08/31/2018 – Ephemeris – Previewing September skies

Ephemeris for Friday, August 31st. The Sun will rise at 7:04. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 17 minutes, setting at 8:21. The Moon, 2 days before last quarter, will rise at 11:09 this evening.

Let’s look at the skies for the month of September. The Sun will moving at its greatest speed in its retreat to the south. Daylight hours in the Interlochen/Traverse City area and will drop from 13 hours and 14 minutes tomorrow to 11 hours 45 minutes on the 30th. The altitude of the Sun above the southern horizon at local noon will be 54 degrees tomorrow, and will descend to 42 degrees on the 30th. The season of summer is getting short, so enjoy it while you can. Summer ends and autumn begins at 9:54 p.m. on September 22nd. Venus is retreating toward the Sun now, though still moving eastward against the stars. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars are all moving eastward with respect to the stars, but are moving westward in the sky by our clocks.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

September Evening Star Chart

Star Chart for September 2018 (10 p.m. EDT September 15, 2018). Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

The planets and stars are plotted for the 15th at 10 p.m. EDT in the evening and 6 a.m. for the morning chart. These are the chart times. Note that Traverse City is located approximately 45 minutes behind our time meridian. (An hour 45 minutes behind our daylight saving time meridian during EDT). To duplicate the star positions on a planisphere you may have to set it to 1 hour 45 minutes earlier than the current time.

Note the chart times of 10 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. are for the 15th. For each week before the 15th add ½ hour (28 minutes if you’re picky). For each week after the 15th subtract ½ hour. The planet positions are updated each Wednesday on this blog. For planet positions on dates other than the 15th, check the Wednesday planet posts on this blog.

September Morning Star Chart

Star Chart for September 2018 mornings based on 6 a.m. September 15th. Created using my LookingUp program. Click on image to enlarge.

For a list of constellation names to go with the abbreviations click here.

 

• Pointer stars at the front of the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris the North Star.
• Follow the arc of the handle of the Big Dipper to the star Arcturus
• The Summer Triangle is in red.

Twilight

	Morning twilight		Evening twilight		Dark night		Moon
Date	Astronomical	Nautical	Nautical	Astronomical	Start	End	Illum.
2018-09-01	5h26m	6h04m	21h28m	22h06m	22h06m	23h43m	0.68
2018-09-02	5h27m	6h05m	21h26m	22h04m	22h04m	–	0.57
2018-09-03	5h29m	6h07m	21h24m	22h02m	22h02m	0h22m	0.46
2018-09-04	5h30m	6h08m	21h22m	22h00m	22h00m	1h08m	0.34
2018-09-05	5h32m	6h09m	21h20m	21h58m	21h58m	2h04m	0.23
2018-09-06	5h33m	6h11m	21h18m	21h55m	21h55m	3h08m	0.14
2018-09-07	5h35m	6h12m	21h16m	21h53m	21h53m	4h19m	0.06
2018-09-08	5h36m	6h13m	21h14m	21h51m	21h51m	5h35m	0.02
2018-09-09	5h38m	6h15m	21h12m	21h49m	21h49m	5h38m	0
2018-09-10	5h39m	6h16m	21h10m	21h47m	21h47m	5h39m	0.01
2018-09-11	5h41m	6h17m	21h08m	21h44m	21h44m	5h41m	0.06
2018-09-12	5h42m	6h19m	21h06m	21h42m	21h57m	5h42m	0.12
2018-09-13	5h44m	6h20m	21h04m	21h40m	22h27m	5h44m	0.21
2018-09-14	5h45m	6h21m	21h02m	21h38m	23h01m	5h45m	0.3
2018-09-15	5h47m	6h22m	21h00m	21h36m	23h37m	5h47m	0.4
2018-09-16	5h48m	6h24m	20h58m	21h34m	–	5h48m	0.5
2018-09-17	5h49m	6h25m	20h56m	21h32m	0h18m	5h49m	0.6
2018-09-18	5h51m	6h26m	20h54m	21h29m	1h03m	5h51m	0.7
2018-09-19	5h52m	6h28m	20h52m	21h27m	1h53m	5h52m	0.78
2018-09-20	5h54m	6h29m	20h50m	21h25m	2h47m	5h54m	0.86
2018-09-21	5h55m	6h30m	20h48m	21h23m	3h45m	5h55m	0.92
2018-09-22	5h56m	6h31m	20h46m	21h21m	4h44m	5h56m	0.92
2018-09-23	5h58m	6h33m	20h44m	21h19m	5h45m	5h58m	0.96
2018-09-24	5h59m	6h34m	20h42m	21h17m	–	–	0.99
2018-09-25	6h00m	6h35m	20h40m	21h15m	–	–	1
2018-09-26	6h02m	6h36m	20h38m	21h13m	–	–	0.99
2018-09-27	6h03m	6h37m	20h36m	21h11m	21h11m	21h12m	0.95
2018-09-28	6h04m	6h39m	20h35m	21h09m	21h09m	21h44m	0.89
2018-09-29	6h06m	6h40m	20h33m	21h07m	21h07m	22h21m	0.81
2018-09-30	6h07m	6h41m	20h31m	21h05m	21h05m	23h04m	0.72

Twilight calendar was generated using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

NASA Calendar of Planetary Events

Date        Time    Event
Sep 01  Sa          Venus: 45° E
    01  Sa 12:45 am Venus-Spica: 1.2° S
    02  Su  9:34 pm Moon-Aldebaran: 1.2° S
    02  Su 10:37 pm Last Quarter
    05  We  2:56 am Moon North Dec.: 20.8° N
    06  Th  6:42 am Moon Ascending Node
    06  Th 10:13 pm Moon-Beehive: 1.4° N
    07  Fr  1:19 pm Neptune Opposition
    07  Fr  9:21 pm Moon Perigee: 361400 km
    09  Su  2:01 pm New Moon
    13  Th 10:21 pm Moon-Jupiter: 4.6° S
    16  Su  7:15 pm First Quarter
    17  Mo 12:46 pm Moon-Saturn: 2.3° S
    18  Tu  5:35 am Moon South Dec.: 20.9° S
    19  We  8:54 pm Moon Apogee: 404900 km
    20  Th  5:30 am Moon Descending Node
    20  Th  9:47 pm Mercury Superior Conj.
    22  Sa  9:54 pm Autumnal Equinox
    24  Mo 10:53 pm Full Moon (Harvest Moon)
    30  Su  3:06 am Moon-Aldebaran: 1.4° S
Oct 01  Mo          Venus: 32.9°

Sky Events Calendar by Fred Espenak and Sumit Dutta (NASA’s GSFC),
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SKYCAL/SKYCAL.html

If you go to the above site you can print out a list like the above for the entire year
or calendar pages for your time zone.

Sun and Moon Rising and Setting Events

     LU                  Ephemeris of Sky Events for Interlochen/TC
     September, 2018    Local time zone: EDT
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     | DATE |  SUN     SUN  DAYLIGHT|   TWILIGHT*    |MOON  RISE OR    ILLUM |
     |      |  RISE    SET    HOURS |  END    START  |PHASE SET** TIME FRACTN|
     +=======================================================================+
     |Sat  1| 07:05a  08:19p  13:14 | 09:25p  05:58a |      Rise 11:43p   62%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun  2| 07:06a  08:17p  13:11 | 09:23p  06:00a |L Qtr Rise 12:22a   51%|
     |Mon  3| 07:07a  08:15p  13:08 | 09:21p  06:01a |      Rise 01:08a   40%|
     |Tue  4| 07:08a  08:13p  13:05 | 09:19p  06:02a |      Rise 02:03a   29%|
     |Wed  5| 07:09a  08:12p  13:02 | 09:17p  06:04a |      Rise 03:08a   19%|
     |Thu  6| 07:11a  08:10p  12:59 | 09:15p  06:05a |      Rise 04:19a   11%|
     |Fri  7| 07:12a  08:08p  12:56 | 09:13p  06:06a |      Rise 05:35a    4%|
     |Sat  8| 07:13a  08:06p  12:53 | 09:11p  06:08a |      Rise 06:51a    1%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun  9| 07:14a  08:04p  12:50 | 09:09p  06:09a |New   Set  08:26p    0%|
     |Mon 10| 07:15a  08:02p  12:47 | 09:07p  06:10a |      Set  08:57p    2%|
     |Tue 11| 07:16a  08:00p  12:43 | 09:05p  06:12a |      Set  09:27p    7%|
     |Wed 12| 07:18a  07:59p  12:40 | 09:03p  06:13a |      Set  09:56p   14%|
     |Thu 13| 07:19a  07:57p  12:37 | 09:01p  06:14a |      Set  10:27p   22%|
     |Fri 14| 07:20a  07:55p  12:34 | 08:59p  06:16a |      Set  11:00p   31%|
     |Sat 15| 07:21a  07:53p  12:31 | 08:57p  06:17a |      Set  11:37p   41%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 16| 07:22a  07:51p  12:28 | 08:55p  06:18a |F Qtr Set  12:17a   50%|
     |Mon 17| 07:24a  07:49p  12:25 | 08:53p  06:20a |      Set  01:03a   60%|
     |Tue 18| 07:25a  07:47p  12:22 | 08:51p  06:21a |      Set  01:53a   69%|
     |Wed 19| 07:26a  07:45p  12:19 | 08:49p  06:22a |      Set  02:47a   77%|
     |Thu 20| 07:27a  07:43p  12:16 | 08:47p  06:23a |      Set  03:44a   85%|
     |Fri 21| 07:28a  07:42p  12:13 | 08:45p  06:25a |      Set  04:44a   91%|
     |Sat 22| 07:29a  07:40p  12:10 | 08:43p  06:26a |      Set  05:45a   96%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 23| 07:31a  07:38p  12:07 | 08:41p  06:27a |      Set  06:47a   99%|
     |Mon 24| 07:32a  07:36p  12:04 | 08:39p  06:29a |Full  Rise 07:51p  100%|
     |Tue 25| 07:33a  07:34p  12:00 | 08:37p  06:30a |      Rise 08:17p   99%|
     |Wed 26| 07:34a  07:32p  11:57 | 08:35p  06:31a |      Rise 08:43p   96%|
     |Thu 27| 07:35a  07:30p  11:54 | 08:33p  06:32a |      Rise 09:12p   91%|
     |Fri 28| 07:37a  07:28p  11:51 | 08:31p  06:34a |      Rise 09:44p   84%|
     |Sat 29| 07:38a  07:26p  11:48 | 08:29p  06:35a |      Rise 10:21p   76%|
     +------+-----------------------+----------------+-----------------------+
     |Sun 30| 07:39a  07:25p  11:45 | 08:28p  06:36a |      Rise 11:04p   66%|
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     * Nautical Twilight
     ** Moonrise or moonset, whichever occurs between sunset and sunrise

 

08/30/2018 – Ephemeris – Planet controversy again

Ephemeris for Thursday, August 30th. The Sun will rise at 7:02. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 8:23. The Moon, 3 days before last quarter, will rise at 10:40 this evening.

Back when I was a kid we used to know what a planet was, and there were 9 of them. Back then there was no real definition for a planet, other than it orbited the Sun. You knew it when you saw it. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union voted to define planets by three criteria, which left Pluto out, so now there are 8. Planetary scientists, who may not consider themselves astronomers, balk at that definition. Alan Stern of the New Horizons mission to Pluto wants a new definition. Basically a planet is any body that’s round, or formally has reached hydrostatic equilibrium. That includes all 9 old planets, many moons like ours, Kuiper Belt objects, and the asteroid Ceres. About 115 at last count.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

For more information go to Ethan Siegel’s Starts with a Bang blog:  You Won’t Like The Consequences Of Making Pluto A Planet Again

08/29/2018 – Ephemeris –

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 29th. The Sun will rise at 7:01. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 23 minutes, setting at 8:24. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 10:13 this evening.

It’s our Wednesday look at the bright planets. Four of them are visible in the evening sky. The brilliant Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 8:40 p.m. until it sets at 9:44 p.m. Jupiter will be in the southwest as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, the Moon, and currently Mars. Jupiter will set at 11:05 p.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southern sky and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 9:21 p.m. and will set at 1:47 a.m.. Mars will be low in the southeast as the skies darken tonight. and is now 41.3 million miles (66.6 million km) away. It will set at 3:25 a.m. Mercury will rise in the east-northeast at 5:29 a.m. and be visible until about 6:40 tomorrow morning.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The evening planets visible at 9 p.m., almost an hour after sunset. August 29th, 2018. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with the same magnification at 9 p.m. August 29, 2018. Mars is also shown enlarged. The global dust storm is abating, so the albedo features are beginning to be seen. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

Mercury seen at 6:15 a.m. August 30, 2018, about 45 minutes before sunrise. Bonus Orion appears without the possibility of frostbite. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

The gibbous Moon as it should appear tomorrow morning. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on August 29, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 30th. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

08/28/2018 – Ephemeris – Water on the Moon

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 28th. The Sun will rise at 7:00. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 26 minutes, setting at 8:26. The Moon, 2 days past full, will rise at 9:47 this evening.

Ten years ago India launched its lunar orbiting Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. On it was a NASA instrument the Moon Mineralogy Mapper to study the composition of the Moon’s crust. With it they discovered signatures of water at the Moon’s high latitudes, probably in water-bearing minerals. Water was also confirmed in craters near the Moon’s south pole by the LCROSS probe that was launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009. It crashed near the Moon’s south pole in a crater following a centaur stage which it was observing. Though the expected visual show wasn’t visible from Earth the LCROSS satellite saw and returned its observations before it too crashed. It relayed that the Moon had ice near the south pole.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Water Detected at High Latitudes on the Moon by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper The water-bearing minerals are colored blue. Credit ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/Brown Univ./USGS

The Moon’s south pole area on the left and north pole on the right. The cyan color shows shadowed areas where ice is located. From data gathered by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, and instruments on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and LCROSS. Click on image to enlarge. Credit NASA.

Finding water is a big deal.  It helps Moon colonists live off the land, so to speak.  While the poles on Earth are foreboding places, those of the Moon could give colonists an advantage.  First, that’s where the water is.  The Moon has very little axial tilt so deep craters never see the sunlight, and high peaks see eternal sunlight, a great place to place solar panels for just about continuous energy production.

 

08/27/2018 – Ephemeris – It wasn’t the Harvest Moon but it has that effect

Ephemeris for Monday, August 27th. The Sun will rise at 6:59. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 29 minutes, setting at 8:28. The Moon, 1 day past full, will rise at 9:21 this evening.

Last night’s full moon wasn’t the Harvest Moon. That’s next month’s full moon. This full moon is the Sturgeon Full Moon. You’d think it should be the Corn Moon, That’s normally the September’s full moon, which is preempted this year by the Harvest Moon, the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox. What’s taking effect now is what I call the harvest moon effect, in that the nearly full Moon stays in the evening sky for almost a week, it seems, after full; while I’m waiting to spot the wonders of the summer Milky Way at a decent hour. On average the Moon rises about 50 minutes later each night. Now it’s decreasing to be less than 30 minutes. It won’t be until Thursday night that we’ll have a whole half hour of dark skies, and up to an hour by Friday night.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The motion of the Moon with respect to the eastern horizon from August 27 through August 31, 2018. It shows the difference in the rise times that create the harvest moon effect. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

08/24/2018 – Ephemeris – The last Friday Night Live of the year is tonight

Ephemeris for Friday, August 24th. The Sun rises at 6:55. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 37 minutes, setting at 8:33. The Moon, 2 days before full, will set at 5:54 tomorrow morning.

The Grand Traverse Astronomical Society will be at the last Friday Night Live of the year tonight on Front Street in Traverse City. We have a lot of fun at these events, looking at the Sun and possibly Venus from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., talking astronomy and what’s up in the sky, and NASA’s missions to the planets and now the Sun. After 9 p.m. if it’s clear we pull our telescopes off the street and onto the sidewalk to view the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. Last week we had the Moon, but it’s no longer in the southern sky in the evening. Last week we didn’t pack our telescopes up until after 11 p.m. But it all depends on the clouds. Our next sidewalk event will be October 20th, International Observe the Moon Night.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

A girl looking through a telescope at the nearly first quarter Moon at Friday Night Live, August 17, 2018.

Looking down Front Street in Traverse City at the Friday Night Live August 17, 2018.

08/23/2018 – Ephemeris – Mercury’s morning appearance

Ephemeris for Thursday, August 23rd. The Sun rises at 6:54. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 40 minutes, setting at 8:35. The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 4:56 tomorrow morning. | The tiny and elusive planet Mercury is making an appearance in the morning sky now. On Sunday afternoon our time Mercury will at its greatest elongation or separation west of the Sun. So Sunday or Monday mornings are the very best time to spot it. Look to the east-northeast at a low horizon to spot it. It should be visible from about 6 a.m. to about 6:40 a.m. before twilight swamps it. There are no stars of comparable brightness near it. It’s seen against the dim stars of Cancer the crab. The bright stars Pollux and Castor of Gemini will appear a ways above it. It should be visible from now through next week. Today is the day of the mini-Moon, its smallest of the month at 252 thousand miles (406 thousand km) away.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The motion of Mercury from August 23 to September 1, 2018. For each day the magnitude of Mercury is given. Note that gets brighter over the period. That is the magnitudes get more negative. The is due to Mercury’s increasing phase, getting fuller as it moves around the Sun. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

08/22/2018 – Ephemeris – All five bright planets visible now

Ephemeris for Wednesday, August 22nd. The Sun rises at 6:53. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 43 minutes, setting at 8:37. The Moon, half way from first quarter to full, will set at 4:00 tomorrow morning.

It’s Wednesday and time to look for and at the bright planets. Four of them are visible in the evening sky. The brilliant Venus will be visible in the western twilight from about 9 p.m. until it sets at 10:02 p.m. Jupiter will be in the southwest as it gets dark. It is only outshone by Venus, the Moon, and currently Mars. Jupiter will set at 11:30 p.m. Saturn will start the evening low in the southern sky and will stay relatively low, above the Teapot of Sagittarius. It will be due south at 9:49 p.m. and will set at 2:15 a.m.. Mars will be low in the southeast as the skies darken tonight. and is now 38.9 million miles (62.7 million km) away. It will set at 3:51 a.m. The fifth planet Mercury will rise at 5:27 a.m. tomorrow morning.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The evening planets visible at 9:30 p.m., almost an hour after sunset. August 22nd, 2018. Also shown is the Moon. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars with the same magnification at 9:30 p.m. August 22, 2018. Mars is also shown enlarged. The global dust storm is abating, so the albedo features are beginning to be seen. Created using Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts).

The gibbous Moon as it should appear tonight. Created using Stellarium. Stellarium.

Demonstration of the Moon’s gibbous phase with the Styrofoam moon ball we use for Project Astro held up to a light off frame to the right. The night side of the ball is illuminated a bit by the translucency of the ball, and the reflection off my hand. Note the roughness of the ball is visible only at the terminator.

My program about the Moon’s crescent phase aired last Thursday and a demonstration of it using a moonball is here.

Mercury seen at 6 a.m., about an hour before sunrise. A bonus, the constellation Orion appears without the possibility of frostbite. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using Stellarium.

Planets and the Moon at sunset and sunrise of a single night starting with sunset on the right on August 22, 2018. The night ends on the left with sunrise on the 23rd. Click on the image to enlarge. Created using my LookingUp program.

08/21/2018 – Ephemeris – How will the Parker Solar Probe get near to the Sun?

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 21st. The Sun rises at 6:52. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 46 minutes, setting at 8:38. The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:09 tomorrow morning.

I introduced the Parker Solar Probe yesterday. It’s on its way to Venus to have some of its velocity stolen by that planet as to drop to nearly 15 million miles (24 million km) of the Sun at its first perihelion, before heading almost all the way out to the Earth’s orbit. Its next encounter with Venus will steal even more velocity from the probe to drop even closer to the Sun. It will take nearly 7 years to reach as close as 3.9 million miles (6.2 million km) from he center of the Sun of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) from what looks like its surface, the photosphere, the bright ball we see of the Sun. The probe has a huge heat shield that will handle the over two thousand degree heat from the Sun. Even though the corona is several million degrees in temperature, it’s not dense enough to heat the probe.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

The planned orbits of the Parker Solar Probe. First flyby of Venus will occur on October 3rd 2018. The first perihelion passage a bit more than a month later on November 6th. Credit: NASA

A close look at the Sun

Click on image to enlarge. Credit NASA.

08/20/2018 – Ephemeris – The Parker Solar probe is on its way to skim through the Sun’s corona

Ephemeris for Monday, August 20th. The Sun rises at 6:51. It’ll be up for 13 hours and 49 minutes, setting at 8:40. The Moon, 2 days past first quarter, will set at 2:22 tomorrow morning.

Eight days ago the Parker Solar Probe was launched toward the Sun. It is the first NASA spacecraft named after a living person, Eugene Parker, a Michigander, born in Houghton in 1927, graduated from Michigan State, before moving on to Caltech. He eventually landed at the University of Chicago. In the 1950’s he put forth the theory of the supersonic solar wind of charged particles pervading the solar system. The theory was not initially accepted, but has been verified by satellites. The Parker Solar Probe will make multiple passes of Venus, giving up its velocity to fall closer to the Sun on each pass, taking almost 7 years to inch closer to the Sun at its perihelion until it gets down to about 3.8 million miles of our star.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Artist’s visualization of the Parker Solar Probe near the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben.

Dr. Eugene Parker (seated in the foreground), a pioneer in heliophysics and S. Chandrasekhar distinguished service professor emeritus for the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, watches the launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. This is the first agency mission named for a living person. Standing behind Parker is Nicky Fox, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. The liftoff took place at 3:31 a.m. EDT on Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018. The spacecraft was built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun’s atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson.