The Astronomy at the Beach event has come and gone, and although we did not have the amount of attendees we’ve had at in-person events, we did have some sessions with a lot of viewers. The speakers were fantastic, and many of the sessions were recorded, so you can access the event website and watch replays! I spent the last several months helping the board of the Great Lakes Association of Astronomy Clubs (GLAAC) with their website for the event, and was monitoring several events simultaneously as they were happening during the event. Now that the event is over, I’m thinking about how GLAAC can help promote Michigan’s astronomy clubs, and their presenters who have expressed an interest in doing remote presentations for in-school and at-home classrooms.
Venus appears low in the eastern predawn sky all week near the star Regulus in Leo – look for the inverted question mark asterism. At the same time over in the northeastern sky, the handle of the Big Dipper asterism is pointing down towards the horizon.
Venus appears in the eastern predawn sky near the star Regulus all week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Venus appears very near the star Regulus on the mornings of October 3rd and 4th.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southern sky after sunset; the Moon appears over in the southeastern sky.
Saturn and Jupiter appear in the southern sky after sunset the Moon appears in the southeastern sky on Sept. 29th. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.Mars appears in the southeastern sky after midnight this week; the Moon moves eastward each evening, getting closer to Mars.
Mars and the Moon appear high in the southeastern sky around midnight this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley.The Moon appears close to Mars from Oct. 2-4th – appearing very close to Mars on Oct. 3rd.
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 Oct. 1st – rising at sunset, visible high in the sky around midnight, and visible all night.
After Oct. 1st, the Moon will be a waning gibbous – rising after sunset, visible high in the sky after midnight, and visible to the southwest after sunrise.
The Moon from 2020-09-29 – 2020-10-04. 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!
Annotated close-up of the Moon on Oct. 4th. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.Moon News
The Sun has been spotless for 3 days; the northern coronal hole continues to be huge – with a thick tendril stretching southward – very near a region with a LOT of coronal loop activity!
The Sun seen in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) September 28, 2020:
Lots of prominence activity over the last several days!
The Sun seen in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) September 28, 2020:
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
The SOLARACTIVITY PICTURE OF THE DAY for September 29th, 2020 goes out to Otto Gruebl for this Calcium image.Comments by Otto: “Sun in CaK of 27.9.2020 from Taurikura, Northland with decaying AR 2773 and two small prominences Lunt 60 refractor w.Lunt CaK module B1200, ZWO ASI 174 MM,Ioptron AZ Pro Autostakkert,Photoshop CC 2018”
Solar Corona
Solar wind speed is 604.9 km/sec (↑↑), with a density of 8.2 protons/cm3 (↑) at 1241 UT.
Near real-time animation of the corona and solar wind from the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun’s limb (the white circle). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech-SOHOSun News
Potentially hazardous asteroids: 2037 (last updated June 2, 2020)
Total Minor Planets discovered: 995,348 (+142)
Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:
| Asteroid |
Date(UT)
|
Miss Distance
|
Velocity (km/s)
|
Diameter (m)
|
| 2020 PM7 |
2020-Sep-29
|
7.5 LD
|
8.3
|
118
|
| 2020 SV5 |
2020-Sep-30
|
3.4 LD
|
13.7
|
20
|
| 2020 SQ |
2020-Sep-30
|
5.7 LD
|
5.9
|
12
|
| 2020 SO2 |
2020-Sep-30
|
18.1 LD
|
14.8
|
39
|
| 2020 SM4 |
2020-Oct-01
|
8.2 LD
|
7.6
|
10
|
| 2020 SU5 |
2020-Oct-01
|
5.4 LD
|
9.4
|
16
|
| 2020 RJ3 |
2020-Oct-01
|
15.3 LD
|
15.5
|
71
|
| 2001 GP2 |
2020-Oct-01
|
6.1 LD
|
2.2
|
15
|
| 2020 RZ3 |
2020-Oct-02
|
15.6 LD
|
13.3
|
37
|
| 2020 SY3 |
2020-Oct-03
|
16.6 LD
|
7.8
|
24
|
| 2010 UC |
2020-Oct-04
|
14.6 LD
|
3.2
|
12
|
| 2020 RV2 |
2020-Oct-05
|
14.9 LD
|
4.2
|
26
|
| 2020 RR2 |
2020-Oct-06
|
16.3 LD
|
4.1
|
28
|
| 2020 RK2 |
2020-Oct-07
|
10 LD
|
6.7
|
49
|
| 2019 SB6 |
2020-Oct-07
|
11.9 LD
|
7.6
|
16
|
| 2020 SX3 |
2020-Oct-08
|
4.4 LD
|
10.9
|
50
|
| 2020 RO1 |
2020-Oct-09
|
17.4 LD
|
3.2
|
29
|
| 2018 GD2 |
2020-Oct-13
|
16.4 LD
|
6.7
|
5
|
| 2020 RM6 |
2020-Oct-15
|
13 LD
|
7.7
|
39
|
| 2017 UH5 |
2020-Oct-20
|
8.9 LD
|
5.9
|
18
|
| 2020 SG3 |
2020-Oct-20
|
19.5 LD
|
5.3
|
34
|
| 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
|
| 2020 ST1 |
2020-Nov-14
|
19.1 LD
|
8.1
|
163
|
| 2019 VL5 |
2020-Nov-15
|
8.5 LD
|
8.2
|
23
|
| 2017 WJ16 |
2020-Nov-23
|
5 LD
|
4.8
|
49
|
| 2018 RQ4 |
2020-Nov-26
|
8.1 LD
|
7.4
|
15
|
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:
On September 28, 2020, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 21 fireballs.
(21 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.comFireball News:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system:
Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system, 2020-09-29. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.Position of the planets in the middle solar system:
Position of the planets in the middle solar system, 2020-09-29. 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:
Position of the planets and some transneptunian objects in the outer solar system, 2020-09-29. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission
International Space Station
Climate
See a list of current NASA missions here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/?type=current
ex·o·plan·et /ˈeksōˌplanət/, noun: a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun.
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.
Hubble: Beautiful Universe
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
