Space News Update- December 10, 2013 -

In the News

Story 1: Curiosity Discovers Ancient Mars Lake Could Support Life

Story 2:Get Ready for the 2013 Geminid Meteor Shower

Story 3: Is Anything Left of ISON? Spacecraft Continue to Monitor Comet’s Remains

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Curiosity Discovers Ancient Mars Lake Could Support Life

Get Ready for the 2013 Geminid Meteor Shower

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Is Anything Left of ISON? Spacecraft Continue to Monitor Comet’s Remains

This image from the STEREO A spacecraft shows Comet ISON (upper right) still visible on Dec. 3, 2013. Credit: NASA.

The Night Sky

Sky & Telescope

Tuesday, December 10 The eastern (left-hand) side of the Great Square of Pegasus points down at the Moon this evening.

Wednesday, December 11 Which rises first: bright Jupiter in the east-northeast, or bright Rigel in Orion's foot in the east-southeast? Both come up soon after dark. At the latitudes of New York and Denver (about 40° N), Rigel comes first tonight. As far north as Ottawa and Seattle (about 46° N), Jupiter now leads.

Thursday, December 12 The tiny black shadow of Jupiter's fast-moving moon Io crosses Jupiter's face tonight from 10:02 p.m. EST to 12:17 a.m. EST. Following soon behind is Io itself, transiting from 10:37 p.m. to 12:52 a.m. EST. In a telescope, Io is much less visible on Jupiter's bright face than its shadow is.

The Moon brightens as it waxes to full on the night of the 16th.

Friday, December 13  •The Geminid meteor shower should be at its peak tonight, from 9 or 10 p.m. until dawn Saturday morning. The best viewing time is after your local moonset: in the hour before the beginning of morning twilight on the 14th. But bright meteors will show even through the moonlight earlier.  •The eclipsing binary star Algol should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 9:50 p.m. EST.

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

Tue Dec 10, 5:09 PM

5 min 21° 11 above S 11 above E

Tue Dec 10, 6:46 PM

< 1 min 28° 20 above W 28 above W

Wed Dec 11, 5:57 PM

2 min 70° 34 above WSW 38 above NE

Thu Dec 12, 5:08 PM

5 min 63° 28 above SSW 11 above ENE

Thu Dec 12, 6:45 PM

1 min 19° 12 above WNW 19 above NW

Fri Dec 13, 5:57 PM

3 min 29° 18 above WNW 19 above NNE

Sat Dec 14, 5:09 PM

3 min 44° 29 above W 10 above NE

Sat Dec 14, 6:46 PM

<1 min 12° 10 above NW 12 above NW

NASA-TV Highlights(all times Eastern Time Zone)

December 12, Thursday12 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels) December 13, Friday9:40 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Interviews with the Associated Press and space.com - JSC (All Channels)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

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

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Dec 10 - CBERS 3 CZ-4B Launch

Dec 10 - Comet P/2013 G1 (Kowalski) Perihelion (3.353 AU)

Dec 10 - Comet 115P/Maury At Opposition (4.270 AU)

Dec 10 - Asteroid 2200 Pasadena Closest Approach To Earth (1.573 AU)

Dec 11 - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), Trajectory Correction Maneuver #1 (TCM-1)

Dec 11 - Comet 280P/Larsen Perihelion (2.636 AU)

Dec 11 - Comet C/2013 V2 (Borisov) At Opposition (3.582 AU)

Dec 11 - Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (4.069 AU)

Dec 11 - Asteroid 2006 CT Near-Earth Flyby (0.063 AU)

Dec 11 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)

Dec 11 - Asteroid 767 Bondia Closest Approach To Earth (2.125 AU)

Dec 11 - Annie Jump Cannon's 150th Birthday (1863)

Dec 12 - GPS 2F-5 Delta 4M Launch

Dec 12 - Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (0.808 AU)

Dec 12 - Comet 285P/LINEAR At Opposition (1.506 AU)

Dec 12 - Comet 154P/Brewington Perihelion (1.608 AU)

Dec 12 - Comet 37P/Forbes At Opposition (3.778 AU)

Dec 12 - Comet C/2013 W2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.944 AU)

Dec 12 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults HIP 66423 (7.8 Magnitude Star)

Dec 12 - Asteroid 3590 Holst Closest Approach To Earth (1.141 AU)

Dec 12 - Asteroid 8103 Fermi Closest Approach To Earth (2.113 AU)

Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower Peak

Dec 14 - Chang'e 3, Moon Landing (China)

Food for ThoughtCU-Boulder Scientist: 2012 Solar Storm Points Up

Need for Society to Prepare

Space Image of the Week

The Butterfly NebulaImage Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble