Space News Update
- April 22, 2013 In the News
Story 1:
Orbital Sciences launches Antares rocket on successful test flight
Story 2:
Hubble Sees a Horsehead of a Different Color
Story 3:
NASA sees 3 coronal mass ejections
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
>
Orbital Sciences launches Antares rocket
on successful test flight
Hubble Sees a Horsehead of a Different Color
NASA sees 3 coronal mass ejections
The Night Sky
Monday, April 22
· The two brightest points in the sky after dusk this week are
Jupiter in the west and Sirius in the southwest. Midway between
them is Orion. This lineup is lying down lower every week now.
How late into the spring can you keep it in view?
Tuesday, April 23
· There's a bright gibbous Moon tonight. If you're out with a
telescope, you'll notice that the Moon is creeping toward a star:
Chi Virginis, magnitude 4.7. The Moon's invisible dark limb, just
beyond the terminator, will occult the star for most of North
America except the Northeast and north of the Great Lakes
(Denver, 9:07 p.m. MDT)
Wednesday, April 24
· Look close to the nearly full Moon for Spica tonight. The Moon
occults Spica for parts of Central America, South America, and
southern Africa;map and timetables.
Thursday, April 25
· Full Moon. A very slight partial lunar eclipse is visible from
Europe, Africa, Australia, and most of Asia, centered on 20:07
April 25th Universal Time. Details.
· The "star" near the Moon all night is Saturn, just two days
away from its own opposition.
Friday, April 26
· Around the end of twilight this evening, the Moon rises below
Saturn. With binoculars, look closer below Saturn for the wide
double star Alpha2 and Alpha1 Librae, magnitudes 2.8 and 5.2,
respectively.
ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver:
SATELLITE
LOCAL
DURATION
DATE/TIME
(MIN)
MAX
ELEV
(DEG)
APPROACH
DEPARTURE
(DEG-DIR)
(DEG-DIR)
ISS
Mon Apr 22/08:31 PM
5
26
14 above NNW
12 above E
ISS
Mon Apr 22/10:08 PM
1
38
14 above WNW 24 above W
ISS
Tue Apr 23/09:18 PM
2
76
28 above WNW 60 above SSE
ISS
Wed Apr 24/08:27 PM
4
56
27 above NNW
12 above ESE
ISS
Wed Apr 24/10:03 PM
1
14
10 above W
13 above WSW
ISS
Thu Apr 25/09:13 PM
3
26
18 above W
19 above S
ISS
Fri Apr 26/08:23 PM
4
52
38 above W
10 above SE
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
April 24, Wednesday
6 a.m. - ISS Progress 51 Launch Coverage from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
(Launch scheduled at 6:12 a.m. EDT) - JSC via Baikonur (All Channels)
April 25, Thursday
11:35 a.m. - ISS Expedition 35 In-Flight Event with WCSH-TV, Portland, ME and Sirius XM’s
“Midday Briefing” Program - JSC (All Channels)
12:05 p.m. - ISS Mission Control On-Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network JSC (All Channels)
2 - 7 p.m. - Live Coverage of FIRST Robotic Finals from St. Louis Missouri - HQ (Public and
Education Channels)
April 26, Friday
7:45 a.m. - ISS Progress 51 Docking Coverage (Docking scheduled at 8:27 a.m. EDT) - JSC
(All Channels)
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. - NASA’s Great Moon Buggy Race - MSFC (Public Channel)
9:30 a.m. - 7:15 p.m. - Live Coverage of FIRST Robotic Finals from St. Louis Missouri - HQ
(Education Channel)
11 a.m. - ISS Live - JSC (Media Channel)
Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.
Space Calendar
Apr 22 - [Apr 15] Earth Day
Apr 22 - Lyrids Meteor Shower Peak
Apr 22 - [Apr 17] Comet P/2013 G4 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.718 AU)
Apr 22 - Comet 136P/Mueller At Opposition (4.158 AU)
Apr 22 - Asteroid 2009 SQ104 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)
Apr 22 - Asteroid 2010 CE55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)
Apr 22 - Asteroid 2012 XF55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.084 AU)
Apr 22 - Asteroid 65803 Didymos Closest Approach To Earth (1.272 AU)
Apr 23 - Comet C/2011 R1 (McNaught) At Opposition (2.017 AU)
Apr 23 - Comet P/2011 C2 (Gibbs) At Opposition (4.674 AU)
Apr 23 - Asteroid 2830 Greenwich Closest Approach To Earth (0.929 AU)
Apr 23 - Asteroid 3651 Friedman Closest Approach To Earth (1.136 AU)
Apr 23 - Asteroid 2169 Taiwan Closest Approach To Earth (1.892 AU)
Apr 23 - Asteroid 253 Mathilde Closest Approach To Earth (1.965 AU)
Apr 23 - Kuiper Belt Object 2010 EK139 At Opposition (37.227 AU)
Apr 24 - [Apr 17] Progress M-19M Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 51P)
Apr 24 - [Apr 17] Comet P/2013 G4 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (1.718 AU)
Apr 24 - Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (5.231 AU)
Apr 24 - Asteroid 2952 Lilliputia Closest Approach To Earth (1.699 AU)
Apr 24 - Asteroid 16035 Sasandford Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU)
Apr 24 - Asteroid 246913 Slocum Closest Approach To Earth (2.100 AU)
Apr 24 - Workshop: From Outer Space to Mining, Cleveland, United Kingdom
Apr 25 - [Apr 18] Partial Lunar Eclipse
Apr 25 - [Apr 22] Asteroid 2013 GK69 Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)
Apr 25 - Lecture: Project Orion Nuclear Propulsion, London, United Kingdom
Apr 26 - Cosmos-Uragan M Soyuz-2-1b Fregat Launch
Apr 26 - Comet 193P/LINEAR-NEAT At Opposition (2.976 AU)
Apr 26 - Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (5.230 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 2612 Kathryn Occults HIP 34608 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
Apr 26 - [Apr 22] Asteroid 2013 GE55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 2575 Bulgaria Closest Approach To Earth (1.008 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 3153 Lincoln Closest Approach To Earth (1.727 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 16626 Thumper Closest Approach To Earth (1.925 AU)
Apr 26 - 15th Anniversary (1998), Cassini, Venus Flyby
Apr 26 - 165th Anniversary (1848), Andrew Graham's Discovery of Asteroid 9 Metis
JPL Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Earth Day! Astronaut Celebrates Earth from Space
Space Image of the Week
Image Credit: Dennis Simmons/SpaceWeather