Help Reveal the Binary Nature of a Trojan Asteroid!
On August 25 at 8:37 PM Mountain Time (MST), a Trojan asteroid known as 2207 Antenor will occult (pass in front of) a star from our view here on Earth. It will be visible across the United States, from Phoenix, Arizona northward to Miles City, Montana, including Arizona’s famous Grand Canyon and Arches National…
Asteroid Challenge: June 18 to June 24
This month, we’re dedicating our weekly observing challenges to asteroids in honor of Asteroid Day on June 30. While these space rocks can orbit more than 100 million miles from Earth, you can still observe them by watching for occultations, when an asteroid passes in front of a distant star. You can find…
Asteroid Challenge: June 11 to June 17
On June 30, people around the world celebrate Asteroid Day. That makes these warm summer nights the perfect time to seek out some of the most elusive objects in our solar system. All month long, we’re dedicating our weekly observing challenges to asteroids. Our new crop of observing targets even includes a Potentially Hazardous…
Asteroid Challenge: June 4 to June 10
Astronomers around the world celebrate Asteroid Day on June 30, but here at Unistellar, we’re celebrating with an entire month of asteroid related activities! This week, our targets are all asteroid occultations! An asteroid occultation is an asteroid passing in front of a star from our perspective on Earth. These space rocks are great…
Unistellar Community Detects Asteroid to Aid NASA’s Lucy Mission
In the early morning of May 9, 2021, Unistellar citizen astronomers successfully contributed to the detection of Trojan asteroid Patroclus by occultation. Patroclus’ shadow was traveling at 17.5 km/s along a path across the United States, from California to Wisconsin and the event lasted less than 6 seconds. Later this year, the…
Join Forces With the NASA’s Lucy Mission: Detect the Double Trojan Asteroid Patroclus
This October, NASA will launch Lucy, the very first space probe to visit the trojan asteroid population. Trojans are known as “time capsules from the birth of our Solar System.” On the night of May 8 to 9, 2021, you, as a citizen astronomer, will have a unique opportunity to contribute to space exploration. The…