Space News Update - June 14, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: How citizen scientists discovered a giant cluster of galaxies Story 2: Extreme trans-Neptunian objects lead the way to Planet Nine Story 3: NASA's Next Mars Rover May Have Flying Sidekick Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

How citizen scientists discovered a giant cluster of galaxies 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)

Extreme trans-Neptunian objects lead the way to Planet Nine

NASA's Next Mars Rover May Have Flying Sidekick

The Night Sky Tuesday, June 14 • Look for 1st-magnitude Spica about 4° below the Moon this evening (for North America). High above them shines Arcturus. Wednesday, June 15 • Io reappears from eclipse out of Jupiter's shadow around 10:46 p.m. EDT, good timing for the Eastern time zone. A small telescope will show it gradually swelling into view, just east of the planet. Thursday, June 16 • Mars shines below the gibbous Moon this evening, as shown here; they're fellow travelers across the sky tonight. Never mind that Mars is 200 times farther away. Friday, June 17 • The Moon, Mars, and Saturn make a wide, flattish triangle tonight, as shown here. The longest side connects the two planets, 18° apart. • A 3-inch telescope will show Saturn's biggest and brightest moon: Titan, magnitude 8.5. Tonight it's west of Saturn, by about four times the length of Saturn's rings. Can you see Titan's orange tint through the moonlight? Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Jun 14, 10:03 PM 4 min 24° 11° above W 19° above SSW Wed Jun 15, 9:12 PM 50° 32° above W 12° above SSE Thu Jun 16, 9:56 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above WSW 10° above SW Fri Jun 17, 9:03 PM 20° 14° above W 10° above S 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) 8 p.m., Tuesday, June 14 - Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum Presents the “2016 John H. Glen Lecture” Featuring Apollo 11 Astronaut Michael Collins and Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos (all channels) 1 p.m., Wednesday, June 15 - United State of Women Summit Workshop “Engaging Women and Girls in STEM through Data Science (NTV-1 (Public)) 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 15 - ISS Expedition 47 In-Flight Event for the Marshall Space Flight Center’s 3D Printing Projects with ISS Commander Tim Kopra and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams of NASA (all channels) 2 p.m., Thursday, June 16 - NASA Science Media Briefing on the Juno Spacecraft’s July 4th Orbit Insertion of Jupiter (all channels) 9 a.m., Friday, June 17 - ISS Expedition 47/48 Change of Command Ceremony (Kopra hands over ISS command to J. Williams) (Starts at 9:15 a.m.) (all channels) 10 p.m., Friday, June 17 - ISS Expedition 47 Farewells and Hatch Closure Coverage (Malenchenko, Kopra, Peake); Hatch Closure Scheduled at 10:35 p.m. ET) (Starts at 10:15 p.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jun 14 - Comet P/2011 A2 (Scotti) Perihelion (1.553 AU) Jun 14 - Comet P/2016 J1-B (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (2.435 AU) Jun 14 - Asteroid 6154 Stevesynnott Closest Approach To Earth (1.009 AU) Jun 14 - Asteroid 22521 ZZ Top Closest Approach To Earth (1.112 AU) Jun 14 - Asteroid 19535 Rowanatkinson Closest Approach To Earth (1.307 AU) Jun 14 - Asteroid 2999 Dante Closest Approach To Earth (1.459 AU) Jun 14 - Asteroid 15614 Pillinger Closest Approach To Earth (1.872 AU) Jun 14 - Charles-Augustin Coulomb's 280th Birthday (1736) Jun 15 - [Jun 14] Eutelsat 117 West B/ ABS-2A Falcon 9 Launch Jun 15 - Apollo Asteroid 382758 (2003 GY) Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU) Jun 15 - Asteroid 6135 Billowen Closest Approach To Earth (1.258 AU) Jun 15 - Amor Asteroid 3757 Anagolay Closest Approach To Earth (1.625 AU) Jun 15 - Asteroid 17058 Rocknroll Closest Approach To Earth (1.781 AU) Jun 15 - Asteroid 51827 Laurelclark Closest Approach To Earth (2.451 AU) Jun 15 - Plutino 28978 Ixion At Opposition (38.939 AU) Jun 15 - 195th Anniversary (1821), Juvinas Meteorite Fall in France (Eucrite) Jun 16 - [Jun 09] Echostar 18/ BRIsat Ariane 5 Launch Jun 16 - Comet P/2005 W4 (SOHO) Closest Approach To Earth (0.781 AU) Jun 16 - Comet 118P/Shoemaker-Levy Perihelion (1.980 AU) Jun 16 - Comet Catalina (C/2016 KA) At Opposition (4.953 AU) Jun 16 - Aten Asteroid 2002 LT38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.070 AU) Jun 16 - [Jun 07] Apollo Asteroid 2016 LG2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU) Jun 16 - Asteroid 1677 Tycho Brahe Closest Approach To Earth (1.340 AU) Jun 16 - Asteroid 3728 IRAS Closest Approach To Earth (2.305 AU) Jun 16 - Robert Burnham, Jr.'s 85th Birthday (1931) Jun 16 - 105th Anniversary (1911), Kilbourn Meteorite Fall (Hit Barn in Wisconsin) Jun 16 - Julius Plucker's 215th Birthday (1801) Jun 17 - Comet P/2010 B2 (WISE) Closest Approach To Earth (2.248 AU) Jun 17 - Comet 164P/Christensen At Opposition (3.793 AU) Jun 17 - Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou Closest Approach To Earth (1.683 AU) Jun 17 - Binary Asteroid 90 Antiope Closest Approach To Earth (1.773 AU) Jun 17 - Asteroid 449 Hamburga Closest Approach To Earth (1.817 AU) Jun 17 - Asteroid 15550 Sydney Closest Approach To Earth (1.854 AU) Jun 17 - Centaur Object 5145 Pholus At Opposition (25.904 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Ancient Greeks May Have Used World’s First Computer to Predict the Future

Space Image of the Week The North America and Pelican Nebulas  Image Credit & Copyright: Ezequiel Etcheverry