Here are some weblinks and part of Jerry's agenda for the show. Download and play the attached file for the audio. Youtube link:
https://youtu.be/B_ah0YYtPWYMay possibly make this hour live in the future on Youtube if we can set up the permissions correctly
March 1, 2021 Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit Astronomy Video Podcast weblinks:
https://www.sbau.org/ is our home page, with lots of links and info
New York Times, Exploring the Solar System--various missions listed, By Jonathan Corum, Updated July 30, 2020:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/exploring-the-solar-system.htmlScientific Psychic Interactive Moon Map--shows major near side areas with identification:
https://www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/moonmap/moon-map.htmlFar side of the Moon:
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/pictures/190000/velka/moon-far-side.jpgThe Sky Live 3D Solar System Simulator -- excellent interactive, moveable layout of the solar system. Go to the objects listed in their menus and click on "information", scroll to bottom of the object's info page and quite often there is a 3D interactive map.
https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystemSizes of large telescopes, including Hubble and James Webb and beyond:
https://i.insider.com/5b76f354e361c037008b5083?width=1759James Webb telescope will be placed at the L2 Lagrangian point:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Lagrange_points.jpg/1200px-Lagrange_points.jpgSpaceX Starlink satellite internet constellation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarlinkView of the 26,000 year circle of stars that the Earth's North Celestial Pole points to:
https://astronomy.com/-/media/Images/News%20and%20Observing/Ask%20Astro/2012/09/Earths-spin-axis.jpg?mw=600NASA Solar System Dawn Mission to Vesta & Ceres:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/dawn/overview/The Sky Live 3D map of Asteroid 4 Vesta:
https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?obj=vestaThe Sky Live 3D map of 1km wide Asteroid (NEO) 231937 flying by Earth on March 21, 2021:
https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?obj=231937Spaceweather shows the Sun conditions and asteroid encounter distances & size:
https://spaceweather.com/Nice layout with Orion area nebulas identified:
https://eastexastronomy.blogspot.com/2010/08/orion.htmlNASA’s Perseverance Has a Mars Rover Family Portrait:
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/320356-nasas-perseverance-has-a-mars-rover-family-portraitMars 2020 mission parachute secret decoded:
https://people.com/human-interest/nasa-reveals-secret-message-hidden-on-mars-rover-parachute/Chinese mission to Mars, Tianwen-1:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tianwen-1Emirates Mars Mission is by United Arab Emirates Space Agency:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emirates_Mars_MissionMore Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU0r4RxzoyT_pwNcfN5aJsA/videos
Jerry's agenda for the show, abbreviated:
This Week
The full Moon occurred in the wee small hours of the morning last Saturday. As February’s Full Moon, it’s also known as the Snow Moon. Because the Full Moon is so bright, it’s difficult to observe deep-sky objects during this phase. But at the same time, the Moon makes an excellent target for beginning and experienced observers alike.
Monday, March 1
Mars opens the month of March a mere 3° due south of M45, better known as the Pleiades. This sparkling open star cluster is easy to spot with the naked eye in the constellation Taurus (even with a nearly full moon) already relatively high in the southwest by the time full darkness falls.
APOD20191206.jpg
On March 30, 2019, Mars approached within 3.3° of the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus the Bull. A thin layer of clouds diffused the light from the Red Planet, producing the halo.
Tuesday, March 2
The Moon reaches perigee — the closest point to Earth in its slightly elliptical orbit — at 9:18 A.M. PST. At that time, it will sit 227,063 miles (365,422 kilometers) away.
Thursday, March 4
Asteroid 4 Vesta is at opposition today at 1 P.M. EST. You can find it in the constellation Leo tonight — the main-belt asteroid is now one of the top 10 brightest lights in the Lion’s hindquarters.
Vesta, as its number indicates, was the fourth body discovered in the asteroid belt. At roughly 300 miles (480 km) across, it’s half the size of dwarf planet 1 Ceres.
The Big News
Of course the Big news is currently the successful touchdown of the Perseverance Rover in Jezero crater on Mars. The landing was a spectacular success and was captured in the parachute phase by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Asteroid in March.
https://www.space.com/potentially-hazardous-asteroid-whizzes-near-earth-2001-fo32 The space rock, officially called 231937 (2001 FO32), is about 0.5 to 1 mile (0.8 to 1.7 kilometers) in diameter and will come within 1.25 million miles (2 million kilometers) of Earth at 11:03 a.m. EST (1603 GMT) on March 21 — close enough and large enough to be classified as "potentially hazardous," a it whizzes by at almost 77,000 mph (124,000 km/h).