THE CHATTER BOX

Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 18 June 2016 6:34am

Asteroid 2016 HO3 is very interesting. It orbits the sun, comes our direction and does a full orbit of earth then goes back out round the sun. More information on NEOP by JPL at nasa.gov

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 25 November 2016 4:11am

The moon and Jupiter are rising in conjunction to the east south east I've noticed them over the last couple of mornings and now they are very close together in the sky.
Venus is rising after the moon, not long before the sun and is in half phase - similar to when we have a half moon.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 25 November 2016 4:49am

At 5 past 5, 3 days ago I saw a meteor burn up fairly low in the Western sky. The sun hadn't quite set so the meteor was a big one. Then yesterday I saw a report of a big meteor having been seen over USA in the night time. I thought they could have been the same meteor.

At sunset here it is daytime in America so it was a different meteor. Perhaps it was a pair or a couple of pieces of space junk that had fallen to earth at the same time.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by suzulu on 25 November 2016 1:40pm

Wow!

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Lounge Trekker on 5 January 2017 5:13pm

I enjoy meteor showers, but too often the clouds make viewing impossible. Staying awake late needs a good reason. I need to get out of town and away from the lights to have a good view.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by suzulu on 6 January 2017 1:55pm

When we were in Wales my brother saw a shooting star as he was approaching my sister's house one night.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 12 January 2017 4:22am

We've had a few very clear nights for astronomy recently. Venus is showing brightly in 1/2 phase to the south west just after sunset UK time. Jupiter is also clearly visible to the south at about 5am and with a good telescope or steady binoculars you may be able to pick out 3 of its moons. There are usually 4 moons visible but I think one if them is hidden on the far side of Jupiter.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 26 April 2017 9:02am

Cassini and Saturn's rings. I think Saturn's rings are the remnants of a very old comet, or more than one, that was/were pulled into orbit and scattered round the planet in it's rings. The orbital material forming into the rings over many (millions of) years.

Re: Our quasi satellite. by Ken Dunn on 18 October 2017 8:20am

A small asteroid has done a 26,000 mile distant flyby of Earth. It was being tracked and there is more information on it in JPL's NEOP website. NEOP = near earth object programme. It's orbit will have been changed by the gravitational pull of the earth and we probably won't see it again unless it has flown by before. In astronomical terms 26,000 miles is a very near miss. https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov

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