Space News Update- July 1, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: Mars entry test vehicle, parachute recovered; engineers elated

Story 2:Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Ready to Blast Off

Story 3: How to See Pluto at Opposition as New Horizons Crosses the One Year Out Mark

Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

NASA-TV HighlightsSpace CalendarFood for Thought

Space Image of the Week

Mars entry test vehicle, parachute recovered; engineers elated

Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Ready to Blast Off

How to See Pluto at Opposition as New Horizons Crosses the One Year

Out Mark

The Night SkyTuesday, July 1•Ceres and Vesta at their closest. The two leading asteroids, currently magnitudes 8.4 and 7.1, are closing right in on each other as seen on the sky. They're not far above Mars and Spica after dark. They are within 1/3° of each other for the next week and will appear closest together, just 1/6° apart, on the evenings of July 4th and 5th. See the article in the July Sky & Telescope, page 50. Here's a printable Ceres and Vesta finder chart.

Wednesday, July 2•Can your scope separate a double star 1.0 arcsecond wide? High overhead, 44 Bootis provides a fine test! And one of its components is a weird variable star too. See the article and chart in the July Sky & Telescope, page 52.

Thursday, July 3•Vega is the brightest star very high in the east these evenings. The brightest to its lower left is Deneb. Farther to Vega's lower right is Altair. These make up the big Summer Triangle. If you have a dark sky, you can see that the glowing band of the Milky Way runs through it. Earth is at aphelion, its farthest from the Sun for 2014. But it's only 3% farther than at perihelion in January; Earth's orbit is nearly round and nearly centered on the Sun.

Friday, July 4•Out to watch fireworks? As you're waiting for twilight to end, spot the Moon in the west-southwest with Mars and Spica off to its left, as shown here. High above them all shines brighter Arcturus. Point these out to your family!Ceres and Vesta appear just 1/6° apart this evening and tomorrow evening; see July 1 above.

Saturday, July 5•First-quarter Moon. The half-lit Moon is quite close to Mars as seen from North America. The Moon occults (hides) Mars during daylight for Hawaii and at dusk or night in parts of Latin America; map and timetables.

Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities

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

ISS For Denver:

No sightings for Denver through July 11, 2014

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

• Tuesday, July 1

• 3:45 a.m. - Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Launch Coverage (all channels)• 7:45 a.m. - ISS Expedition 40 In-Flight Interviews with the NBC “Today” Show and WJZ-

TV, Baltimore (all channels)• 8:30 a.m. - Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 Post-Launch News Conference (all channels)

Jul 01 - [Jun 24] Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Delta 2 Launch Jul 01 - Comet 104P/Kowal At Opposition (3.672 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 2011 UZ255 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 177049 (2003 EE16) Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 30785 Greeley Closest Approach To Earth (0.641 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 2511 Patterson Closest Approach To Earth (1.045 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 8722 Schirra Closest Approach To Earth (1.343 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 96205 Ararat Closest Approach To Earth (1.367 AU) Jul 01 - Asteroid 6136 Gryphon Closest Approach To Earth (2.195 AU) Jul 01 - 15th Anniversary (1999), Giotto, Earth Flyby Jul 02 - Rosetta, Trajectory Correction Maneuver Jul 02 - Comet C/2014 E2 (Jacques) Perihelion (0.664 AU) Jul 02 - Comet 280P/Larsen Closest Approach To Earth (1.967 AU) Jul 02 - Comet 63P/Wild At Opposition (3.280 AU) Jul 02 - Comet 60P/Tsuchinshan At Opposition (3.889 AU) Jul 02 - [Jun 30] Asteroid 2014 MJ26 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU) Jul 02 - Asteroid 426 Hippo Closest Approach To Earth (1.955 AU) Jul 02 - Asteroid 19148 Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (2.158 AU) Jul 02 - Asteroid 325 Heidelberga Closest Approach To Earth (2.540 AU) Jul 02 - Asteroid 41488 Sinbad Closest Approach To Earth (3.554 AU) Jul 03 - Comet C/2010 S1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (5.624 AU) Jul 03 - Asteroid 797 Montana Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU) Jul 03 - Asteroid 1537 Transylvania Closest Approach To Earth (2.012 AU) Jul 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #384 (OTM-384) Jul 04 - Earth At Aphelion (1.017 AU From Sun) Jul 04 - Comet 222P/LINEAR Perihelion (0.784) Jul 04 - Comet C/2013 D1 (Holvorcem) At Opposition (3.607 AU) Jul 04 - Comet 228P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.633 AU) Jul 04 - Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (5.264 AU) Jul 04 - Asteroid 3635 Kreutz Closest Approach To Earth (0.991 AU) Jul 04 - Asteroid 13926 Berners-Lee Closest Approach To Earth (1.477 AU) Jul 04 - 960th Anniversary (1054), The Crab Nebula Supernova Jul 05 - Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina) Perihelion (1.081 AU) Jul 05 - Comet 230P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.016 AU) Jul 05 - Asteroid 1432 Ethiopia Closest Approach To Earth (1.064 AU) Jul 05 - Asteroid 1225 Ariane Closest Approach To Earth (1.382 AU) Jul 05 - Asteroid 2483 Guinevere Closest Approach To Earth (3.893 AU) Jul 05 - [Jun 24] Dwarf Planet 134340 Pluto At Opposition (31.666 AU)

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought

Cassini Celebrates 10 Years Exploring Saturn

Space Image of the Week

Image Credit & Copyright: Roberto Colombari

Peculiar Elliptical Galaxy Centaurus A