Sunday, January 17, 2016

Five Planet Alignment This Week, Supernovas Rule! and Incoming Space Junk

From Northern Hemisphere
A Planetary Party January 20th - February 20th All five visible planets will sit in a line from the horizon to the moon - for the first time since 2005. According to Dr. Tanya Hill, senior curator at the Melbourne Planetarium, there will be another chance to view the planets lined up in August, but then not again until October 2018. Venus and Jupiter will be easiest to see and Mars, while a little harder, will have a distinctive red glow to look out for. Saturn is also in the mix.

“The big challenge will be Mercury,” said Alan. Because Mercury is so close to the horizon, there is only a small time period when it has appeared before the sun comes up. Tall buildings and trees could also block your view of the final planet. 

From Southern Hemisphere
Viewing Tips 

• The alignment will be visible to the naked eye about an hour and a half before sunrise. 
• Hold your arm up in a straight line from the horizon to the moon and the planets should fall along that line. 
• Try to find a flat horizon and a dark sky. 
• Don’t give up! It may take more than one early morning to see the full alignment. 

Supernova 1987A in Large Magellanic Cloud
Supernovas Rule! An international team of astronomers may have discovered the biggest and brightest supernova ever. The explosion was 570 billion times brighter than the sun and 20 times brighter than all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy combined, according to a statement from The Ohio State University, which is leading the study. Scientists are straining to define its strength. 

A supernova is a rare and often dramatic phenomenon that involves the explosion of most of the material within a star. Supernovas can be very bright for a short time and usually release huge amounts of energy. Tune in this Thursday at the Blogging A to Z Challenge for my post on Supernovas. You’ll be glad you did! 

Space Junk
Did You Know According to NASA more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. 

Man-made objects orbit about the Earth which no longer serves a useful function. Such debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris and fragmentation debris. There are many millions of pieces of debris that are so small they can’t be tracked. 

Not So Fun Fact Sometimes Space Junk re-enters our atmosphere and falls to the Earth with and without warning. Check out this quick clip of falling space junk just last week. Reference



Question Are you excited about this rare five planet lineup? Are you going to look for it? Get a set of binoculars or even a cheap telescope and you’ll be in for a real celestial treat!

And if you like this post feel free to give it a Tweet!

35 comments:

  1. Sadly I'm up and out before dawn during the week, so I'll have a chance to see it.
    You know, only fitting the garbage we leave in space falls back to earth.

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  2. I would like to see it, but I would never manage to haul myself out of bed in the morning. Alex is right, we should get our own junk back except some of the bigger pieces might be dangerous.

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    1. Jo, people are coming up with creative ideas on how to do this. There could be a lot of money in salvaging Space Junk.

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  3. We are up early in the morning; I'll just have to remember to open the drapes and look up in the sky and see what I can see!

    betty

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    1. Betty, where you live it should be clear viewing.

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  4. Wow, that's really cool about the planets aligning!

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  5. If I'm up before dawn, I'll definitely check it out.

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  6. Very cool! I want to say this happened when I was in 5th grade, too...that I saw it. So....34-35 years ago? Does that sound right?

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    1. Elizabeth, that's what makes these events so special. They only happen once in a while. Watch them while you can.

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  7. That is a lot of space junk.

    The planets actually align more often than I thought.

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  8. If I remember and it isn't raining, I might check it out.

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  9. Dumb ol' trees always in the way! (Just kidding, I'm not a tree hater.) I love lookin' fer planets. I'll be out looking for them.

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    1. H.R., nothing a chainsaw won;t cure. Just be sure to do it when no one is looking.

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  10. Hi Stephen .. I'd noted the planets' alignment and knew you'd let us know - thank you!! I'll see if I can see them if our skies are clear ... The space junk is dreadful ... I'm glad they're using the opportunity of the space junk near Sri Lanka as a reference tool for an asteroid approach .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Hilary, now that is a scary scenario. It has happened and will happen again.

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  11. A long time ago someone, I think it was Arthur C. Clarke, said that a day would come when we wouldn't be able leave the earth do to all the space junk being in the way. Humans... we trash every place we go.

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  12. I've heard about the concerns with space junk. I want to see the planetary alignment but it's so cold that early in the morning.

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  13. Five planetary alignment? Wow! Too bad I'm never up that early. Haha

    Yikes! That us a lot of space junk and certainly a concern.

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  14. I'll have to go to my neighbor and look through his telescope. He has one huge one on his roof observatory, and I love to go up there when something special happens. Of course, something special always seems to be happening in the universe.

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    1. That's a great friend to have! Make sure to bring snacks or wine so they invite you back.

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  15. That's awesome, but I'll probably miss out. Either I'll be on my way to work or asleep. Plus, I'm in a urban area so it'd be hard to see without traveling out of town.

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    1. Patricia, like many people you are in a situation where it's not practical to watch and admire such an event. But you can follow online or catch local news stories. Almost as good and certainly better than nothing at all.

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  16. I just hope the planetary alignment doesn't mean we'll have any earthquakes in Southern California.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out
    &
    Wrote By Rote

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  17. Ooo, that's really cool about the five planet line up. Thanks for the info.

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    1. Cherie, it is cool! My hope is to get as many people as possible excited about this rare and incredible as possible.

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  18. How cool is that? I had no idea. Neat!

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  19. Is that why people have been predicting craziness for 2016?

    "The alignment will be visible to the naked eye about an hour and a half before sunrise." Wow. Anyone who is awake that early, way to go! I'll be in my bed. ;)

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    1. Crystal, awww, come on. You can get up one day and check out an amazing celestial event. Check your local weather forecast first.

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  20. I wanted to get up and look- and I did see it pretty close to the optimal time, but I had a school visit so I couldn't get up as early as I wanted. I had to drive and put on a show and couldn't be too tired. :) Love stuff like this!

    Space debris is everywhere!
    ~Jess

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  21. Oh wow. That would be early to wake up! I missed it, of course.

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