Let’s talk about OSIRIS-REx, the spacecraft that landed on an asteroid, collected a sample, and then lifted off to bring it all back home to us on Earth. It’s pretty incredible that we were able to navigate 200 million miles away from Earth to an asteroid in orbit around our sun, land on it, and then lift off again. So, here’s some information about this historic event.
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The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long and can be found within the constellation, Aries. It will be visible for much of the night, reaching its highest point in the sky around midnight local time.
The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 14:51 UTC.
The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Halley, which has been known and observed since ancient times. The shower runs annually from October 2 to November 7.
The red planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long within the constellation Pisces. Continue reading
The Draconids is a minor meteor shower producing only about 10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was first discovered in 1900. The Draconids is an unusual shower in that the best viewing is in the early evening instead of early morning like most other showers.
Irene W. Pennington Planetarium 