
122
2020 RJ3
2020-Oct-01
15.3 LD
15.5
68
2001 GP2
2020-Oct-01
6.1 LD
2.2
15
2020 RZ3
2020-Oct-02
15.7 LD
13.3
34
2010 UC
2020-Oct-04
14.6 LD
3.2
12
2020 RV2
2020-Oct-05
14.8 LD
4.2
26
2020 RR2
2020-Oct-06
16.3 LD
4.1
29
2020 RK2
2020-Oct-07
10.1 LD
6.8
47
2019 SB6
2020-Oct-07
11.9 LD
7.6
16
2020 RO1
2020-Oct-09
17.4 LD
3.2
32
2018 GD2
2020-Oct-13
16.4 LD
6.7
5
2017 UH5
2020-Oct-20
8.9 LD
5.9
18
2018 VG
2020-Oct-21
15.1 LD
6.7
12
2017 TK6
2020-Oct-24
17.3 LD
12.4
41
2008 GM2
2020-Oct-25
17.7 LD
3.6
8
2020 QD5
2020-Oct-26
10.1 LD
8.6
80
2020 OK5
2020-Oct-29
6.4 LD
1.3
27
2018 VP1
2020-Nov-02
1.1 LD
9.7
2
2020 HF4
2020-Nov-03
16.2 LD
2.9
11
2010 JL88
2020-Nov-05
10.5 LD
15.7
16
2019 XS
2020-Nov-07
15.4 LD
9.4
51
2018 VS4
2020-Nov-09
14.9 LD
10.1
25

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

Asteroid News:

Are you interested in Near-Earth Asteroid research at the @SAAO and @UCT_news?

I am excited to share my MSc research in a poster for #RASPoster2020. See a sneak peek below or the full poster at https://t.co/1NMKv2GxxE. pic.twitter.com/kjJ9tjmBAI

— Petro (@petro_jvr) September 14, 2020

On September 14, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 3 fireballs. 
(3 sporadics)

Orbits 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:

Meteor Fireball Electrifies the Sky over California https://t.co/UKgHILa4LH via @skymednews pic.twitter.com/4Sg4tF89cR

— Skywatch Media News (@skymednews) September 10, 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, 2020-09-15. 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, 2020-09-15 – the orbit of comet 67P is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets, some dwarf planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system – the orbit of transneptunian object 2007 OR10 is highlighted:

Outer Solar System Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2020-09-15 – the orbit of TNO 2007 OR10 is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Orbit of transneptunian object 2007 OR10 seen from a different angle.

Outer Solar System Alternate view of the orbit of TNO 2007 OR10, with the plane of the ecliptic tilted nearly edge-on. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

 

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Bennu: an asteroid that throws marble-sized rocks, has building-sized boulders, and didn't give us many options for a sample collection site.

So, if collecting a sample from Bennu is so challenging, why are we doing it? pic.twitter.com/SeI87yXpCA

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) September 14, 2020

International Space Station

The Exp 63 crew checked out hardware today supporting life science, combustion research and Earth observations. More… https://t.co/lCBWjQNc1J pic.twitter.com/hSEhRVAks7

— International Space Station (@Space_Station) September 14, 2020

NASA Perseverance Mars Rover

Meet Diana Trujillo, an engineer helping search for signs of ancient life on Mars with her work on @NASAPersevere.

In honor of #HispanicHeritageMonth, tune in Sept. 15, 2pm PT (5pm ET, 2100 UTC) for a bilingual live chat. Submit Qs in English or Spanish: https://t.co/thUWTHDQ14 pic.twitter.com/H1ZsycriKR

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) September 10, 2020

Climate

NASA’s ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) recently imaged active fires across California, showing multiple areas hotter than 375 degrees Fahrenheit (191 degrees Celsius, shown in red). https://t.co/GN6LfUV5aG

— NASA Climate (@NASAClimate) September 10, 2020

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

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

All Exoplanets 4276
Confirmed Planets with Kepler Light Curves for Stellar Host 2412
Confirmed Planets Discovered by Kepler 2392
Kepler Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 2418
Confirmed Planets with K2 Light Curves for Stellar Host 443
Confirmed Planets Discovered by K2 422
K2 Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 889
Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS 67
TESS Project Candidates Integrated into Archive (2020-09-12 13:00:02) 2174
Current date TESS Project Candidates at ExoFOP 2174
TESS Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed 1305

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.

Jackson Lake State Park in Colorado gets International Dark Sky Park Designation

“Located about a hour-and-a-half from Denver in western Morgan County, Jackson Lake is the 19th state park in the country to receive the designation but the only state park in Colorado.”

Story: [LINK]

Hubble: Beautiful Universe

#HubbleClassic Normal spiral galaxies appear flat when viewed from the side. But the disk of this unusual edge-on galaxy, called ESO 510-G13, is warped. The distortion is likely caused by the gravitational pull of another galaxy: https://t.co/n4Aq23VEdN pic.twitter.com/eXubxaHRnX

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) September 15, 2020

#HubbleFriday Colorful stars pack together in this Hubble image of globular cluster NGC 1805.

This tight grouping of thousands of stars is located near the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way: https://t.co/0DVn92ZWna pic.twitter.com/0Kgp8DOpWG

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) September 11, 2020

And in the BIG NEWS department!

Life on Venus? The discovery of phosphine, a byproduct of anaerobic biology, is the most significant development yet in building the case for life off Earth. About 10 years ago NASA discovered microbial life at 120,000ft in Earth’s upper atmosphere. It’s time to prioritize Venus. https://t.co/hm8TOEQ9es

— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) September 14, 2020

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.
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.
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.


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

164  |  In the Sky This Week – September 8, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  8 Sep 2020

166  |  In the Sky This Week – September 22, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  22 Sep 2020

167  |  In the Sky This Week – September 29, 2020

By Robert Trembley  |  29 Sep 2020

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