Marshall Scientist to Observe Asteroid 2004 BL86

On Monday evening, January 26 from 10 p.m. to midnight CST Marshall scientists will observe the large Asteroid 2004 BL86 as it passes by Earth. The public is welcome to follow their observations via the Marshall Ustream feed

The asteroid will safely pass about three times the distance of Earth to the moon, or approximately 745,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Earth. Scientists have been tracking the path of the asteroid for 11 years and know its orbit well. Asteroid 2004 BL86 will not approach Earth this close again for at least 200 years.

This is a rare opportunity for observation. Hope you will join us as we observe the flyby.

Go here for more information about Asteroid 2004 BL86.

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Comet Lovejoy – January 2015

Image of Comet Lovejoy taken Saturday, January 10, by Dr. Bill Cooke. Image is a 3 minute exposure using the iTelescope T3 refractor. At the time of this image, the comet was some 45 million miles from Earth.

Discovered in August of 2014, Comet Lovejoy is currently sweeping north through the constellation Taurus, bright enough to offer good binocular views. Glowing softly with a greenish hue, Comet Lovejoy passed closest to planet Earth on January 7, while its perihelion (closest point to the Sun) will be on January 30. Classed as a long period comet, it should return again … in about 8,000 years.

LoveJoyView more images of Comets at our Flickr Gallery

Fireballs West of Nashville, Tennessee also seen in Alabama

Two fireballs were seen in the night sky on January 5th, both in the Nashville area. Here are details on the first one:

There was a fireball just to the west of Nashville at 5:46:55 CST tonight. Creating a streak of light brighter than the planet Venus, the object weighed about one pound and moved relatively slow for a meteor – only 32,400 miles per hour.

The trajectory is attached along with still images from two NASA cameras. The meteor traveled from west to east just north of the town of Dickson, TN.

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The second fireball occurred just to the west of Nashville about 7:31 PM CST.  This one was brighter and faster – 75,000 mph – and moved east to west; totally unrelated to the other one. It burned up 30 miles above the town of New Johnsonville, TN.

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It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — for spotting a Geminid meteor! The 2014 Geminid meteor shower is forecast to be a lively meteor shower with great views in the skies over Earth. The week of Dec. 8 is a good window for Geminid-watching, but the night of Dec. 13-14 is the anticipated peak. Best viewing will be in dark sky locations, away from city lights.

Geminids are pieces of debris from an object called 3200 Phaethon. Long thought to be an asteroid, Phaethon is now classified as an extinct comet. Basically it is the rocky skeleton of a comet that lost its ice after too many close encounters with the sun. Earth runs into a stream of debris from 3200 Phaethon every year in mid-December, causing meteors to fly from the constellation Gemini. When the Geminids first appeared in the early 19th century, shortly before the U.S. Civil War, the shower was weak and attracted little attention. There was no hint that it would ever become a major display.

On Dec. 13, Cooke and a team of astronomers from Marshall Space Flight Center will host an overnight NASA web chat from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. CDT, answering questions about the Geminid meteor shower. The Geminids are expected to peak just before dawn on Dec. 14, with a predicted peak rate of 100 to 120 meteors per hour.

To join the webchat on Dec. 13, log into the chat page at: https://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids_2013.html

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Fireball Just Southwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama Seen by All Sky Cameras

A bright fireball occurred at 8:18 pm CST, Nov. 20, just southwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was detected by NASA All Sky Cameras. The fireball traveled at 67,000 miles per hour and appears to have broken apart at an altitude of 27 miles. It was as bright as the full moon, about 14 inches in diameter and weighed about 120 pounds.

The fireball was not part of the Leonid meteor shower. At this time, we do not believe any meteorites were produced.

This morning there are over 60 eyewitness reports on the American Meteor Society website.

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Brilliant Leonids Meteor Shower Peak Occurs Morning of Nov. 18

This year’s Leonids meteor shower peaks on the morning of Nov. 18. If forecasters are correct, the shower should produce a mild but pretty sprinkling of meteors. The waning crescent moon will not substantially interfere with viewing the Leonid shower.

“We’re predicting 10 to 15 meteors per hour,” says Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.  “For best viewing, wait until after midnight on Nov. 18, with the peak of the shower occurring just before sunrise.”

Cooke also recommends going to a location away from city lights, dressing warmly, and lie flat on your back and look straight up. No special viewing equipment needed —  just your eyes.

Leonids are bits of debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Every 33 years the comet visits the inner solar system and leaves a stream of dusty debris in its wake. Many of these streams have drifted across the November portion of Earth’s orbit. Whenever our planet hits one, meteors appear to be flying out of the constellation Leo.

A live viewing opportunity is available via Ustream from a telescope at Marshall Space Flight Center. The Ustream feed will be live beginning Monday, November 17 at 6:30 p.m. CST here and will continue until sunrise on Tuesday Nov. 18.

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Fireball Lights Evening Sky Over Tri-State Area

There was a very bright fireball over middle Tennessee last night, October 20, at 7:57:09 PM CDT. Four NASA all sky cameras, located in Tullahoma, Huntsville, Chickamauga, and North Georgia College, first detected the fireball at an altitude of 54 miles, moving slightly north of west at 47,000 miles per hour. The meteor, estimated to weigh around 10 pounds, travelled some 64 miles through the atmosphere before fragmenting 24 miles above the town of Brentwood, south of Nashville. At its brightest, the fireball rivaled the first quarter Moon, gathering a fair amount of attention in the tri-state area.

The fireball was NOT associated with the Orionid meteor shower, which is currently active. It was moving too slow and coming from the wrong direction.

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Marshall Scientists to Take Questions via Twitter About the Partial Solar Eclipse

On Thursday, October 23, 2014, from 5:00pm – 6:00pm CDT, Marshall scientists Mitzi Adams, Sabrina Savage and Alphonse Sterling will be taking questions about the partial solar eclipse on the NASA Marshall Twitter account: http://twitter.com/NASA_Marshall, using the hashtag #askNASA.

At approximately 4:54 p.m. CDT, the eclipse will begin, with maximum eclipse occurring at 5:54 p.m. The partial eclipse will end at 6:49 p.m. CDT, which is after 6:02 pm sunset in Huntsville.

The magnitude of this eclipse, that is the fraction of the Sun’s diameter covered by the moon, will be 44%.  The obscuration, or the fraction of the Sun’s area occulted by the moon, will be 32%.The Sun will be in the constellation Virgo, with Saturn low on the horizon after sunset, and Mars will be farther to the east.

A live Ustream feed of the partial solar eclipse will be available here.

Local Viewing Opportunity

Von Braun Astronomical Society (VBAS) is partnering with the U.S. Space & Rocket Center® on Thursday, October 23, 2014, from 5 p.m. until sundown, for the observance of the partial solar eclipse. Join astronomers in the Davidson Center for Space Exploration parking lot to discuss the phenomenon and observe the solar eclipse through the telescopes. There will be visible-light viewing telescopes to see any sunspots, and special telescopes with hydrogen-light viewing in order to see the prominences at the edge of the sun.

The telescopes are equipped with filters for safe viewing of the sun.  Never look at the Sun directly!  Attempting to look directly at the sun without such special filters is harmful to the eyes.
This event is free and open to the public.

 

Bright Meteor Spotted Over Tennessee

A bright meteor occurred around 5:18 am CDT the morning of September 30th. It was first detected 66 miles above Tennessee City, TN by four NASA All Sky Fireball Network cameras (located in Huntsville, AL, Chickamauga, GA, Tullahoma, TN, and Rosman, NC) and moved slightly south of east at a speed of 147,600 mph. It traveled just over 1 mile through the atmosphere before burning up about 53 miles above the ground.

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