Near-Earth objects and close calls
- Thread starter Gawan
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Fraser Cain Universe Today
Update on the Potential May 31st tau Herculid Meteor Storm
Comet C/2021 O3
Here's a new updated information about the upcoming possibly massive meteor shower that will happen in the end of May. The exact time is around May 31 at 4h-5h UT. But recalculate for your local time. It will be mostly visible in continental USA and Mexico. Looks like in some states it will still be 30th of May. Essencially, it will be the night of 30-31st of May. Don't forget to look up!
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Just to update that nothing on the cameras so far. They say that the speed of the meteorites may be too slow to register on the camera. Or it is one massive bust. 
Maybe the Universe has a sense of humor. 
But there are still 4 hours to go until the predicted end of the potential shower peak, so everyone is still glued to the screen.
Interestingly enough, people in the chats say that they saw falling meteors in various locations in the US, so maybe the cameras are looking in the wrong direction.
Here's another stream where they also share various interesting information. And the astronomer who runs the channel *ghasp* believes in panspermia and that there is life on other planets.
Added: Ok, now it makes sense. The astronomer who runs the stream is Marc D'Antonio. He is "the Mutual UFO Network’s (MUFON) Chief Photo/Video Analyst and is CEO of FX Models, a company specializing in digital/physical models, and organic special effects in the film industry. His degree is in Astronomy and he specializes in the study of Exoplanets."
Maybe the Universe has a sense of humor. But there are still 4 hours to go until the predicted end of the potential shower peak, so everyone is still glued to the screen.Interestingly enough, people in the chats say that they saw falling meteors in various locations in the US, so maybe the cameras are looking in the wrong direction.
Here's another stream where they also share various interesting information. And the astronomer who runs the channel *ghasp* believes in panspermia and that there is life on other planets. Added: Ok, now it makes sense. The astronomer who runs the stream is Marc D'Antonio. He is "the Mutual UFO Network’s (MUFON) Chief Photo/Video Analyst and is CEO of FX Models, a company specializing in digital/physical models, and organic special effects in the film industry. His degree is in Astronomy and he specializes in the study of Exoplanets."
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DAYTIME METEOR SHOWER UNDERWAY
The Consortium studies the current with the past comet and asteroid dust 
New podcast How many #METEORITOS are cataloged worldwide? What is their origin? And their type and size? answer:
@Josep_Trigo @J_Garcia_Guinea @mncn_csic #DíaInternacionaldelosAsteroides (June 30) @rne @ARTUROMARTINRNE
http://play.rtve.es/a/6559838
remanzacco.blogspot.com
Stacking of 60 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2022, April 3.3 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a central condensation inside a coma of diameter 19" and a hint of a broad tail 13" long in p.a. 283 degrees, with magnitude of 17.5-17.7 in an aperture of radius 5".5 (Observers E. Bryssinck, M. Rocchetto, E. Guido, M. Fulle, G. Milani, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).
Our confirmation image (click on the images for a bigger version)
CBET 5113 assigns the following parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE): T 2022 Mar. 24.47; e= 0.99; Peri. = 201.41; q = 1.59 ; Incl.= 97.47 by Ernesto Guido
Posted by Paul Roggemans | Jun 3, 2022 | Meteor Library, News |
New podcast How many #METEORITOS are cataloged worldwide? What is their origin? And their type and size? answer:
@Josep_Trigo @J_Garcia_Guinea @mncn_csic #DíaInternacionaldelosAsteroides (June 30) @rne @ARTUROMARTINRNE
http://play.rtve.es/a/6559838
New Comet C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE)
CBET 5113 & MPEC 2022-G83 , issued on 2022, April 06, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) in infrared exposures obtained duri...
remanzacco.blogspot.com
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
New Comet C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE)
CBET 5113 & MPEC 2022-G83, issued on 2022, April 06, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) in infrared exposures obtained during Mar. 30-Apr. 1 UT with the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (or NEOWISE; formerly the WISE earth-orbiting satellite). The new comet has been designated C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE).Stacking of 60 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2022, April 3.3 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a central condensation inside a coma of diameter 19" and a hint of a broad tail 13" long in p.a. 283 degrees, with magnitude of 17.5-17.7 in an aperture of radius 5".5 (Observers E. Bryssinck, M. Rocchetto, E. Guido, M. Fulle, G. Milani, G. Savini, A. Valvasori).
Our confirmation image (click on the images for a bigger version)
CBET 5113 assigns the following parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2022 F2 (NEOWISE): T 2022 Mar. 24.47; e= 0.99; Peri. = 201.41; q = 1.59 ; Incl.= 97.47 by Ernesto Guido
News from the meteor library: dust trail of comet 17P/Holmes
Evolution of the dust trail of comet 17P/Holmes
This article has been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, submitted by Maria Gritsevich, Markku Nissinen, Arto Oksanen, Jari Suomela and Elizabeth A. SilberPosted by Paul Roggemans | Jun 3, 2022 | Meteor Library, News |
One to keep an eye on: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was hit by a micrometeoroid that was much larger than they'd modeled for, and it struck earlier than they had expected (6 months after launch).
In addition it sounds like it might send back some pretty nifty images come July 12th.
In addition it sounds like it might send back some pretty nifty images come July 12th.
First micrometeoroid impact hits James Webb Space Telescope just months into flight
First micrometeoroid impact hits James Webb Space Telescope just months into flight
NASA's next-generation space observatory has sustained its first noticeable micrometeoroid impact less than six months after launch, but the agency isn't too concerned. The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as Webb or JWST, launched on Dec....www.sott.net
Meghan Bartels
Space
Wed, 08 Jun 2022 22:00 UTC
© Northrop Grumman
An artist's depiction of the James Webb Space Telescope at work.
NASA's next-generation space observatory has sustained its first noticeable micrometeoroid impact less than six months after launch, but the agency isn't too concerned.
The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as Webb or JWST, launched on Dec. 25, 2021. It has spent the intervening months trekking out to its deep-space post and preparing for science observations, a complicated process that has gone remarkably smoothly; recently, NASA said it expects to unveil the first science-quality images from the telescope on July 12.
Now, the agency announced on Wednesday (June 8) that the observatory has experienced its first few impacts from tiny pieces of space debris called micrometeoroids. But don't panic: Neither the observatory's schedule nor its scientific legacy is expected to suffer.
"With Webb's mirrors exposed to space, we expected that occasional micrometeoroid impacts would gracefully degrade telescope performance over time," Lee Feinberg, Webb optical telescope element manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in the statement. "Since launch, we have had four smaller measurable micrometeoroid strikes that were consistent with expectations, and this one more recently that is larger than our degradation predictions assumed."
The most serious of the impacts occurred between May 23 and May 25 and affected the C3 segment of the 18-piece gold-plated hexagonal primary mirror, according to the statement.
All spacecraft are expected to experience and designed to withstand micrometeoroid impacts, and JWST is no different. The observatory's engineers even subjected mirror samples to real impacts to understand how such events might affect the mission's science.
However, the recent impact was larger than those that mission personnel had modeled or could test on the ground, according to the statement.
Despite the impact coming so early in the observatory's tenure, NASA officials are confident that the $10 billion telescope will still perform adequately.
Comment: They're 'confident' despite the impact being much larger and coming earlier than they'd expected: Russian space surveillance station records space activity surge in 2021
"We always knew that Webb would have to weather the space environment, which includes harsh ultraviolet light and charged particles from the sun, cosmic rays from exotic sources in the galaxy, and occasional strikes by micrometeoroids within our solar system," Paul Geithner, technical deputy project manager at NASA Goddard, said in the statement. "We designed and built Webb with performance margin — optical, thermal, electrical, mechanical — to ensure it can perform its ambitious science mission even after many years in space."
In addition, JWST launched with its optics in even better shape than the agency bargained for, officials noted in the statement.
Some micrometeoroid impacts can be predicted, officials wrote. For example, when the spacecraft is set to fly through known meteor showers, personnel can maneuver JWST's optical systems into safety for these events. However, the recent impact was not part of such a meteor shower and the statement classified it as "an unavoidable chance event."
After an impact occurs, engineers can individually adjust the 18 primary mirror segments on the observatory to keep the mirror as a whole finely tuned.
As the JWST team continues to evaluate the impact, NASA is focused on better understanding both the particular event and the environment that the observatory will experience throughout its mission. The telescope is orbiting what scientists call the Earth-sun Lagrange point 2, located nearly 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) away from Earth in the direction opposite the sun.
"We will use this flight data to update our analysis of performance over time and also develop operational approaches to assure we maximize the imaging performance of Webb to the best extent possible for many years to come," Feinberg said.
