Andy’s Astronomy: Looking Forward to Artemis III

By ANDY KOBER
Just as I watched the launch of Artemis II, last Friday I watched the return and splashdown of the Integrity command module.
What an emotional rush it had to be for the latest astronauts to orbit the Moon after a 50-year drought. Once again America leads the way and thanks to President Donald Trump for getting us back into space.
To an old Star Trek fan, references to the Starship Enterprise were most appropriate as this team of astronauts have truly gone “where no man has gone before”.
Though plans could be in a state of fluctuation, the Artemis III mission currently does not include landing on the Moon but rather an effort that involves SpaceX’s Starship HLS and Blue Origin’s Blue Moon to test rendezvous and docking among all three spacecraft in addition to testing the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit. The current target date is 2027 or 2028.
Keep your eyes on the sky for passing fireballs.
Meteors can flash across the sky anytime, day or night, with extraordinarily bright meteors often referred to as fireballs — and they are spotted quite often.
On Tuesday, Apr. 7, 284 people across Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania reported seeing a fireball.
The fireball was first reported at 2:50 pm by a skywatcher in West Deptford, NJ, who reported, “I thought it was very bright for a day time event”. The fireball was seen as far north as Glastonbury, CT, as far east as Mattituk, NY, as far south as Linwood, NJ, and as far west as near Alatoona, PA. The fireball appeared to be travelling from northeast to southwest.
Forty-seven skywatchers reported hearing noise made by the fireball and 199 witnessed it fragment it smaller pieces. The fireball was captured on seven videos and 10 photographs.
A skywatcher in Union City, GA, reported seeing a fireball at 8:05 pm Friday, Apr. 9, and watching it for about three seconds but no one else reported seeing it.
Anyone seeing a fireball is urged to report the sighting to https://amsmeteors.org
We will continue researching planets found in science fiction soon. In the meantime going outside and looking at the sky, especially the night sky, can be fun and educational for the entire family.
There are a number of free apps available to help identify stars and constellations, and some of the apps will show satellites.
Happy skywatching!