Two small space rocks, discovered just three days ago, are passing between our planet and the Moon today. Last night, I managed to grab a picture of the closer one, 2010 RF12, as it passed through the constellation Aquarius.

In this image (click for larger version,) the NEO appears as a faint segmented line. That’s because it is a small object moving quickly through multiple exposures of a fixed field of view.  Several galaxies are also apparent, including NGC 7364 which hosted a supernova in 2006.

Location: Slooh Remote Observatory, 954, Mt. Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands
Scope: 0.5 meter f6.8 Corrected Dall Kirkham
Coordinates: RA 22 44 48 DEC -00 06 06 (Aquarius)
Time: 2010 Sept 08, 0440 UTC
Magnitude: 15.58
NEO: 2010 RF12 / 5.8m – 13m Aten object
Close Approach: 0.2 LD (48,000 miles) 2010 Sept 08 at 21:12 UTC
Discovery: 2010 Sept 05, Andrea Boattini, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona, Catalina Sky Survey

We all do it, all year long.  In fact, it’s the one thing we can do no matter how light-polluted our skies.  We can even do it in sunlit skies!  This year, NASA EPO teams and their partners encourage us all to look at the moon together on Saturday, September 18, as they inaugurate the first-ever International Observe the Moon Night!

This international event includes local Moon observing parties, various NASA webcasts and online chats, a Moon photo contest (get your images submitted now!) and even International Observe the Moon Night gear, like t-shirts and canvas bags!

The local events range from formal planetarium presentations to individuals sharing their telescopes on the sidewalk.  I encouraged my local planetarium to host an informal observing event in their parking lot.  We’ll set-up several telescopes, hand out Moon Maps and Fun Facts sheets, and even share some real-time imaging.

The webcasts and online chats are equally wide-ranging, from NASA and MyMoon videocasts leading up to the main event, to individual online viewing opportunities on September 18.  Mike White practiced his setup from New Zealand last week, and Kate Kay ran a couple of preliminary sessions from the U.K., this past weekend.

There’s also a Moon photo contest, running from August 24 to September 23.  Categories include Landscape, Wide-Angle, and Narrow-Angle, and the judging process includes online voting!  I’ve submitted two entries, “Smallest” Moon and Palm Moon, to get involved and encourage others to participate.

*FUN FACT – The oldest surviving  Moon photo is Samuel D. Humphrey’s daguerreotype, taken from Canandaigua, NY, on September 1, 1849.

Not least of all, there is the InOMN gear, because we all love sharing our passion for the night sky.  The InOMN folks have set-up a Cafe Press shop for t-shirts, mugs, totes, and even something special for “man’s best friend.”  Watch for InOMN stickers on the main site – perfect for your own InOMN10 event or encouraging friends and community to get involved.

Twitter-users can follow InOMN and MyMoonLPI to receive their latest announcements.  You can also follow the #InOMN conversation to connect with participants from around the world and to share your own experiences.

So, go on – explore the InOMN website and make some plans for your own participation on September 18!  You can also check-out the Astronomers Without Borders website for more fun InOMN activities, including a lunar poetry contest and their new Moon and Culture project.

It’s one thing to read about the discovery history of asteroids; it is another to visualize it.  Astronomer Scott Manley has created a fantastic animation illustrating the known positions of all asteroids discovered in the past three decades.  Each new discovery appears as a white object and then evolves to either yellow or red for near-Earth-asteroids, or green for all others.

While the animation is not to scale – Space is not so crowded as it appears in the video – it does offer a great comprehension of how frequently we are discovering new objects, especially in the last decade, and of just how busy our inner solar system really is.  Hundreds of thousands of asteroids have already been discovered, more than seven-thousand of which pass near or across our own planet’s orbit.  Scientists estimate that there are probably millions of undiscovered asteroids residing in the Main Belt, with about 750,000 measuring greater than one kilometer, and hundreds of thousands of which are likely near-Earth asteroids.

The most interesting thing about Manley’s animation is the discovery pattern.  As noted in Manley’s You Tube description, most discoveries are made in the region directly opposite the Sun and many are obviously related to specific missions and surveys, such as the automated sky surveys, the more recent WISE mission, and even past searches for Jovian satellites.

Kudos to Scott Manley for this creative way of bringing the more intricate details of solar system discovery down to Earth!

*Click the full-screen option and turn up your sound.

This week’s Look-Up report features a colorful sunset conjunction, the waxing gibbous Moon with Jupiter and Pleiades, and a word about light pollution!  Click here for the full report, including graphics and links.

Wanna see (and hear!) something really fun?  Solar Beat, a project by White Vinyl Design, employs a virtual orrery to illustrate the orbits of the planets, including Ceres and Pluto, through sight and sound.

Each planet is represented by its own note as it marks one full orbit around the Sun, creating a beautiful celestial melody.  You can even adjust the tempo, from a somber slow to a more whimsical quick.  For added fun, watch the “years passed” data at the bottom of the application.  You’ll quickly grasp the differences between the inner planets vs the outer planets.

So, go ahead – click on the Solar Beat graphic and don’t forget to turn up your sound!

Thanks to @Go2SpaceNow for sharing this wonderful project!

Our special Perseids #Meteorwatch presentation, When Planets and Particles Collide – Part II, is now available for on-demand play.  Click here to watch and listen.  NOTE: The slides may take a moment to load.

WHAT: When Planets and Particles Collide – Part II

WHEN: Thursday, August 12, 9:00 pm EDT

WHERE: AFM*Radio

Join us Thursday night on AFM*Radio for a fun slideshow presentation featuring the Perseid Meteor Shower!  Adapting last year’s When Planets and Particles Collide, we’ll  focus on the Perseids as we talk about the differences between meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites; the mechanisms of meteor showers; and the night sky surrounding constellation Perseus.  Science and Fun, all rolled into one!

NOTE: This special feature will be presented in Adobe Connect.  Log-in here as a “guest”. You can then listen to the audio through the Adobe room, or mute the Adobe sound and listen via AFM*Radio.

This week’s “Look Up” report features the waning and waxing Moon, sunset planets, and a Perseids preview!  Audio and Text versions available, here.

One of the year’s best meteor showers, the Perseids, is just days away!  Astronomers and enthusiasts across the world are getting ready by sharing skywatching tips, planning local observing parties, and even hosting global virtual events.

My favorite Perseids events are AFM*Radio‘s live call-in updates and Adrian West’s Twitter #Meteorwatch.  Both were fantastic successes last year, and we’re expecting even greater participation next week.  This year, AFM*Radio will feature fun Perseids radio promos and live observing reports from the UBS crew in England; meanwhile, #Meteorwatch coordinators are already encouraging participation through Twitter conversation and that very cool video, above.

We encourage everyone to make a point to experience the Perseids.  Visual observations require only a clear sky and comfortable setting.  Audio observations (yes, we can “hear” meteors) require only a computer and an internet connection.

There are many ways to participate and share.  You can post your pictures and meteor counts on Twitter, by including the #meteorwatch hashtag with your tweets; you can submit formal observation reports to the International Meteor Organization; you can post to your FaceBook page; or you can simply share with your friends and family.

If you’re new to the Perseids, this shower appears to originate from the constellation Perseus, which rises on your NE horizon at about 11pm local time.  The best time to experience most meteor showers is in the hours between 2am and dawn, local time.  However, with this year’s Perseid maximum being due between 1830 UT August 12 and 0700 UT August 13, earlier observations (beginning around midnight) are suggested for the Americas.  Of course, Perseids aren’t limited to those maximum rate hours, so be sure to watch for them in the nights just before and after peak night.  This year’s peak rate predictions are set at around 100 zhr, but most observers will likely see far less.

If your skies are too cloudy or too light-polluted to “see” the Perseids, you can try “hearing” their radar pings as they travel through the Earth’s atmosphere.  This is actually a fun way to experience a meteor shower and you can still submit meteor counts and share the experience with others!

However you choose to participate, remember to be safe, comfortable, and patient!  Be sure to check out our Fun Perseids Facts, below, and the American Meteor Society’s Observing Basics, here.  You might also enjoy this Time article, dated 1926, or these real-sky images, from last year’s event.  And don’t forget to tune in to AFM*Radio to catch those fun Perseids promos!

Fun Facts About the Perseids!

*The Perseid meteor shower is named for the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors appear to originate.

*The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most prolific showers of the year, with an average peak rate of 50-80 streaks per hour.

*Meteors are the visible paths of vaporizing space debris as it encounters our planet’s atmosphere.  This debris, known as meteoroids, ranges in size from dust particles to small pebbles, and occasionally larger stones.

*As a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it is heated by friction, which vaporizes the debris and causes the gases (both atmospheric and meteoritic) to glow.  Most meteoroids disintegrate at about 30-60 miles above the surface, but become visible at about 40-75 miles.

*Meteoroids orbit the Sun just like planets, comets, and asteroids.  They travel at speeds of about 26 mps, but, when combined with Earth’s orbital speed of about 18 mps, enter our atmosphere at a velocity rate of about 44 mps.

*The meteoroids associated with the Perseid meteor shower enter the Earth’s atmosphere at about 37 mps.

*Our planet encounters space debris every day, thus meteors are actually visible all year long.  Occasionally, Earth passes through thicker patches of debris, known as streams or swarms, resulting in a meteor “shower.”

*Meteoroid streams, or swarms, have orbits similar to those of comets, thus are believed to be fields of comet debris resulting from a comet’s closing approach of the Sun.

*The Perseid meteor shower has been associated with the ancient debris field of Comet 109/Swift-Tuttle.

*Comet Swift-Tuttle leaves new debris each time it passes our planet – every 130 years.  This debris field has the appearance of several streams, each measuring millions of miles long.

*The Swift-Tuttle debris streams are comprised of small widely-spaced particles.  Most of the meteoroids are about the size of sand grains, but some may be as large as small pebbles.

*With a core diameter of about 26km, comet Swift-Tuttle is the largest known object, and one of the oldest comets, to regularly pass closely to our planet.

*Comet Swift-Tuttle was originally recorded by Chinese astronomers in 69 BC and 188AD, but was formally discovered in 1862, by Lewis Swift on July 16, and by Horace Parnell Tuttle on July 19.  Three others also independently discovered this comet: Dudley Observatory’s Thomas Simmons; Antonio Pacinotti and Carlo Toussaint from Florence, Italy; and Danish Astronomer Hans Schjellerup.  (It is believed that Dudley Observatory’s “Comet Seeker” was the telescope used by Thomas Simmons in his independent discovery of Swift-Tuttle.)

*Comet Swift-Tuttle was “rediscovered” in 1992 by Tsuruhiko Kiuchi, ten years after its expected return of 1982.  That year, the comet reached 5th magnitude, making it easily visible through binoculars.

*Comet Swift-Tuttle will pass within 14-million-miles of our planet when it next returns in 2126.  Scientists believe that the comet will be even brighter than the 1992 pass, possibly even bright enough to be seen without binoculars.

*Astronomers once believed that comet Swift-Tuttle might, in the relatively near future, pass close enough to actually impact Earth or the Moon.  While continued observations and recalculations have dispelled that concern for at least the next 2,000 years, this comet remains one the greatest known solar system threats to our planet.

Source Material:

NASA Worldbook

JPL’s Solar System Dynamics

Gary Kronk’s Cometography

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Space.com

Wikipedia