Space News Update- January 31, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: Weather-Mapping a Brown Dwarf

Story 2: NASA to buy more Soyuz seats for space station crews

Story 3: How We Know Gravity is Not (Just) a Force

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Weather-Mapping a Brown Dwarf

NASA to buy more Soyuz seats for space station crews

How We Know Gravity is Not (Just) a Force

The Night Sky

Friday, January 31 In twilight, look very low above the west-southwest horizon for the thin waxing crescent Moon with Mercury to its upper left, as shown here.

Saturday, February 1 Mercury now shines below the thin crescent Moon low in the west-southwest after sunset, as shown here. Jupiter's moon Ganymede casts its tiny black shadow onto Jupiter from 5:42 to 8:22 p.m. EST. Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian around 11:48 p.m. EST (8:48 p.m. PST).

Sunday, February 2 In Taurus, in the familiar area of the Hyades, two lesser-known clusters await your scope — or even good binoculars if you have a dark sky. NGC 1647 and sparser 1746 lie exactly on the line from Aldebaran to Beta (β) Tauri (Elnath).

Sky & Telescope

Monday, February 3 The crescent Moon this evening shines to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus. The Great Square is tipped up onto one corner, as it always is at this time of year.

Tuesday, February 4 Jupiter's moon Io disappears behind Jupiter's western limb around 8:57 p.m. EST. Twenty minutes later, Jupiter's Great Red Spot crosses the planet's central meridian. Finally, Io reappears out of eclipse from Jupiter's shadow, just east of the planet, around 11:56 p.m. EST (8:56 p.m. PST).

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 4, 7:19 PM

1 min 18° 10 above SSW 18 above SSW

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

February 3, Monday9 a.m.  - NASA Discusses James Webb Space Telescope Progress - GSFC (All Channels)10 a.m. - Space Station Live - JSC (All Channels)11 a.m. - ISS Progress 52 Undocking Coverage (Undocking scheduled at 11:21 a.m. ET) - JSC (All Channels)

February 4, Tuesday6:35 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Interview for JAXA with the Fukuoka Prefecture and Kyushu University - JSC (All Channels) 

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Jan 31 - Chinese New YearJan 31 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (18 Degrees)Jan 31 - Comet 249P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.914 AU)Jan 31 - Asteroid 2008 CM20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)Jan 31 - Asteroid 2985 Shakespeare Closest Approach To Earth (1.987 AU)Feb 01 - SPOT 7/ CanX 4 & 5 PSLV-C24 LaunchFeb 01 - Comet P/2013 TW5 (Spacewatch) At Opposition (5.014 AU)Feb 01 - [Jan 30] Asteroid 2014 BU43 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 2074 Shoemaker Closest Approach To Earth (1.018 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 52422 LPL Closest Approach To Earth (1.635 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 19019 Sunflower Closest Approach To Earth (1.685 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 3123 Dunham Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 6000 United Nations Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)Feb 01 - Asteroid 8489 Boulder Closest Approach To Earth (2.270 AUFeb 01 - 15th Anniversary (1999), Galileo, Europa 19 FlybyFeb 02 - [Jan 29] Cassini, Titan FlybyFeb 02 - Comet 129P/Shoemaker-Levy At Opposition (2.930 AU)Feb 02 - Comet 254P/McNaught At Opposition (4.631 AU)Feb 02 - [Jan 30] Asteroid 2014 BX43 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)Feb 02 - Asteroid 3552 Don Quixote Closest Approach To Earth (6.316 AU)Feb 03 - Comet 129P/Shoemaker-Levy Closest Approach To Earth (2.930 AU)Feb 03 - Asteroid 4975 Dohmoto Occults HIP 53273 (5.5 Magnitude Star)Feb 03 - [Jan 29] Asteroid 2014 BW32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)Feb 03 - Asteroid 2013 BZ45 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)Feb 03 - Asteroid 7707 Yes Closest Approach To Earth (1.552 AU)Feb 03 - Asteroid 6223 Dahl Closest Approach To Earth (1.909 AU)Feb 04 - Comet 292P/Li Perihelion (2.522 AU)Feb 04 - [Jan 31] Asteroid 2014 BS57 Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU)

Food for Thought

NASA-Sponsored 'Disk Detective' Lets Public Search for New Planetary Nurseries

Space Image of the Week

Solar Dynamics Observatory Sees Lunar Transit  Image Credit: NASA/SDO