Space News Update- June 17, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: New NASA Space Observatory to Study Carbon Conundrums

Story 2:

Incredible Technology: Private Mars Mission Could Return Samples by 2020

Story 3: NASA Hubble to Begin Search Beyond Pluto for a New Horizons Mission Target

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The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

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SpaceCalendar

New NASA Space Observatory to Study Carbon Conundrums

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

Incredible Technology: Private Mars Mission Could Return Samples by 2020

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

Image ofthe Week

SpaceCalendar

NASA Hubble to Begin Search Beyond Pluto for a New Horizons

Mission Target

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The NightSky

ISSSightings

NASA-TV

Food forThought

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The Night Sky

Sky & Telescope

Tuesday, June 17

• Vega is the brightest star high in the east. Barely to its lower left after dark is one of the best-known multiple stars in the sky: 4th-magnitude Epsilon (ε) Lyrae, the Double-Double. It forms one corner of a roughly equilateral triangle with Vega and Zeta (ζ) Lyrae. The triangle is less than 2° on a side, hardly the width of your thumb at arm's length. Binoculars easily resolve Epsilon and a 4-inch telescope at 100× or more should resolve each of Epsilon's two wide components into a tight pair.

• Zeta Lyrae, the triangle's third star, is also a double star for binoculars, much tougher, but it's easily split with a telescope. Delta Lyrae, the next star down, as a much wider binocular pair; it's resolved in the photo.

Wednesday, June 18

• With Scorpius coming up into good evening view now, keep an eye on the doings of Delta Scorpii. This is the middle star in the row of three marking Scorpius's head. In July 2000 it unexpectedly doubled in brightness. It has remained brighter than normal ever since, with fluctuations, at about magnitude 2.0. Compare it to Beta Scorpii above it, magnitude 2.6, and Antares, 1.1.

Thursday, June 19

• Now that the Moon is out of the evening sky, plan some new deep-sky hunts with your scope! You may know of the splendid globular star clusters M10 and M12 in Ophiuchus.

Friday, June 20

• This is the time of year when the two brightest stars of summer, Arcturus and Vega, shine equally high overhead as midnight approaches: Arcturus in the southwest, Vega toward the east.

The two brightest asteroids, Ceres and Vesta, targets of the NASA Dawn spacecraft, remain within 2° of each other all month as they ply the central regions of Virgo the Maiden.

Source: Astronomy.com

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ISS Sighting Opportunities

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

ISS For Denver:

Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears

Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears

Tue Jun 17, 9:20 PM 4 min 19° 15 above N 10 above ENE

Tue Jun 17, 10:56 PM 2 min 55° 19 above WNW 55 above WNW

Wed Jun 18, 10:08 PM 2 min 61° 34 above NNW 35 above ESE

Thu Jun 19, 9:18 PM 4 min 36° 24 above NNW 10 above E

Thu Jun 19, 10:54 PM 2 min 22° 11 above W 22 above WSW

Fri Jun 20, 10:05 PM 3 min 43° 21 above WNW 29 above S

Sat Jun 21, 9:17 PM 4 min 84° 45 above WNW 13 above SE

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NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASA

Tuesday, June 1711:55 a.m., - ISS Expedition 40 In-Flight Educational Event with the Colvin Run Elementary School in Vienna, Va. - JSC (all channels)

Wednesday, June 1811:30 a.m., Orion flight test prelaunch progress event (all channels)

Thursday, June 199:15 a.m., Coverage of the ISS Expedition 40 Russian Spacewalk (all channels)

 

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Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

• Jun 17 - Comet 56P/Slaughter-Burnham At Opposition (4.284 AU)

• Jun 17 - Asteroid 10563 Izhdubar Closest Approach To Earth (0.546 AU)

• Jun 17 - Asteroid 9622 Terryjones Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)

• Jun 17 - Asteroid 3202 Graff Closest Approach To Earth (3.333 AU)

• Jun 17 - Centaur Object 55576 Amycus At Opposition (17.702 AU)

• Jun 17 - Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar At Opposition (42.013 AU)

• Jun 18 - Cassini, Titan Flyby

• Jun 18 - Venus Express, Aerobraking Begins

• Jun 18 - Rosetta, Trajectory Correction Maneuver

• Jun 18 - Asteroid 4342 Freud Closest Approach To Earth (1.581 AU)

• Jun 18 - Asteroid 1284 Latvia Closest Approach To Earth (2.030 AU)

• Jun 18 - Asteroid 25000 Astrometria Closest Approach To Earth (2.275 AU)

• Jun 18 - Centaur Object 10370 Hylonome At Opposition (21.719 AU)

• Jun 18 - 125th Anniversary (1889), Mighei Meteorite Fall in USSR

• Jun 19 - Deimos 2/ KazEOSat 2/ SkySat 3/ AprizeSat 9 & 10/ Dnepr Launch

• Jun 19 - Asteroid 719 Albert Closest Approach To Earth (1.337 AU)

• Jun 19 - Asteroid 8146 Jimbell Closest Approach To Earth (2.364 AU)

• Jun 20 - Comet 87P/Bus At Opposition (1.455 AU)

• Jun 20 - Comet 15P/Finlay Closest Approach To Earth (1.626 AU)

• Jun 20 -Comet C/2012 LP26 (Palomar) At Opposition (6.200 AU)

• Jun 20 - Asteroid 37655 Illapa Closest Approach To Earth (1.113 AU)

• Jun 20 - Orbcomm 2 (FM45-FM50) Falcon 9 Launch

• Jun 21 - Summer Solstice, 10:51 UT

• Jun 21 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #383 (OTM-383)

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Food for ThoughtWhy the Moon's 'Dark Side' Has No Face

New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the ScaleNew Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

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Space Image of the Week

Hubble Eyes Golden Rings of Star FormationImage credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA;

Acknowledgement: R. Buta (University of Alabama)