Space News Update- February 25, 2014 -
In the News
Story 1: NASA, JAXA Prepare Rain and Snow Satellite for Launch
Story 2:NASA’s Chandra Sees Runaway Pulsar Firing an Extraordinary Jet
Story 3: NASA's IBEX Helps Paint Picture of the Magnetic System beyond the Solar Wind
DepartmentsThe Night Sky
ISS Sighting OpportunitiesSpace Calendar
NASA-TV HighlightsFood for Thought
Space Image of the Week
Story #2
Story #1
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
NASA, JAXA Prepare Rain and Snow Satellite for Launch
Story #2
Story #1
Story #3
The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
NASA’s Chandra Sees Runaway Pulsar Firing an Extraordinary Jet
Story #2
Story #1
Story #3
The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
NASA's IBEX Helps Paint Picture of the Magnetic System beyond the Solar Wind
Story #2
Story #1
Story #3
The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
The Night Sky
Sky & Telescope
Tuesday, February 25 • During dawn on Wednesday the 26th, Venus shines upper right of
the waning Moon low in the southeast, as shown here. At the time of dawn in the Americas they appear closer together than they did on Tuesday morning.
• Several hours earlier, the Moon passes right across — occults — Venus for central and western Africa, India, and parts of China and Southeast Asia (at roughly 5h Universal Time February 26th).
Wednesday, February 26 • About 30 minutes before sunrise Thursday morning, scan with
binoculars very low in the east-southeast (far lower left of Venus) for the super-thin crescent Moon with Mercury to its lower left, as shown here (as seen from North America).
Thursday, February 27 • Sirius shines at its highest in the south by 8 or 9 p.m. Use
binoculars to look for the dim open star cluster M41 straight below it by 4°. That's a little less than the width of a typical binocular's field of view.
• With a moderate to large telescope on a night of very fine seeing, this is when to try to detect the white-dwarf companion of Sirius, now 10.2 arcseconds east of the bright primary.
Friday, February 28 • Have you ever seen Canopus, the second-brightest star after
Sirius? In one of the many interesting coincidences that devoted skywatchers know about, Canopus lies almost due south of Sirius: by 36°. That's far enough south that it never appears above your horizon unless you're below latitude 37° N (southern Virginia, southern Missouri, central California). And there you'll need a flat south horizon. Canopus crosses the south point on the horizon just 21 minutes before Sirius does.
Story #2
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
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 Feb. 25, 6:27 PM 5 min 65° 27 above WNW 11 above SE
Wed Feb. 26, 7:15 PM 1 min 12° 12 above SW 10 above SSW
Thu Feb. 27, 6:27 PM 2 min 21° 21 above SW 10 above S
Story #2
Story #1
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASAMAVEN Launch November 18, 2013NASA
February 25, Tuesday
1:35 p.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Interview with WLS Radio, Chicago - JSC
(All Channels)
February 27, Thursday
11:30 a.m. - Live Coverage of GPM Mission Launch - JAXA/GSFC (NTV-1 & NTV-2)
11:50 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Educational Event with Temple University,
Philadelphia, Pa. - JSC
TBD - Joined in Progress Live Coverage of GPM Mission Launch (Clean Feed) -
JAXA/GSFC (NTV-3)
February 28, Friday
10 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Educational Event with the School of the
Osage, Osage Beach, Mo. - JSC (All Channels)
Story #2
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
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Space Calendar
JPL Space Calendar
• Feb 25 - Uragan-M #42 Soyuz-2-1b Fregat-M Launch
• Feb 25 - Comet 266P/Christensen At Opposition (1.601 AU)
• Feb 25 - Comet P/1996 R2 (Lagerkvist) At Opposition (3.541 AU)
• Feb 25 - Comet 242P/Spahr At Opposition (3.975 AU)
• Feb 25 - Asteroid 26715 South Dakota Closest Approach To Earth (1.739 AU)
• Feb 25 - Asteroid 247553 Berndpauli Closest Approach To Earth (3.509 AU)
• Feb 26 - MAVEN, Trajectory Correction Maneuver #2 (TCM-2)
• Feb 26 - Moon Occults Venus
• Feb 26 - Comet 277P/LINEAR At Opposition (1.925 AU)
• Feb 26 - Comet 88P/Howell At Opposition (2.545 AU)
• Feb 26 - Comet 10P/Tempel At Opposition (3.276 AU)
• Feb 26 - Comet P/2006 F1 (Kowalski) At Opposition (4.176 AU)
• Feb 26 - Asteroid 2 Pallas At Opposition (6.3 Magnitude)
• Feb 26 - Asteroid 367943 Duende Closest Approach To Earth (0.767 AU)
• Feb 26 - Asteroid 4716 Urey Closest Approach To Earth (1.839 AU)
• Feb 26 - Asteroid 2597 Arthur Closest Approach To Earth (2.228 AU)
• Feb 27 - GPM/DPR/ STARS 2/ ShindaiSat/ OPUSAT/ INVADAR/ ITF-1/ TeikyoSat 3/KSAT 2 H-2A
Launch
• Feb 27 - Kondor-E 1 Strela Launch
• Feb 27 - Comet P/2012 WA34 (Lemmon-PANSTARRS) At Opposition (2.833 AU)
• Feb 27 - Comet 273P/Pons-Gambart At Opposition (4.538 AU)
• Feb 27 - Asteroid 2 Pallas At Opposition (7.0 Magnitude)
• Feb 28 - Comet 265P/LINEAR At Opposition (4.023 AU)
• Feb 28 - Comet P/2006 F1 (Kowalski) Closest Approach To Earth (4.175 AU)
Story #2
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
Food for ThoughtHow We Will Retrieve Dead Satellites In The Future?
Hint: It Likely Won’t Be Using Astronauts
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the ScaleNew Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
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Story #1
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The NightSky
ISSSightings
NASA-TV
Food forThought
Image ofthe Week
SpaceCalendar
Space Image of the Week
Coronal Loops in an Active Region of the SunImage Credit: NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory
