Space News Update
- July 11, 2014 In the News
Story 1:
Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars Linking Two Ancient Galaxies
Story 2:
Water Or Not? Fresh Martian Trenches Primarily Due To Carbon Dioxide Freezes, Study Says
Story 3:
How to Tell the Age of a Sun-like Star? Try ‘Gyrochronology’
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
Hubble Spots Spiral Bridge of Young Stars
Linking Two Ancient Galaxies
Water Or Not? Fresh Martian Trenches Primarily Due
To Carbon Dioxide Freezes, Study Says
How to Tell the Age of a Sun-like Star? Try
‘Gyrochronology’
The Night Sky
Friday, July 11
Mars and Spica form a striking pair in the southwestern sky at dusk!
They're now just under 2° apart. On Sunday evening they'll be at their
minimum separation, 1.3°. Watch them change day by day.
Full Moon tonight and Saturday night (exactly full at 7:25 a.m. Saturday
morning Eastern Daylight Time.) This evening the Moon shines in
northern Sagittarius. Tomorrow it's in western Capricornus.
Saturday, July 12
Look far above the still-full Moon this evening, and a bit left, to spot
Altair. Continue a similar distance in roughly the same direction, and
there's brighter Vega.
Sunday, July 13
This is the evening when Mars shines closest to Spica. Look southwest
at nightfall. They're 1.3° apart. Fiery Mars is the brighter one.
Monday, July 14
The tail of Scorpius is low in the south after dark — how low depends
on how far north you are. Look for the two stars especially close
together in the tail. These are Lambda and fainter Upsilon Scorpii,
Shaula and Lesath, known as the Cat's Eyes. They're canted at an
angle.
They point west by nearly a fist-width toward Mu Scorpii, a much tighter pair known as the Little Cat's Eyes. Can you
resolve Mu without using binoculars?
Tuesday, July 15
Vega is the brightest star very high in the east. Far down to its lower right shines Altair, almost as bright. Look left of
Altair by about a fist and a half at arm's length, and a little lower, for dim, compact Delphinus, the Dolphin. It's
leaping in the lower edge of the Milky Way.
Sky & Telescope
ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Sun Jul 13, 4:56 AM
3 min
14°
10 above SSE
11 above E
Tue Jul 15, 4:54 AM
4 min
42°
11 above SSW
26 above E
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
4 p.m., Friday, July 11 - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-2 Science and Technology Cargo News Conference WFF (all channels)
1 p.m., Saturday, July 12 - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-2 Pre-Launch News Conference - WFF (all channels)
11:30 a.m., Sunday, July 13 - Video B-Roll Feed of Processing of the Orbital Sciences Antares Rocket and
Cygnus Cargo Craft (all channels)
12 p.m., Sunday, July 13 - Coverage of the Launch of the Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-2 Resupply Mission to
the ISS (Launch scheduled at 12:52 p.m. ET) (all channels)
2:30 p.m., Sunday, July 13 - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-2 Post-Launch News Conference - WFF (all
channels)
2 p.m., Monday, July 14 - The Search for Life in the Universe (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar
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Jul 11 - Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa Perihelion (0.784 AU)
Jul 11 - Asteroid 4417 Lecar Occults HIP 77634 (3.9 Magnitude Star)
Jul 11 - [Jul 06] Asteroid 2014 NG3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.059 AU)
Jul 11 - [Jul 11] Asteroid 2014 ND52 Near-Earth Flyby (0.096 AU)
Jul 11 - Asteroid 1034 Mozartia Closest Approach To Earth (0.773 AU)
Jul 11 - 35th Anniversary (1979), Skylab Re-Enters Into Earth's Atmosphere
Jul 12 - [Jul 10] Cygnus CRS Orb-2/ MicroMAS Antares Launch (International Space Station)
Jul 12 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (21 Degrees)
Jul 12 - Comet P/2005 S3 (Read) At Opposition (4.254 AU)
Jul 12 - Comet C/2010 S1 (LINEAR) At Opposition (5.639 AU)
Jul 12 - Asteroid 2014 LX21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
Jul 12 - Asteroid 881 Athene Closest Approach To Earth (1.111 AU)
Jul 12 - Asteroid 3752 Camillo Closest Approach To Earth (1.613 AU)
Jul 13 - Comet 280P/Larsen At Opposition (1.984 AU)
Jul 13 - Asteroid 2014 MS5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)
Jul 13 - [Jul 06] Asteroid 2014 NB3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)
Jul 13 - Asteroid 19034 Santorini Closest Approach To Earth (3.303 AU)
Jul 14 - Orbcomm 2 (FM45-FM50) Falcon 9 Launch
Jul 14 - Express AM-6 Proton M-Briz M Launch
Jul 14 - Asteroid 11055 Honduras Closest Approach To Earth (0.900 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 6296 Cleveland Closest Approach To Earth (0.969 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 42487 Angstrom Closest Approach To Earth (1.231 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 10189 Normanrockwell Closest Approach To Earth (1.627 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 4808 Ballaero Closest Approach To Earth (2.017 AU)
Jul 14 - Asteroid 83982 Crantor At Opposition (16.167)
Jul 15 - [Jul 06] Comet 296P/Garradd Closest Approach To Earth (1.314 AU)
Jul 15 - Comet P/2008 QP20 (LINEAR-Hill) At Opposition (1.997 AU)
Jul 15 - Asteroid 6268 Versailles Closest Approach To Earth (1.601 AU)
Jul 15 - Asteroid 4151 Alanhale Closest Approach To Earth (2.512 AU)
Jul 15 - Asteroid 37452 Spirit Closest Approach To Earth (3.118 AU)
JPL Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Is Mercury a Hit-and-Run Survivor?
Space Image of the Week
Hubble Sees a Galaxy With a Glowing Heart