console.log("Toggling fullscreen", $('.webgl_module_container').length) Clicking on the encounter date will display a Web page with details about that object. Put on your 3-D glasses for this ride over asteroid Vesta. If so, you may very well have seen part of the asteroid, Vesta! Taken with the same camera and lens the stripes are from Full Moon What's Up for January? APOD: 2021 January 1 - Galaxies and the South Celestial Pole Each of the mirrors can be moved with incredibly fine precision, with adjustments as small as 10 nanometers (or about 1/10,000th of the width of a human hair). "Crew-6 is ready to launch.". Im so damn lucky to have an all-star crew Moore Boeck. NationalAeronautics and SpaceAdministration, Following Webbs Arrival at L2, Telescope Commissioning Set to Begin, The Webb Team Looks Back on Successful Deployments, Orbital Insertion Burn a Success, Webb Arrives at L2, the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, access nearly half the sky at any given moment, moving the observatorys individual mirror segments, Webb Begins Its Months-Long Mirror Alignment, Following the Next Steps in Webbs Journey, Primary Mirror Wings Deployed, All Major Deployments Complete, Starboard Primary Mirror Wing Deployment Underway, Webb Observes a Globular Cluster Sparkling with Separate Stars, Breaking the Tracking Speed Limit With Webb, Webb Spies Chariklo Ring System With High-Precision Technique, Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph Operations Update. So pour me another, its good for my health The Asteroid Watch dashboard tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth. This animation shows the last 30 seconds of Cassini's X- and S-band radio signals as they disappeared from mission control on Sept. 15, 2017. And I know these stories were sailed way before me The extension of Earth's axis of rotation to the south, it's The APOD, also known as Astronomy Picture of the Day Calendar is a website provided by NASA and Michigan Technological University and was launched in 1995. And that means the first week of the month is ideal for stargazing because the few days before and after the new moon are the darkest. $full.find('iframe').css({'height': h, 'width': w, 'min-width': '', 'max-width': ''}) So, why did the Ariane not give Webb more energy and why did Webb need course correction? So catch Jupiter before it's gone. At 12:34 a.m. And that means the first week of the month is ideal for stargazing, because the few days before and after the new moon are the darkest. Some stoic, some crazy, some just passin through The process will essentially create an image of 18 random, blurry points of light. This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at, Cassini's last X- and S-band radio signals, Final Orbits: Cassini Grand Finale (Animation), Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Jupiter Impact (Visualization), Destination Dwarf Planet: Dawn Approaches Ceres, NASA Scientist for a Day 2019-2020: Target No. Sigma Octantis. Nasas new space telescope snaps first image: a star that exploded in the 17th century, Nasa has some concerns about Elon Musk launching 30,000 satellites, Do not sell or share my personal information. What's Up: January 2022. Poet Laureate Ada Limn is crafting a new poem dedicated to NASAs Europa Clipper mission. $('.webgl_module_container iframe').css({'height': "", 'width': '1px', 'max-width': '100%', 'min-width': '100%'}) Phil Davis That's what's up this week @NASA . APOD: 2022 January 1 - The Full Moon of 2021 Donald Richardson passed away on January 28, 2022, in his sleep, at home in Indianapolis. It will make its closest approach to the sun, or perihelion, on Jan. 12, and will then whip past Earth. ET on December 17 (02:08 UTC on December 18). NASA Web latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more, Scientists find hidden corridor in 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, New disease caused by plastic found in birds for the first time, Stadium-sized asteroid to come within 2,000,000 kms of Earth. Speaking of morning skies, the planet Venus will be at its brightest for the year in February, around mid-month. during 2021's two lunar eclipses. The solar-powered lander has run out of energy after more than four years of science on the Red Planet. Hubble takes pictures 24 hours a day, seven days a week so its built up an amazing cache of stunning imagery with Nasa celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2020 by releasing 365 days worth of pictures. The cryocooler will cool MIRI to 6 kelvins in the following months. An amazing feature of this celestial visitor is that its an ultrafast comet. Today, we hear from Erin Wolf, Webb program manager at Ball Aerospace, about the completion of that process: Today, the James Webb Space Telescope team completed the mirror segment deployments. Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) Photos and charts here. As the instruments meet pre-defined criteria for overall temperatures, the team is shutting off these heaters to allow the instruments to restart the months-long process of cooling to final temperatures. } else { $('.webgl_module_container iframe').css({'height': "", 'width': '1px', 'max-width': '100%', 'min-width': '100%'}) This will likely affect the full timeline for Webbs deployment. } In fact, NASA stops communicating with our spacecraft at Mars for about 2 weeks every two years, when the planet is directly opposite the Sun. The Ka-band provides a much higher data rate than the S-band that Webb has been using for communications up until now. The Ariane 5 targeted Webb so accurately that our first and most critical burn was smaller than we had to plan and design for, leaving more fuel for an extended mission!, Karen Richon, Webb Flight Dynamics lead engineer, NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center. A daily update by email. Then five months of commissioning will include 1) further cooling of the entire observatory, and of the Mid-Infrared Instrument in particular, 2) checking and then aligning the secondary and 18 mirror segments into a single coherent optical system, first with the NIRCam instrument and then with all instruments individually and in parallel, and 3) calibrating of each of the four instruments and their many scientific modes. And courtesy of Nasa you can see just what was occurring elsewhere in the universe thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been snapping amazing pictures of the galaxies and skies around us since 1990. function receiveMessage(event){ Is it possible to observe this comets motion. Big water news from Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus. Going fast! "It was a great call and a good learning opportunity for the crew and I think for the teams.". He has also offered dozens of conferences related to asteroids and comets at the Arecibo Observatory. Have you ever seen a meteorite streaking across the sky? After decades of exploration, Voyager 1 reaches a historic milestone for mankind, interstellar space. By the time we get to instrument commissioning, we are going to have one hell of a telescope. NASA JPL Software Engineer Melissa Soriano describes the third potential target for Scientist for a Day contestants: Pluto's moon Charon. }, 300) A "potentially hazardous" asteroid more than twice the size of the In the center of this line of stars is one that looks kind of fuzzy. What's Up: February 2022 | NASA Solar System Exploration AI chatbots are here and theyre passing medical exams should we embrace them? January 1, 2022 - James Webb Space Telescope - NASA At the bottom are the Large and Small Magellanic clouds, In fact, Webbs orbit around L2 is larger in size than the Moons orbit around Earth! This view of asteroid Bennu ejecting particles from its surface on Jan. 6, 2019, was created by combining two images taken by the NavCam 1 imager aboard NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. With major deployments complete, Webb continues its journey to its final halo orbit around L2. Bookmark this post. The Quadrantid meteor shower peaks on the night of January 2nd and the morning of the 3rd. Is it having outbursts as it nears its closest point to the sun in January? Credit: NASA. This visualziation shows the major fragments of comet Showmaker-Levy 9 colliding with Jupiter in 1994. The Webb mission operations team has given the go-ahead to move forward with the extension of its starboard primary mirror panel. That way is both simpler (in terms of the complexity of the control electronics) and safer (since computers and sensors can closely monitor each individual actuator as it works). Privacy Policy and Important Notices. Engineers first commanded actuators 126 devices that will move and shape the primary mirror segments, and six devices that will position the secondary mirror to verify that all are working as expected after launch. Its traveling at 158,084 miles per hour (254,412 km/h or 70.67 km/second) relative to Earth. That deployment is still expected to take place over at least two days. The team is committed to keeping you informed even through the often slow and meticulous parts of this commissioning process. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly. Comets are typically brightest around perihelion, and the comet has been brightening and is still getting brighter. Not only would that big burn cost a lot of propellant, it would be impossible because it would require Webb to turn 180 degrees in order to thrust toward the Sun, which would have exposed its telescope optics and instruments directly to the Sun, thus overheating their structures and literally melting the glue that holds them together. Venus may be losing heat from geologic activity in regions called coronae, possibly like early tectonic activity on Earth. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. } toggleFullscreenMessage() While the MIRI instrument and some instrument components were powered on in the weeks after Webbs Dec. 25 launch, the team didnt finish turning on the remaining three instruments NIRCam, NIRSpec, and FGS/NIRISS until the past few days. Following Webbs arrival at its orbital destination around Lagrange Point 2 (L2) on Jan. 24, the mission operations team began working its way through a critical series of steps: powering on all the science instruments, turning off heaters to begin a long cooldown process, and ultimately capturing the first photons on Webbs primary camera to enable a months-long alignment of the telescope. Published: February 1, 2022. And we dont do them all at once. The giant planet stands alone, low in the western sky after sunset in February. U.S. flanked by bright galaxies and southern celestial gems. Across the top of the frame are the stars and nebulae along the plane Webb, welcome home! said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. Note that it is simpler, easier, and more efficient to orbit around L2 than to dwell precisely at L2. We are now ready to align mirrors and commission instruments and have already proven that all the hardware associated with the optics (including 132 actuators) is working beautifully. also slid into Earth's shadow $('body').css('overflow','hidden') Use this tool to see the current Moon phase and to plan ahead for other Moon views. This may not be the most exciting period of Webbs commissioning, but thats OK. We can take the time. Planetary Picture of the Day - Week of January 10, 2022 - SETI Institute On Sept.25, 2135, an asteroid called Bennu will make a close flyby of Earth. As we look back on Webbs first month in space, we asked Bill Ochs, Webb project manager, to share with us his thoughts on the mission so far: It has been about a month since launch, and it has been an unbelievable ride. Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. fullHeightWidthIframe() ASD at Were one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. The deployments could not have gone more perfectly. . In fact, it's the nearest large star-forming region to our solar system, at around 1,500 light-years away. One of the Hubble Space Telescopes most iconic images is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, which unveiled myriad galaxies across the universe, stretching back to within a few hundred million years of t NASA JPL Software Engineer Melissa Soriano describes the third potential target for Scientist for a Day contestants: Pluto's moon Charon. The mission operations teams next major step is to turn off instrument heaters. console.log("Toggling fullscreen", $('.webgl_module_container').length) On Monday, Jan. 24, engineers plan to instruct NASAs James Webb Space Telescope to complete a final correction burn that will place it into its desired orbit, nearly 1 million miles away from the Earth at what is called the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2 for short. Mars will continue to brighten and climb higher over the next few months, where it'll have super-close conjunctions with Saturn and Jupiter, which we'll tell you about in future videos, so stay tuned! the South Celestial pole. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Botes, which includes the bright star Arcturus. Bill Dunford Closest approach to Venus was at 9:08 p.m. The calendar month, Jupiter makes its exit, Venus at peak brightness, and the star-forming cloud next door. Generally speaking, getting a spacecraft to Sun-Earth L2 is fairly straightforward, but Webbs architecture added a wrinkle. for south pole star January begins with a new moon on the 2nd. } Last Updated: Jan 14, 2022. } The average distance between Earth and the moon is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). January 2022 - James Webb Space Telescope - NASA As part of this effort, the motors made over a million revolutions this week, controlled through 20 cryogenic electronics boxes on the telescope. The smallest is 10:42 a.m. The Ka-band and the High-Gain Antenna will eventually allow the observatory to send all of the science images and data down to the ground for astronomers around the world to analyze and make discoveries. Toss a note in a bottle and hope that it helps distance from Kolkata, India, planet Earth. 3 - Charon, Through the Eyes of Scientists - Meet Thomas Valdez, Venus' Squishy' Outer Shell May Be Resurfacing the Planet, NASA Administrator Selects New Head of Science, Poem by U.S. Privacy Policy and Important Notices Nature provides us with sky events seen once in a lifetime, Comet Leonard is one of these. MORE : Nasas new space telescope snaps first image: a star that exploded in the 17th century, MORE : Nasa has some concerns about Elon Musk launching 30,000 satellites, Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Get your need-to-know Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. BREVARD, Fla. An international crew of three astronauts and a cosmonaut launched from Kennedy Space Center early Thursday, kicking off a roughly six-month science mission to the International Space Station. Comet Leonard will round the sun at perihelion on January 3, 2022, at a distance of about 56 million miles (0.6 AU, or 90 million km). NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, the United Arab Emirates' Sultan Alneyadi, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev will launch in a . // console.log("received message", event) Moore Boeck. streching about 60 degrees across deep southern skies SVS: Impressive solar filament eruption - January 20, 2023 Sound waves from the nascent universe, called baryon acoustic oscillations (BAOs), left their imprint on the cosmos by influencing galaxy distribution. He was 89-1/2 years old. Now were using those same actuators instead to move over a centimeter. ET, a Falcon 9 rocket vaulted off pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center with NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission, the seventh flight under contract between the agency and California-based company. lunar phase. This is just the first step; HD 84406 will be too bright to study with Webb once the telescope starts to come into focus. But for now, it is the perfect target to begin our search for photons, a search that will lead us to the distant universe. I'm Preston Dyches from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that's What's Up for this month. $(window).resize(function(){ Head outside around 8 or 9 p.m. all week and look southward to be dazzled by all the bright stars of the Winter Circle, along with the Pleiades, and Orion. Solar heating and stored energy in the Earth's surface and atmosphere are near their lowest during winter, making the winter season the coldest of the year. The Seven Sisters meet the evening star, Mars continues its getaway, and unpacking the Moon illusion. This is the last of the major deployments on the observatory, and its completion will set the stage for the remaining five and a half months of commissioning, which consist of settling into stable operating temperature, aligning the mirrors, and calibrating the science instruments. Today, at 1:17 p.m. EST, NASAs James Webb Space Telescope completed all of its large-scale deployments with the extension and latching of its starboard primary mirror wing. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends," mission commander Bowen, quoting Shakespeare's "Henry V," said just before liftoff. Slow and steady does it, for all these gradual processes that get us every day a little bit closer to our ultimate goal of mirror alignment., Marshall Perrin, deputy telescope scientist, Space Telescope Science Institute. When NASAs Perseverance rover travels to Mars to search for signs of life, its important that the spacecraft doesnt bring along any Earth bacteria. Each mirror now needs to be deployed out by 12.5 millimeters (about half an inch) to get the pegs clear from the sockets. During the flyb OSIRIS-REx has imaged Bennu in higher resolution than we have Earth and our own Moon. Follow here for live updates. The fact that it looked simple is a tribute to all those over the years who have worked towards Webb mission success. The James Webb Space Telescope is the worlds largest, most powerful, and most complex space science telescope ever built. So keep watching the comet this week! The stripes still look mismatched, but they show Of course the full moons of SpaceX and NASA have called off an astronaut launch to the International Space Station after an issue with the rocket's ground system was detected. but where exactly is it? Authors & editors: setTimeout(function(){ the most distant Full Moon in December. Now that the telescope is structurally fully deployed with the secondary mirror tripod and both primary mirror wings in place the three-month process of aligning all of Webbs telescope optics into a precise system can now commence. Social Media Lead: (MTU) & #Comet Leonard C/2021 A1 Of all the unusual and different ways you could mark your birthday, finding out what was going on in space while you were celebrating down on Earth has to rank pretty highly. APOD: 2022 January 1 - The Full Moon of 2021 Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! So Comet Leonard is the best comet weve had this year. January 21, 2022. Poet Laureate Ada Limn Will Ride to Europa on NASA Spacecraft, NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science, 40-Year Study Finds Mysterious Patterns in Temperatures at Jupiter, Juno Explores Jovian Moons During Extended Mission. Similar to your arm giving the ball energy to go up a few meters from the Earths surface, the Ariane 5 rocket gave Webb energy to go the great distance of 1.1 million kilometers, but not quite enough energy to escape Earths gravity. Our planets gravity will tweak Bennus path, making it a challenge to calculate its future trajectory. Before launch, the mirrors were all positioned with the pegs held snug in the sockets, providing extra support. As always, dark skies are recommended for this diffuse object. the year progresses in stripes beginning at the top. So these initial deployments are by far the largest moves Webbs mirror actuators will ever make in space. This video details the spacecraft's approach and orbit insertion. Explanation: The instruments are cooling, too, in a gradual and carefully controlled manner, and Webb is also continuing to gently coast outwards toward L2. This will likely affect the full timeline for Webb's deployment. This Week @NASA, Jan. 14, 2022 | NASA }, 300) Use this tool to see the current Moon phase and to plan ahead for other Moon views. For the best Quadrantid meteor viewing, find a dark location away from bright city lights, point your feet roughly toward the northeast, and look up. This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter: Attempting the First Powered Flight on Mars, Final Orbits: Cassini Grand Finale (Animation), What's Up Video: April 2020 Skywatching Tips from NASA, Cassini's last X- and S-band radio signals, Voyager 2 Trajectory through the Solar System, GLOBE Observer Quick Data Viz - 5 Min Intervals with Eclipse Shadow, NASA Scientist for a Day 2019-2020: Target No. Searching for January 4 on the NASA Hubble birthday site reveals an incredible image of Saturn taken in infrared by Hubble in 1998, which would have been Newton's 355th birthday. With Artemis, we will land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon and establish long-term lunar exploration in preparation for human missions to Mars. }) Congratulations to the team for all of their hard work ensuring Webbs safe arrival at L2 today. In many countries, the December Solstice is considered an official change in season: for example the first day of winter in the North. The big news for Webb this week was the final insertion into orbit around the second Lagrange point. In the first four months of the current fiscal year, October to January, the amount seized on the southwest border already . The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, previously flew three missions: Demo-2 in 2020, Crew-2 in 2021, and Axiom's private Ax-1 mission last year.