Space News Update- February 17, 2015 -

In the News

Story 1: Colorful Cosmic 'Flower' Blooms in Gorgeous NASA Valentine

Story 2:Mars Rover Nearing Marathon Achievement

Story 3: The Starry Jewels of the Orion Constellation Explained

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV HighlightsSpace CalendarFood for Thought

Space Image of the Week

Colorful Cosmic 'Flower' Blooms in Gorgeous NASA Valentine

Mars Rover Nearing Marathon Achievement

The Starry Jewels of the Orion Constellation Explained

The Night SkyTuesday, February 17 Mars is now just 2° above Venus in the west-southwest at dusk. They'll remain at least this close for the next nine days. The shadow of Jupiter's moon Io crosses Jupiter's face from 6:13 to 8:31 p.m. EST. It's following along sixteen minutes behind Io itself, which is less visible. Around 9:10 p.m. EST, Callisto disappears into occultation behind Jupiter's western limb. Then from 10:35 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. EST Europa's shadow crosses Jupiter, following thirty-five minutes behind Europa itself. And, Jupiter's Great Red Spot comes into view around the planet's celestial eastern edge by midnight EST, to reach the planet's central meridian around 1:47 a.m. EST.  Wednesday, February 18 Juno, the 3rd-discovered asteroid, was at opposition three weeks ago but is now better placed for evening viewing. It's a little west of the head of Hydra (which is west of Jupiter) and magnitude 8.5. With your telescope, work your way to its exact position using the chart in the February Sky & Telescope, page 50.  Thursday, February 19 Algol is at its minimum light for a couple hours centered on 9:17 p.m. EST. Mutual eclipse among Jupiter's moons. Io casts its shadow onto Ganymede from 7:35 to 7:43 p.m. EST this evening, dimming it by 0.8 magnitude — that is, reducing its brightness by half — at the middle of that time.  Friday, February 20 Venus, the thin crescent Moon, and little Mars form a tight bunch in the west-southwest during and after dusk, as shown above. They fit in a circle just 2° across at the times of dusk for most of North America.

Sky & Telescope

Saturday, February 21 Venus and Mars are in conjunction 0.4° apart at dusk, with the Moon now looking on from on high, as shown above.

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 DisapperasTue Feb 17, 7:31 PM 1 min 18° 11 above NNW 18 above NNW

Wed Feb 18, 6:38 PM

3 min 17° 10 above NNW 16 above NE

Wed Feb 18, 8:13 PM

< 1 min 10° 10 above NW 10 above NW

Thu Feb 19, 7:20 PM 2 min 38° 10 above NW 38 above NFri Feb 20, 6:27 PM 5 min 27° 10 above NW 16 above ENEFri Feb 20, 8:05 PM < 1 min 17° 17 above WNW 17 above WNWSat Feb 21, 7:11 PM 3 min 72° 15 above WNW 57 above SSE

NASA-TV Highlights(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

5:45 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Coverage of the ISS Progress 58 Launch (Launch scheduled at 6 a.m. ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan) (all channels)

10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Space Station Live (all channels)

11:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Coverage of the ISS Progress 58 Docking to the ISS (Docking scheduled at 12 p.m. ET) (all channels)

12:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Women in STEM: STEM in the Global Science Community (all channels) 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 18 - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Event (all channels)2 p.m., Wednesday, February 18 - ISS Expedition 42 Spacewalk Preview Briefing (all channels) 6 a.m., Friday, February 20 - Coverage of U.S. Spacewalk # 29 (Wilmore and Virts) - JSC (all channels)

Feb 17 - [Feb 11] Progress M-26 Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 58P) Feb 17 - [Feb 11] 50th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 8 Launch (Moon Impact Mission) Feb 17 - Eutelsat 115 West B/ ABS 3A Falcon 9 Launch Feb 17 - Comet 309P/LINEAR Perihelion (1.740 AU) Feb 17 - Asteroid 2015 BF511 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU) Feb 17 - [Feb 15] Asteroid 422686 (2000 AC6) Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU) Feb 17 - Asteroid 6677 Renoir Closest Approach To Earth (2.588 AU) Feb 17 - Asteroid 767 Bondia Closest Approach To Earth (2.658 AU) Feb 17 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (2.922 AU) Feb 17 - Asteroid 3552 Don Quixote Closest Approach To Earth (5.953 AU) Feb 18 - Comet 32P/Comas Sola Closest Approach To Earth (1.352 AU) Feb 18 - Comet 291P/NEAT At Opposition (2.781 AU) Feb 18 - Comet 213P/Van Ness At Opposition (3.659 AU) Feb 18 - Comet 213P/Van Ness-B At Opposition (3.660 AU) Feb 18 - Asteroid 293 Brasilia Closest Approach To Earth (1.624 AU) Feb 18 - 20th Anniversary (1995), Neagari Meteorite Fall (Hit Car in Japan) Feb 18 - 85th Anniversary (1930), Clyde Tombaugh's Discovery of Pluto Feb 18 - Alessandro Volta's 270th Birthday (1745) Feb 19 - Comet P/2010 K2 (WISE) At Opposition (1.224 AU) Feb 19 - Comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington At Opposition (2.438 AU) Feb 19 - Asteroid 30439 Moe Closest Approach To Earth (1.218 AU) Feb 19 - Asteroid 3989 Odin Closest Approach To Earth (1.516 AU) Feb 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 148209 (2000 CR105) At Opposition (59.019 AU) Feb 20 - Garpun Proton-M/Briz-M Launch Feb 20 - Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR At Opposition (2.196 AU) Feb 20 - Comet 261P/Larson At Opposition (3.698 AU) Feb 20 - Asteroid 416151 (2002 RQ25) Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU) Feb 20 - Asteroid 163693 Atira Closest Approach To Earth (0.524 AU) Feb 20 - Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou Closest Approach To Earth (1.130 AU) Feb 20 - Asteroid 7919 Prime Closest Approach To Earth (1.693 AU) Feb 20 - Asteroid 18024 Dobson Closest Approach To Earth (2.140 AU) Feb 20 - George Smoot's 70th Birthday (1945) Feb 21 - Cosmos-Bars N1 Soyuz U Launch Feb 21 - Venus Passes 0.5 Degrees From Mars Feb 21 - Comet 206P/Barnard-Boattini At Opposition (1.586 AU) Feb 21 - Comet 249P/LINEAR At Opposition (2.381 AU) Feb 21 - Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.589 AU) Feb 21 - Comet 276P/Vorobjov At Opposition (4.082 AU) Feb 21 - Asteroid 3192 A'Hearn Closest Approach To Earth (0.989 AU) Feb 21 - Tom Gehrels' 90th Birthday (1925)

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Food for ThoughtInteresting Facts About Planet Mars

Space Image of the Week

Image Credit: NASA, ESO , NAOJ, Giovanni Paglioli; Assembling and processing: R. Colombari and R. Gendler

M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center