NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check Space News Update - September 27, 2016 - In the News Story 1: NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa Story 2: NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check Story 3: Pluto’s ‘Heart’ Sheds Light on a Possible Buried Ocean Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa In this computer graphic, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, moving toward upper left, nears the edge of the sun's influence, flying through a region of space dominated by a "magnetic highway" that helps mediate the flow of particles into and out of the solar system. The region includes particles from the sun's southern hemisphere that have been forced northward by the pressure of the interstellar wind. Voyager 1 is expected to cross the boundary into interstellar space sometime within the next few years if not sooner. (Credit: NASA)

NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check

Pluto’s ‘Heart’ Sheds Light on a Possible Buried Ocean

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, September 27 This is the time of year when, during the evening, the dim Little Dipper "dumps water" into the bowl of the Big Dipper way down below. The Big Dipper will dump it back in the evenings of spring. As dawn brightens Wednesday morning the 28th, spot the thin crescent Moon between Regulus above it and Mercury below it, as shown at right. Wednesday, September 28 As dawn brightens Thursday morning the 29th, look for a super-thin crescent Moon near Mercury very low in the east. Start looking about 45 minutes before your local sunrise time. Binoculars will help as dawn grows bright. Thursday, September 29 The Two Top Miras. Chi Cygni now overhead in the evening, and Mira (Omicron Ceti) visible late at night, are the two brightest Mira-type stars in the sky: long-period red variables. Chi Cyg should be at or just past its maximum brightness, 5th magnitude or so. Mira should be nearly at its minimum, 8th or 9th mag. Follow them through the coming months with the article and finder charts in the October Sky & Telescope, page 49. As one brightens and the other dims, when will they pass each other in brightness? Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Sep 27, 7:31 PM 2 min 13° 10° above SSE 12° above ESE Tue Sep 27, 9:05 PM < 1 min 12° 10° above WSW 12° above WSW Wed Sep 28, 8:13 PM 3 min 66° 10° above SW 66° above SSE Thu Sep 29, 7:21 PM 6 min 31° 10° above SSW 11° above ENE Thu Sep 29, 8:59 PM 21° 18° above WNW 21° above WNW Fri Sep 30, 8:07 PM 48° 26° above W 25° above NNE Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)   Wednesday, September 28 12 p.m. - ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with the NBC “Meet the Press” Podcast with Chuck Todd and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins (all channels) Thursday, September 29 11:30 a.m., - ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with Cosmopolitan.com and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins (starts at 11:45 a.m.) (all channels) Friday, September 30 6 a.m. - NASA Joins Rosetta End of Mission coverage from European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany (Starts at 6:15 a.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Sep 27 - Cassini, Titan Flyby Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BH/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU) Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BI/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU) Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BM/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU) Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BP/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU) Sep 27 - Comet 175P/Hergenrother At Opposition (3.906 AU) Sep 27 - Comet C/2015 V3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.281 AU) Sep 27 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 SG Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU) Sep 27 - Amor Asteroid 2016 QB2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU) Sep 27 - Asteroid 10168 Stony Ridge Closest Approach To Earth (1.583 AU) Sep 27 - Asteroid 243097 Batavia Closest Approach To Earth (1.641 AU) Sep 27 - Asteroid 2791 Paradise Closest Approach To Earth (1.701 AU) Sep 27 - Asteroid 54522 Menaechmus Closest Approach To Earth (1.945 AU) Sep 27 - Plutino 469372 (2001 QF298) At Opposition (42.405 AU) Sep 28 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (18 Degrees) Sep 28 - Comet 73P-BA/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU) Sep 28 - Comet P/2008 SH164 (LINEAR) At Opposition (2.174 AU) Sep 28 - Comet 250P/Larson At Opposition (2.778 AU) Sep 28 - Apollo Asteroid 6239 Minos Closest Approach To Earth (0.945 AU) Sep 28 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.662 AU) Sep 28 - Asteroid 4149 Harrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.904 AU) Sep 28 - Asteroid 904 Rockefellia Closest Approach To Earth (1.958 AU) Sep 29 - Moon Occults Mercury Sep 29 - Comet 263P/Gibbs At Opposition (2.413 AU) Sep 29 - Asteroid 11 Parthenope At Opposition (8.9 Magnitude) Sep 29 - Asteroid 705 Erminia Occults HIP 44331 (6.5 Magnitude Star) Sep 29 - Apollo Asteroid 3200 Phaethon Closest Approach To Earth (0.402 AU) Sep 29 - Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU) Sep 29 - Asteroid 1855 Korolev Closest Approach To Earth (1.434 AU) Sep 30 - Rosetta, Crash Landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko JPL Space Calendar

Incoming! New Warning System Tracks Potentially Dangerous Asteroids New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Incoming! New Warning System Tracks Potentially Dangerous Asteroids

The Helix Nebula in Infrared Space Image of the Week The Helix Nebula in Infrared Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope; Processing: Judy Schmidt