Celebration of Space - March 20, 2026
Jupiter with two of the four Galilean Moons. Credit: Frosty Drew Astronomy Team member, Scott MacNeill
This past Monday, March 16, 2026, the International Astronomy Union (IAU) Minor Planet Center announced the addition of 11 newly discovered moons around Saturn, and 4 around Jupiter. These additions bring the total count of moons around Saturn to 285, and around Jupiter to 101. These new moons are not like Jupiter’s Galilean Moons or Saturn’s larger moons, but instead are around 2 miles in diameter and are extremely difficult to observe from Earth. As for Saturn’s moons, the span of the area that the moons occupy accounts for a width of five times the width of Earth’s full Moon in the sky, which is a significant area to occupy! The newly discovered moons of both these planets are not named like the larger, more visible, moons, but instead have designations. Regardless of their visibility from Earth, it is worth taking a look at Jupiter and Saturn in a telescope to spot the moons that are easily visible from Earth, which accounts for Jupiter’s four Galilean Moons – Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, and Saturn’s moons – Titan, Rhea, Tethys, Dione, Enceladus, and Iapetus.
This past Tuesday, March 17, 2026, a small Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) measuring about 6 feet in diameter with a weight of 7 tons entered Earth’s atmosphere and exploded over Ohio, which classifies this event as a bolide. The event occurred during the daytime and was quite visible to residents along the Ohio and Pennsylvania border. Several dash cam and security cameras captured the bolide and the resulting sonic boom. Though there are significantly more lies / misinformation about this event out on social media – surprise! Keep in mind that the sonic boom will not accompany the explosion due to the distance that the asteroid is to the ground locations of video. If you’re watching a video that shows the bolide explode with a sonic boom at the same time, it’s a lie. Check out some images and video captured of the bolide:
Here is an image from the National Weather Service (NWS) that shows the flash from the asteroid entering Earth’s atmosphere.
Here is a video that recorded the sonic boom.
Here is a video that captured the view of the bolide from a dash cam (note that the audio is NSFW or family friendly).
Today is the Vernal Equinox, which is when Earth arrives at the point in our orbit where we aren’t tilted towards or away from the Sun. Today also marks the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. After today the daytime part of the day will be progressively longer than the nighttime. Certainly a favorite of many, but not really astronomers. Take a moment to step outside today and welcome spring!
Have a fabulous Vernal Equinox from all the astrogeeks at Frosty Drew!
