Live Broadcasts Archives

January 5, 2015December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

SpaceX and NASA On Track For Spectacular Predawn Jan. 6 Launch of Critical Cargo Mission to ISS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship are set to liftoff on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from launch pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, Florida on Jan. 6, 2015. File photo. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

SpaceX is on track to rollout their Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon cargo freighter this evening, Monday, Jan, 5, 2015 to launch pad 40 on a mission bound for the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver critical supplies.

The Dragon CRS-5 mission is slated to blast off at 6:20 a.m. EST, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015, atop the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The predawn launch should put on a spectacular sky show for spectators along the Florida space coast.

There is only an instantaneous launch window available, meaning that the blastoff must proceed at that exact instant. Any delays due to technical issues or weather would force a scrub until at least Friday, Jan. 9.

SpaceX Falcon 9 ready for rollout to launch pad for Dragon CRS-5 mission. Credit: SpaceX

The launch has already been postponed several times, most recently from Dec. 19, 2014 when a static fire test of the first stage engines on Dec. 17 shut down prematurely.

A second static fire test of the SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully went the full duration of approximately 3 seconds and cleared the path for a liftoff attempt after the Christmas holidays.

The delay allowed the teams to recoup and recover and enjoy the festive holiday season.

“It was a good decision to postpone the launch until after the holidays,” said Hans Koenigsmann, VP of Mission Assurance, SpaceX, at a media briefing today at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Following the catastrophic failure of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo freighter on Oct. 28 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, officials have been prudently cautious to ensure that all measures were carefully rechecked to maximize the possibilities of a launch success.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket completes successful static fire test on Dec. 19 ahead od planned CRS-5 mission for NASA in early January 2015. Credit: SpaceX

CRS-5 marks the company’s fifth resupply mission to the ISS under a $1.6 Billion contract with NASA to deliver 20,000 kg (44,000 pounds) of cargo to the station during a dozen Dragon cargo spacecraft flights through 2016 under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract

The weather odds have improved to 70% GO from 60% GO reported Major Perry Sweat, 45th Weather Squadron rep, USAF, at the briefing today at the Kennedy Space Center.

A frontal boundary has settled in over Central Florida. This front and its associated cloudiness will be very slow to move south of the Space Coast. With the clouds only slowly eroding overhead, the primary weather concern remains thick clouds, according to Sweat.

The unmanned cargo freighter is loaded with more than 5108 pounds (2317 kg) of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations, crew supplies, spare parts, food, water, clothing and assorted research gear for the space station.

The Dragon research experiments will support over 256 science and research investigations for the six person space station crews on Expeditions 42 and 43.

Among the payloads is the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS), a remote-sensing laser instrument to measure clouds and the location and distribution of pollution, dust, smoke, and other particulates and aerosols in the atmosphere.

Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore on the International Space Station shared this beautiful image of #sunrise earlier today, 1/3/15. Credit: NASA/Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore

Assuming all goes well, Dragon will rendezvous at the ISS on Thursday, Jan. 8, for grappling and berthing by the ISS astronauts maneuvering the 57 foot-long (17 meter-long) Canadian built robotic arm.

The SpaceX CRS-5 launch is the first cargo launch to the ISS since the doomed Orbital Sciences Antares/Cygnus launch ended in catastrophe on Oct. 28.

With Antares launches on indefinite hold, the US supply train to the ISS is now wholly dependent on SpaceX.

Orbital Sciences has now contracted United Launch Alliance (ULA) to launch the firms Cygnus cargo freighter to the ISS by late 2015 on an Atlas V rocket.

A secondary objective of SpaceX is to attempt to recover the Falcon 9 first stage on an off shore barge.

NASA Television live launch coverage begins at 5 a.m. EST on Jan. 6.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to soar to ISS after completing successful static fire test on Dec. 19 ahead of planned CRS-5 mission for NASA in early January 2015. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com — SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to soar to ISS after completing successful static fire test on Dec. 19 ahead of replanned CRS-5 mission for NASA launching on Jan. 6, 2015. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

New countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center displays SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-5 mission and recent Orion ocean recovery at the Press Site viewing area on Dec. 18, 2014. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

December 22, 2014December 23, 2015 by David Dickinson

Comet Q2 Lovejoy Set to Ring in the New Year: Reader Images and More

Keeping warm? Yesterday marked the start of astronomical winter for the northern hemisphere, meaning long nights and (hopefully) clear, cold skies. But we’ve also got another reason to brave the cold this week, as Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy is set to put on a show for northern hemisphere observers.

Already, Comet Q2 Lovejoy has been providing southern hemisphere observers with a fine celestial showing. Discovered by Australian comet hunter extraordinaire Terry Lovejoy on August 17^th of this year as it glided across the constellation Puppis, Q2 Lovejoy has been brightening through early December ahead of expectations. We’ve already been getting some great images from Universe Today readers down south, and we can expect more in the weeks to come. This is Mr. Lovejoy’s fifth comet discovery, and many will remember how comet C/2011 W3 Lovejoy also survived a perilous perihelion passage just 140,000 kilometres from the surface of the Sun during the 2011 holiday season and went on to produce a brilliant display.

Q2 Lovejoy +negative image taken from New Mexico on December 20th. Credit and copyright: Joseph Brimacombe. — Q2 Lovejoy plus negative image taken from New Mexico on December 20th. Credit and copyright: Joseph Brimacombe.

And although Comet 2012 S1 ISON failed to produce in 2014, we had a string of great binocular comets this year, including C/2014 E2 Jacques, K1 PanSTARRS, and A1 Siding Spring.

Currently shining at magnitude +5.5, Q2 Lovejoy is a fine target for binoculars or a small telescope as it crosses the southern constellation of Columba into Lepus just after Christmas Day. Sirius currently makes a good guidepost, as the comet sits about 19 degrees southeast of the brightest star in the sky. And speaking of Sirius, don’t forget to try your hand at spotting its white dwarf companion in 2015!

A black and white view of Comet Lovejoy, taken on Dec. 21, 2014, highlighting the comet's dramatic tail. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach. — A black and white view of Comet Lovejoy, taken on Dec. 21, 2014, highlighting the comet’s dramatic tail. Credit and copyright: Damian Peach.

Q2 Lovejoy also has a high orbital inclination of 80.3 degrees relative to the ecliptic, which is good news, as it will be plunging rapidly northward as it makes its closest passage by Earth on January 7^th at 70.2 million kilometres or 0.47 A.U.s distant. Note that not only will the comet pass extremely close to the globular cluster M79 (photo op!) on the night of December 29^th, but will also pass within 10 degrees of the Pleiades in January before threading its way northward between the famous Double Cluster in Perseus and the Andromeda Galaxy.

Clouded out? You can catch Comet Q2 Lovejoy courtesy of Gianluca Masi and our good friends over at the Virtual Telescope Project live on January 6th and January 11th at 19:00 Universal Time/2:00 PM EST on both dates:

Note: the photo is of Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques from earlier this year. (Credit: the Virtual Telescope Project).

Expect Q2 Lovejoy to ride highest to the south around local midnight starting on January 1^st, and transit the local meridian at 8-9 PM local by mid-month. Keen eyed observers have already managed to spy Q2 Lovejoy unaided from a dark sky site, and we expect this to be the general case for most observers by New Year’s Day. As of this writing, Q2 Lovejoy displays a fine coma 10’ wide with a 7 degree long, fan-shaped tail.

Here’s our handy blow-by-blow for Comet Q2 Lovejoy in the coming weeks:

December

28- Crosses into the constellation Lepus.

29- Passes less than 10’ — a third of the diameter of the Full Moon — from the 7.7 magnitude globular cluster NGC 1904 (Messier 79).

Dec 23rd through February 1st. Credit: Starry Night Education software. — The path of Comet Q2 Lovejoy from December 23rd through February 1st. Credit: Starry Night Education software.

January

1- May break naked eye visibility at magnitude +6.

2- Passes into the constellation Eridanus and reaches opposition at 0.49 A.U.s from the Earth.

5- The Moon reaches Full, hampering observations.

7- May reach a peak brightness at +4^th magnitude.

7- Passes closest to Earth 0.47 AU, moving at an apparent speed of almost 3 degrees a day.

9- Crosses the celestial equator into the constellation Taurus.

17- Crosses the ecliptic plane and into the constellation Aries.

20- Moon reaches New phase, marking a favorable span for observation.

22- Passes within one degree of the 3.6 magnitude star 41 Arietis.

25- Crosses into the constellation Triangulum.

30- Reaches perihelion at 1.29 A.U.

30- Crosses into the constellation Andromeda.

The position of Q2 Lovejoy on New Year’s Day. Credit: NASA/JPL.

February

3- The Moon reaches Full phase, hampering observations.

4- Passes less than one degree from the 2.1 magnitude star Gamma Andromedae (Almach).

18- The Moon reaches New, marking a favorable span of time for observations.

20- Passes less than a degree from the +4th magnitude star Phi Persei and into the constellation Perseus.

March

1- May drop below naked eye visibility.

2- Crosses into the constellation Cassiopeia.

5- The Moon reaches Full phase, hampering observations.

11- Passes less than one degree from the +5 magnitude Owl Cluster.

16- Passes less than one degree from the 2.6 magnitude star Delta Cassiopeiae (Ruchbah).

20- The Moon reaches New, marking a favorable time for observation.

24- Crosses the galactic equator.

April

1- May drop below binocular visibility.

Light curve — The projected light curve of Q2 Lovejoy, with recent observations (black dots). Credit: Seiichi Yoshida’s *Weekly Information About Bright Comets.*

From there, Comet Q2 Lovejoy drops back below +10th magnitude and passes just a degree from the north celestial pole in late May as it heads back out of the inner solar system. Q2 Lovejoy was on a 13,500 year orbit inbound, and its passage through the inner solar system shortened its orbit by about 5,000 years. Just think, about 13 millennia ago, Mesolithic man was busy domesticating early farm animals. Did they, by chance, look up and catch sight of Comet Q2 Lovejoy? And who will be here to ponder its return passage eight millennia hence?

Comet hunting is fun and easy… we prefer to sweep the target area with our trusty Canon 15×45 image stabilized binoculars, though a common pair of 7x 50’s — often favored by hunters and bird watchers — will do just fine. The passage by +7.7 magnitude globular cluster M79 this week will provide a fine contrast in “fuzz balls…” Remember, in comets as in nebulae, the quoted magnitude is often dispersed over a broad surface area, making the objects fainter than a pinpoint star of the same brightness.

And Comet Q2 Lovejoy is the first of several binocular comets to look forward to in 2015. Right now, we’ve got our money on comets C/2014 Q1 PanSTARRS, 19P/Borrelly, C/2013 US10 Catalina, and C/2013 X1 PanSTARRS as possible contenders in 2015. And don’t miss +9th magnitude Comet 15P/Finlay, currently in outburst and playing tag with the planet Mars low in the dusk sky.

Watch this space (bad pun intended) this coming Friday for the low down on all things astronomical in 2015!

-Got pics of Comet Q2 Lovejoy? Send ’em in to Universe Today.

December 9, 2014December 23, 2015 by Ken Kremer

NASA’s First Orion Back on Land after Flawless Ocean Recovery

Orion crew module after splash down in the Pacific Ocean with the Crew Module Uprighting System bags deployed and the USS Anchorage in the background that concludes its first test flight on the EFT-1 mission on Dec. 5, 2014. Credit: U.S. Navy

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – Following a picture perfect launch on Dec. 5, 2014, flawless test flight, and safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, NASA’s first Orion spacecraft has been recovered from the ocean and brought back onshore in California.

Near the conclusion of its two orbit, 4.5 hour maiden test flight on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission, the capsule fired its thrusters and began the rapid fire 10 minute plummet back to Earth.

During the high speed re-entry through the atmosphere, Orion reached speeds approaching 20,000 mph (32,000 kph), or approximating 85% of the reentry velocity for astronauts returning from voyages to the Red Planet.

The capsule endured scorching temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit in a critical and successful test of the 16.5-foot-wide heat shield and thermal protection tiles.

The entire system of reentry hardware, commands, and parachutes performed flawlessly.

The Orion spacecraft is guided into the well deck of the USS Anchorage during recovery operations following splashdown. Credit: U.S. Navy

Finally, Orion descended on a trio of massive red and white main parachutes to achieve a statistical bulls-eye splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego, at 11:29 a.m. EST that was within one mile of the touchdown spot predicted by mission controllers after returning from an altitude of over 3600 miles above Earth.

The main parachutes slowed Orion to about 17 mph (27 kph).

The Orion EFT-1 spacecraft was recovered by a combined team from NASA, the U.S. Navy, and Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

Following a perfect launch on Dec. 5, 2014 and more than four hours in Earth's orbit, NASA's Orion spacecraft is seen from an unpiloted aircraft descending under three massive red and white main parachutes and then shortly after its bullseye splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego. Credit: NASA — Following a perfect launch on Dec. 5, 2014, and more than four hours in Earth’s orbit, NASA’s Orion spacecraft is seen from an unpiloted aircraft descending under three massive red and white main parachutes, and then shortly after its bullseye splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego. Credit: NASA

The only minor glitch was the failure of one of the three crew module uprighting bags to inflate. Nevertheless the capsule was in an upright position in the ocean waters.

Navy teams in Zodiac boats with divers approached the Orion after it had cooled down, hooked a sea anchor and tether lines onto the outside and maneuvered it into the flooded well deck of the USS Anchorage.

Once safely inside, Orion was placed inside its recovery cradle for transport back to a pier at US Naval Base San Diego.

An MH-60 helicopter flies over the Orion as recovery teams move in to retrieve the spacecraft. Credit: U.S. Navy

The capsule will be hauled back to its launch site at the Kennedy Space Center, likely by Christmas, Larry Price, Lockheed Martin Deputy Orion Program Manager told me.

At KSC it will be refurbished and launched again on a high altitude abort test in 2018 to test the launch abort system.

Watch for Ken’s ongoing Orion coverage from onsite at the Kennedy Space Center about the historic launch on Dec. 5.

Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.

Ken Kremer

NASA’s first Orion spacecraft blasts off at 7:05 a.m. atop United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy Booster at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 5, 2014. Launch pad remote camera view. Credit: Ken Kremer - kenkremer.com — NASA’s first Orion spacecraft blasts off at 7:05 a.m. atop United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy Booster at Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 5, 2014. Launch pad remote camera view. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com

December 1, 2014December 23, 2015 by David Dickinson

Watch Asteroids Whiz by the Earth-Moon System This Week as First Steps Toward Asteroid Exploration Leave the Launch Pad

It’s a dangerous universe out there, for a budding young space-faring species.

Killer comets, planet sterilizing gamma ray bursts, and death rocks from above are all potential hazards that an adolescent civilization has to watch out for.

This week offers two close shaves, as newly discovered Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) 2014 WC201 and 2014 WX202 pass by the Earth-Moon system.

The passage of 2014 WC201 is coming right up tonight, as the 27-metre space rock passes about 570,000 kilometres from the Earth. That’s 1.4 times farther than the distance from the Earth to the Moon.

Credit: JPL — The orbit of 2014 WC201. Credit: NASA/JPL.

And the good news is, the Virtual Telescope Project will be bringing the passage of 2014 WC201 live tonight starting at 23:00 Universal Time/6:00 PM EST.

Shining at an absolute magnitude of +26, 2014 WC201 will be visible as a +13 apparent magnitude “star” at closest approach at 4:51 UT (December 2^nd)/11:51 PM EST (December 1^st) moving through the constellation Ursa Major. This puts it within range of a large backyard telescope, though the 80% illuminated waxing gibbous Moon will definitely be a mitigating factor for observation.

The JPL Horizons ephemerides generator is an excellent place to start for crafting accurate coordinates for the asteroid for your location.

At an estimated 27 metres/81 feet in size, 2014 WC201 will no doubt draw “house-sized” or “building-sized” comparisons in the press. Larger than an F-15 jet fighter, asteroids such as WC201 cry out for some fresh new descriptive comparisons. Perhaps, as we near a “Star Wars year” in 2015, we could refer to 2014 WC201 as X-wing sized?

Another Apollo NEO also makes a close pass by the Earth this week, as 6-metre 2014 WX202 passes 400,000 kilometres (about the same average distance as the Earth to the Moon) from us at 19:56 UT/2:56 PM EST on December 7^th. Though closer than WC201, WX202 is much smaller and won’t be a good target for backyard scopes. Gianluca Masi over at the Virtual Telescope Project also notes that WX202 will also be a difficult target due to the nearly Full Moon later this week.

The last Full Moon of 2014 occurs on December 6th at 6:26 AM EST/11:26 Universal Time.

2014 WX202 has also generated some interest in the minor planet community due to its low velocity approach relative to the Earth. This, coupled with its Earth-like orbit, is suggestive of something that may have escaped the Earth-Moon system. Could WX202 be returning space junk or lunar ejecta? It’s happened before, as old Apollo hardware and boosters from China’s Chang’e missions have been initially identified as Near Earth Asteroids.

The Earth also occasionally hosts a temporary “quasi-moon,” as last occurred in 2006 with the capture of RH120. 2014 WX202 makes a series of more distant passes in the 2030s, and perhaps it will make the short list of near Earth asteroids for humans to explore in the coming decades.

And speaking of which, humanity is making two steps in this direction this week, with two high profile space launches.

First up is the launch of JAXA’s Hayabusa 2 from the Tanegashima Space Center on December 3rd at 4:22 UT/11:22 PM EST. The follow up to the Hayabusa asteroid sample return mission, Hayabusa 2 will rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU₃ in 2018 and return samples to Earth in late 2020. The vidcast for the launch of Hayabusa 2 goes live at 3:00 UT/10:00 PM EST on Tuesday, December 2^nd.

And the next mission paving the way towards first boot prints on an asteroid is the launch of a Delta 4 Heavy rocket with EFT-1 from Cape Canaveral this Thursday morning on December 4^th near sunrise at 7:05 AM EST/12:05 UT. EFT-1 is uncrewed, and will test key technologies including reentry on its two orbit flight. Expect to see crewed missions of Orion to begin around 2020, with a mission to an Earth crossing asteroid sometime in the decade after that.

NASA gotchu: An artist’s rendition of a future asteroid capture. Credit: NASA.

And there are some decent prospects to catch sight of EFT-1 on its first pass prior to its orbit raising burn over the Atlantic. Assuming EFT-1 lifts off at the beginning of its launch window, western Australia may see a good dusk pass 55 minutes after liftoff, and the southwestern U.S. may see a visible pass at dawn about 95 minutes after EFT-1 leaves the pad.

The footprint of EFT-1 on its first North American pass. Credit: Orbitron.

We’ll be tracking these prospects as the mission evolves on launch day via Twitter, and NASA TV will carry the launch live starting at 4:30 AM EST/9:30 UT.

The Orion capsule will come in hot on reentry at a blistering 32,000 kilometres per hour over four hours after liftoff in a reentry reminiscent of the early Apollo era.

Of course, if an asteroid the size of WC201 was on a collision course with the Earth it could spell a very bad day, at least in local terms. For comparison, the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor was estimated to be 18 metres in size, and the 1908 Tunguska impactor was estimated to be 60 metres across. And about 50,000 years ago, a 50 metre in diameter space rock came blazing in over the ponderosa pine trees near what would one day be the city of Flagstaff, Arizona to create the 1,200 metre diameter Barringer Meteor Crater you can visit today.

A fragment of the Barringer meteorite on display at the Lowell Observatory. Photo by author.

All the more reason to study hazardous space rocks and the technology needed to reach one in the event that we one day need to move one out of the way!

November 26, 2014December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Live Discussion: How Good is the Science of “Interstellar?”

Kip Thorne’s concept for a black hole in 'Interstellar.' Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

The highly anticipated film “Interstellar” is based on science and theory; from wormholes, to the push-pull of gravity on a planet, to the way a black hole might re-adjust your concept of time. But just how much of the movie is really true to what we know about the Universe? There has also been some discussion whether the physics used for the visual effects in the movie actually was good enough to produce some science. But how much of it is just creative license?

Today, (Wed. November 26) at 19:00 UTC (3 pm EDT, 12:00 pm PDT), the Kavli foundation hosts a live discussion with three astrophysicists who will answer viewers’ questions about black holes, relativity and gravity, to separate the movie’s science facts from its science fiction.

According to the Kavli twitter feed, the Hangout will even help you understand what in the world happened at the end of the movie!

Scientists Mandeep Gill, Eric Miller and Hardip Sanghera will answer your questions in the live Google Hangout.

Submit questions ahead of and during the webcast by emailing [email protected] or by using the hashtag #KavliSciBlog on Twitter or Google+.

You can watch today’s hangout here:

Also, you can enjoy the “Interstellar” trailer:

November 5, 2014December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Watch Universe Today’s Fraser Cain School the Cast of ‘Interstellar’ on Black Holes

Interstellar poster, courtesy Paramount.

Space fans have been waiting for the movie “Interstellar” which opens in theaters this Friday, November 7. Today, the cast and crew of Interstellar did a special Google+ Hangout on Air at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Host Kevin Frazier and the cast had their chance to throw a few space-related questions to the astronauts and scientists assembled for the Hangout. Our own publisher, Fraser Cain, was the unfortunate target for the question, “can you explain what a black hole is?” You can watch the entire Hangout above; Fraser schools them at about 35:33.

November 4, 2014December 23, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Join the Cast of Interstellar Movie for a Live Google+ Hangout

We’re just a few days away from the official release of Paramount’s new Interstellar movie, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain.

To celebrate the movie, the cast and crew of Interstellar will be doing a special Google+ Hangout on Air at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. They’ll broadcast for about an hour, talk about what it took to make the movie, and answer your questions… LIVE.

Wednesday, November 5th at 2:30 PM PST

And for Universe Today fans, I’m pleased to announce that I’m going to be involved in the broadcast. I’ll be participating in the Hangout, and passing along your questions to the creators.

So, if you want to participate live, and maybe even get your questions answered by the cast and crew of Interstellar, here’s what you have to do:

Click here and go to the Live Interstellar Hangout Event page.
Choose “Yes”, you’re going to watch. That will put the event right into your Google calendar, so you’ll get a reminder.
Post a question. If you click the video on the Event page, you’ll be able to post a question which we’ll see when the broadcast goes live on Wednesday.
Join the conversation using the hashtag #InterstellarHangout. You can post comments and questions on Google+ or Twitter.

See you on Wednesday!

October 23, 2014December 23, 2015 by Bob King

Asteroid 2014 SC324 Zips By Earth Friday Afternoon – Tips on How to See it

Here comes another asteroid! 2014 SC324 will miss Earth by 1.5 times the distance to the Moon early Friday afternoon October 24, 2014. Credit: Gianluca Masi / Software Bisque

What a roller coaster week it’s been. If partial eclipses and giant sunspots aren’t your thing, how about a close flyby of an Earth-approaching asteroid? 2014 SC324 was discovered on September 30 this year by the Mt. Lemmon Survey high in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, Arizona. Based on brightness, the tumbling rock’s size is estimated at around 197 feet (60-m), on the large side compared to the many small asteroids that whip harmlessly by Earth each year.

Near-Earth asteroid 2014 SC324 caught in the camera on October 23. The telescope tracked on the zippy space rock, causing the stars to trail. Credit: Gianluca Masi

Closest approach happens around 2 p.m. CDT (7 p.m. UT) Friday afternoon when our fast friend misses Earth by just 351,000 miles (565,000 km) or 1.5 times the distance to the Moon. This is a very safe distance, so we can finish up our lunches without a jot of concern. But the asteroid’s combination of size and proximity means amateur astronomers with a 10-inch or larger telescope will be able to track it across the sky beginning tonight (Oct. 23) and continuing through tomorrow night. 2014 SC324 should shine tolerably bright this evening at around magnitude +13.5.

Bright here is something of a euphemism, but when it comes to new Earth-approaching asteroids, this is within range of many amateur instruments. And because 2014 SC324 is “only” a half million miles away tonight, it’s not moving so fast that you can’t plot its arc on a single star chart, spot it and go for a ride.

Simulation based on recent data showing the known asteroids orbiting the Sun

By Friday evening, the new visitor will have faded a bit to magnitude +14. You can create a track for 2014 SC324 by inputting its orbital elements into a variety of astro software programs like MegaStar, the Sky, and Le Ciel. Elements are available via the Minor Planet Center and Horizons. Once saved, the program will make a track of the asteroid’s movement at selected time intervals. Print out the chart and you’re ready for the hunt!

Illustration of small asteroids passing near Earth. Credit: ESA / P. Carril

You can also go to Horizons, ask for a list of positions every 15 minutes for example and then hand plot those positions in right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.) on a star map. This is what I do. I find the the general chunk of sky the asteroid’s passing through, print the map and then mark positions in pencil and connect them all with a line. Now I’ve got a chart I can use at the telescope based on the most current orbit.

Tonight the errant mountain will rumble through Aries the Ram, which is conveniently located in the eastern sky below Andromeda and the Great Square of Pegasus at nightfall.

Finding a dim, fast-moving object is doubtless an exciting challenge, but if you lack the equipment or the weather doesn’t cooperate, you can see the show online courtesy of Italian astrophysicist Gianluca Masi. He’ll stream the close encounter live on his Virtual Telescope Project website beginning at 7 p.m. CDT (midnight UT) tomorrow night October 24-25.

Clear skies!

October 20, 2014December 23, 2015 by Bob King

How to Safely Enjoy the October 23 Partial Solar Eclipse

The partially eclipsed sun sets over Island Lake north of Duluth, Minn. on May 20, 2012. Credit: Jim Schaff

2014 – a year rich in eclipses. The Moon dutifully slid into Earth’s shadow in April and October gifting us with two total lunars. Now it’s the Sun’s turn. This Thursday October 23 skywatchers across much of the North America and Mexico will witness a partial solar eclipse. From the eastern U.S. the eclipse will reach maximum around the time of sunset, making for dramatic picture-taking opportunities. Further west, the entire eclipse will occur with the sun up in the afternoon sky. Either way, you can’t go wrong.

During a solar eclipse, the orbiting Moon passes between the Sun and Earth completely blocking the Sun from view as shown here. In Thursday's partial eclipse, the moon will pass a little north of a line connecting the three orbs, leaving a piece of the sun uncovered for a partial eclipse. Credit: Wikipedia — During a solar eclipse, the orbiting Moon passes between the Sun and Earth completely blocking the Sun from view as shown here. In Thursday’s eclipse, the moon will pass a little north of a line connecting the three orbs, leaving a portion of the sun uncovered. To view a partial solar eclipse, a safe solar filter is necessary. Credit: Wikipedia

Solar eclipses occur at New Moon when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth and blocks the Sun from view. During a total solar eclipse, the Sun, Earth and Moon are exactly aligned and the Moon completely hides the brilliant solar disk. Partial eclipses occur when the Moon passes slight north or south of the line connecting the three bodies, leaving a slice of the Sun uncovered. For that reason, a safe solar filter is required to protect your eyes at all times. We’ll delve into that in a minute, but first let’s look at the particulars of this eclipse.

Map showing times and percentage of the sun covered during Thursday's partial solar eclipse. Times are Pacific Daylight - add 1 hour for MDT, 2 hours for CDT and 3 hours for EDT. Credit: NASA, F. Espenak with additions by the author — Map showing times and percentage of the sun covered during Thursday’s partial solar eclipse. Times are Pacific Daylight – add 1 hour for MDT, 2 hours for CDT and 3 hours for EDT. Interpolate between the lines to find your approximate viewing time. The arc marked A shows where the eclipse begins at sunset; B = Maximum eclipse at sunset and C = Eclipse ends at sunset. Credit: NASA, F. Espenak,with additions by Bob King

Nowhere will this eclipse be total. At best, polar bears and musk oxen in Canada’s Nunavut Territory near Prince of Wales Island will see 81% of the sun covered at sunset at maximum eclipse. Most of the rest of us will witness about half the Sun covered with the northern U.S. getting around 65% and the southern states closer to 40%. In Minneapolis, Minn. for instance, the eclipse begins at 4:23 p.m. CDT, reaches a maximum of 62% at 5:35 p.m. and continues on till sunset at 6:14 p.m. For times, coverage and other local circumstances for your town, click over to U.S. cities and cities in Canada and Mexico.

Safe solar filters for looking at the sun come in several different varieties. Read down to learn more about each kind. Photo: Bob King — Safe solar filters come in several varieties ranging from plastic glasses to a #14 welder’s glass for visual observation and snug-fitting optical filters that fit over the end of a telescope. Credit: Bob King

There are several ways to observe a partial eclipse safely, but they all start with this credo: Never look directly at the Sun. Dangerous ultraviolet and infrared light focused on your retinas will damage your vision for life. Nothing’s worth that risk. Happily, filters and indirect viewing methods are available. Eclipse glasses fitted with mylar or polymer lenses are a great choice. I’ve used them all but my favorite’s still the classic #14 welder’s glass because it slips in the pocket easily and takes a beating. Make sure it’s a #14, not a #13 or lower.

You can mount binoculars on a tripod, cover one lens with a lenscap and project the sun's image safely onto a sheet of white cardboard. Credit: Bob King — You can mount binoculars on a tripod, cover one lens with a lenscap and project the sun’s image safely onto a sheet of white cardboard. Credit: Bob King

Telescopes should be outfitted with an optical mylar or aluminized glass solar filter that fits snugly over the top end of the tube. A welder’s glass gives a green solar image, mylar a blue one and black polymer a pale orange. Filters work by only allowing a fraction of the Sun’s light to reach the eye. At the end of this article I’ve listed several sites that sell a variety of safe solar filters for naked eye and telescopic use.

Easy guide to building a pinhole projector for solar eclipse viewing

Indirect methods for safe viewing include projecting the Sun’s image through a small telescope or pair of binoculars onto a sheet of white paper or cardboard. You can also build a pinhole projector shown in the video above. A box and piece of aluminum foil are all you need.

Tiny gaps along the length of this palm frond created a series of solar crescents during the July 1991 eclipse. Credit: Bob King

If for some reason you aren’t able to get a solar filter, all is not lost. The tiny spaces between leaves on a tree act like pinhole projectors and will cast hundreds of images of the Sun on the ground below during the eclipse. To see the effect even better, bring along a white sheet or blanket and spread it out beneath the tree. You can even cross your hands over one another at a right angle to create a pattern of small “holes” that will reveal the changing shape of the Sun as the eclipse proceeds.

The white crescents show how much of the Sun will be visible from a variety of locations at maximum eclipse. The farther north you go, the deeper the eclipse. Credit: Jay Anderson

Now that you’re rockin’ to go, here are some other cool things to look for during the eclipse:

* Sunspots appear black when viewed through a filtered telescope, but they’re no match for the opaque-black Moon silhouetted against the Sun. Compare their unequal degrees of darkness. With a little luck, the giant sunspot region 2192 will provide a striking contrast with the moon plus add interest to the eclipse. This region only recently rotated onto the Sun’s front side and will be squarely in view on Thursday.

* The moon may look smooth and round to the eye, but its circumference is bumpy with crater rims and mountain peaks. Watch for these tiny teeth to bite into the solar disk as the eclipse progresses.

* From locations where half or more the Sun’s disk is covered, look around to see if you can tell the light has changed. Does it seem somehow “grayer” than normal? Is the blueness of the sky affected?

As I learned from comet discoverer and author David Levy many years ago, every eclipse involves the alignment of four bodies: Sun, Earth, Moon and you. We wish you good weather and a wonderful eclipse, but if clouds show up, you can still watch it via live stream on SLOOH.

Not only will the sun be eclipsed this afternoon but the planet Venus shines just 1.1 degrees to its north. Venus is very close to superior conjunction which occurs early Saturday. In the photo, the planet is in the background well behind the Sun. Don’t count on seeing Venus – too much glare! This photo was taken from space by NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory this afternoon using a coronagraph to block the Sun from view. Credit: NASA/ESA — UPDATE: Not only will the sun be eclipsed Thursday afternoon but the planet Venus will shine just 1.1 degrees to its north. Venus is just two days from superior conjunction. In the photo, the planet is in the background well behind the Sun. Don’t count on seeing it – too close and too much dangerous glare! This photo was taken from space by NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory early Thursday Oct. 23 using a coronagraph to shade the Sun. Credit: NASA/ESA

Solar filter suppliers – for a #14 welder’s glass, check your local phone book for a welding supply shop:

* Thousand Oaks Optical — Large variety of solar filters for telescopes and cameras. Sheets of black polymer available if you want to make your own.
* Rainbow Symphony — Eclipse glasses and solar viewers as well as filters for binoculars and telescopes. The basic glasses cost less than a buck apiece, but you’ll need to buy a minimum of 25 pairs.
* Opt Corp — Offers high-quality Baader mylar optical filter material to make your own.
* Orion Telescopes — Glass and mylar filters for telescopes and binoculars.
* Amazon.com – Filters for naked eye use

October 19, 2014December 23, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Watch Live as Comet Siding Spring Flys By Mars

Not only will the Mars orbiters gather information about the comet and its dust before, during and after the encounter, a fleet of additional telescopes will make the most of the rare opportunity. Credit: NASA.

Comet Siding Spring will pass close to Mars today, Sunday, October 19, at 18:32 UTC. The comet will come within 139,500 km (87,000 miles) of the Red Planet, which is sixteen times closer to Mars than any known comet has ever come to Earth. About 100 minutes after the closest approach, the densest part of the comet’s tail will pass Mars’ location. You can watch live below courtesy of Slooh, ESA and the Virtual Telescope, below:

Slooh will feature two shows. The first show, billed “Close Call – Comet Siding Spring Zips by Mars,” will start at 11:15 AM PDT / 2:15 PM EDT / 18:15 UTC – International times here where Slooh will track Comet Siding Spring on close-approach live from South Africa and later from the Canary Islands. The second show, billed “Comet Siding Spring – the Outcome” will start at 5:30 PM PDT / 8:30 PM EDT / 00:30 UTC (10/20) – International times here – where Slooh will continue to track the comet live from Slooh’s southern observatory located at the Catholic University (PUC) – both shows will feature expert commentary by esteemed astrobiologist David Grinspoon and Slooh host Geoff Fox. The latter show will feature a special discussion with Slooh astronomer Bob Berman, who will be on location in Chile. Viewers can ask questions during each show by using hashtag #SloohComet.

Here’s ESA’s livestream:

Watch live streaming video from eurospaceagency at livestream.com

Also, Gianluca Masi’s Virtual Telescope: streaming begins Sunday, Oct. 19 at 11:45 a.m. CDT (16:45 UT)