Space News Update- July 29, 2013 -
In the News
Story 1: Progress M-20M arrives at ISS with spacesuit repair tools
Story 2: The Weakest Solar Cycle in 100 Years
Story 3: Opportunity rover Days Away from Mars Mountain Quest
Departments
The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities
Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights
Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week
Progress M-20M arrives at ISS with spacesuit repair tools
The Weakest Solar Cycle in 100 Years
Opportunity rover Days Away from Mars Mountain Quest
The Night SkyMonday, July 29· Last-quarter Moon (exact at 1:43 p.m. EDT). The Moon rises around midnight tonight, shining below the stars of Aries. As it climbs higher through the morning hours, look well to its lower left for the Pleiades.
Tuesday, July 30· Bright Vega shines nearly overhead these evenings, for those of us at mid-northern latitudes. Look southeast for Altair, almost as bright. Above Altair by a finger-width at arm's length is its little orange sidekick Tarazed, 3rd magnitude.
Wednesday, July 31· Find Altair again high in the southeast after dark. To its right, by about a fist and a half at arm's length, is the dim but distinctive little constellation Delphinus, the Dolphin, jumping leftward.
Thursday, August 1· The asteroid 3 Juno is brightest at opposition this week, glimmering at magnitude 9.0 at the Aquarius-Aquila border. Pick it up with your scope using the finder chart in the August Sky & Telescope, page 51.
Friday, August 2· As summer begins to wane, The Big Dipper hangs diagonally on the wall of the northwestern sky during evening. It's about as high as bright Arcturus, shining left of it in the west.</p· In early dawn Saturday morning (you can set your alarm), the waning crescent Moon hangs to the upper right of Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury low in the east-northeast, as shown at right.
Sky & Telescope
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 Jul 30, 3:05 AM 1 min 11° 10 above NNW 11 above N
Tue Jul 30, 4:42 AM 2 min 15° 11 above NNW 15 above NNE
Wed Jul 31, 2:17 AM < 1 min 12° 12 above NNW 12 above N
Wed Jul 31, 3:54 AM 1 min 12° 10 above NNW 12 above NNE
Wed Jul 31, 5:29 AM 3 min 37° 10 above NW 37 above NE
Thu Aug 1, 3:05 AM 1 min 11° 10 above NNW 11 above N
Thu Aug 1, 4:41 AM 3 min 25° 11 above NNW 25 above NNE
Fri Aug 2, 2:17 AM < 1 min 10° 10 above NNW 10 above N
Fri Aug 2, 3:53 AM 2 min 19° 10 above NNW 19 above NNE
Fri Aug 2, 5:29 AM 6 min 79° 10 above NW 12 above SE
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
July 31, Wednesday9:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 36 In-Flight Event for the European Space Agency with the Italian TG1 Network - JSC (All Channels)August
August 2, Friday12:45 p.m. - ISS Expedition 36 In-Flight Event with Minnesota Public Radio and the U.S. Navy’s Emerging Media Division - JSC(All Channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar
JPL Space Calendar
Jul 29 - South Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower PeakJul 29 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults PPMX 9823370 (11.3 Magnitude Star)Jul 29 - Asteroid 5760 Mittlefehldt Closest Approach To Earth (1.692 AU)Jul 29 - Asteroid 7225 Huntress Closest Approach To Earth (1.799 AU)Jul 29 - Asteroid 7934 Sinatra Closest Approach To Earth (1.933 AU)Jul 30 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #356 (OTM-356)Jul 30 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (20 Degrees)Jul 30 - Comet C/2012 S3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (1.341 AU)Jul 30 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults 2UCAC 30446947 (12.3 Magnitude Star)Jul 30 - Asteroid 2003 DZ15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)Jul 30 - Asteroid 2013 BO76 Near-Earth Flyby (0.053 AU)Jul 30 - Asteroid 1213 Algeria Closest Approach To Earth (1.981 AU)Jul 30 - 75th Anniversary (1938), Seth Nicholson's Discovery of Jupiter Moon CarmeJul 31 - Mars Spring EquinoxJul 31 - Comet P/2013 N3 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (2.370 AU)Jul 31 - Asteroid 69230 Hermes Closest Approach To Earth (1.681 AU)Aug 01 - Alpha Capricornids Meteor Shower PeakAug 01 - Comet C/2012 S3 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.338 AU)Aug 01 - Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT At Opposition (3.951 AU)Aug 01 - Comet C/2013 G8 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.310 AU)Aug 01 - Comet C/2012 C1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.558 AU)Aug 01 - Asteroid 16761 Hertz Closest Approach To Earth (1.386 AU)Aug 01 - Asteroid 5382 McKay Closest Approach To Earth (1.771 AU)Aug 01 - Maria Mitchell's 195th Birthday (1818)Aug 02 - Comet 278P/McNaught Perihelion (2.098 AU)Aug 02 - Comet 227P/Catalina-LINEAR At Opposition (4.297 AU)Aug 02 - Asteroid 2013 OF Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU)Aug 02 - Asteroid 2579 Spartacus Closest Approach To Earth (1.101 AU)Aug 02 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.612 AU)
Food for Thought
A Weird West Tale and the Hunt for Planet Vulcan
Space Image of the Week
Saturn, Titan, Rings, and Haze
