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OSIRIS REx
No OSIRIS REx is not a newly discovered or named velociraptor but is rather the acronym name for a mission to asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 that will involve returning samples from the asteroid. The...
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“You Hit Me”, by Jove!
Impact Site on JupiterIn a scene very reminiscent of the Comet SL-9 impacts on Jupiter during July 1994 an object slammed into Jupiter’s atmosphere yesterday. The impact may have been first noticed by...
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Asteroid 2012-DA14
Last year Spanish Astronomers at the La Sagra observatory discovered Asteroid 2012-DA14 as part of their sky survey program of searching for Small Solar System Bodies orbiting the Sun but near...
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Tag It, Bag It, Bring It Home
Capturing An asteroid Is this a rock-hound’s dream come true or what?! NASA has announced plans for a proposed mission to the asteroid belt that will involve capturing a small asteroid and...
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The Twins, Venus, and Vesta
Click on image to see it full size. This evening, 22 June, look toward the west for two stars, more or less side-by-side. These are Pollux and Castor, the ‘twin’ stars of the constellation Gemini....
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Send a Message to Bennu
Some time back I wrote about a NASA mission to an asteroid with a dinosaur-ish sounding name. The mission, OSIRIS-REx, or the more easily said Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification...
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Asteroids at Opposition
Vesta, aka 4 Vesta, the third largest of the asteroids within the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter reaches opposition Sunday 13 April. Two days later, 15 April, the closest Dwarf Planet...
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Venus Gets the Hebe (Jeebees)!
Click on graphic to see it full size. Yeah, I know that title is a bit of a stretch but what the heck! How often will a bright planet like Venus come close to an asteroid? Especially one named Hebe...
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Double or Triple Dating?
Click on graphic to see it full size. Tuesday evening after local time for sunset there will be an opportunity to see several interesting pairs of celestial objects divided among three planets, our...
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Moon – Jupiter – Asteroid- Star Cluster Conjunction
Saturday evening May 23rd the waxing crescent Moon will be close to Jupiter, two open star clusters (M-44, M-67), and an asteroid. As this graphic shows, within the field of view of 7×50 binoculars,...
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The Besta of Vesta
Yeah I know, the title is bad but it was the besta I could do at the moment. Asteroid Vesta, is the second largest asteroid in the main belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter. It is also the...
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Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Friday evening, April 8th at sunset or shortly thereafter look toward the western horizon for a very thin 1.5-day young waxing crescent Moon. There you will find the Moon between two rocky objects,...
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Minor Planet, Asteroid 4 Vesta at Opposition
Wednesday 9 May the minor planet, Asteroid 4 Vesta will be at its perihelion for this orbit. Perihelion is when a solar orbiting object is at its minimum distance, or closest to the Sun. Asteroid 4...
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