Space News Update - July 26, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: NASA to Map the Surface of an Asteroid Story 2: Astronomers discover dizzying spin of the Milky Way galaxy's 'halo' Story 3: A brand new telescope just discovered 1,300 galaxies in one go Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA to Map the Surface of an Asteroid 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)

Astronomers discover dizzying spin of the Milky Way galaxy's 'halo'

A brand new telescope just discovered 1,300 galaxies in one go

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, July 26 • Last-quarter Moon (exact at 7:00 p.m. EDT). The Moon rises around midnight or 1 a.m. daylight-saving time tonight, far below the stars of Aries. By early dawn Wednesday morning it stands high in the southeast. • Are you checking the location of Nova Ophiuchi 1998, as described on page 51 of the July Sky & Telescope. It may re-explode to 10th magnitude any year now, and someone will be the first to discover this.... The consolation prize on any night are the five globular clusters in its immediate vicinity, as charted on that page. Wednesday, July 27 • We're not yet halfway through summer, but already W-shaped Cassiopeia, a constellation of fall and winter evenings, is climbing up in the north-northeast as evening grows late. And the Great Square of Pegasus, emblem of fall, comes up to balance on one corner just over the eastern horizon. By the first light of dawn the Great Square stands very high in the south, almost overhead, as shown above. Thursday, July 28 • The waning crescent Moon occults Aldebaran for observers in much of eastern North America early Friday morning. It will also occult the fainter, nearby star-pair Theta1 and Theta2 Tauri for some of the region. See your August Sky & Telescope, page 50, or themaps and timetables online for all three occultations. As seen from the narrow graze line from El Paso, Texas, to Toledo, Ohio, Aldebaran's non-zero angular diameter will be evident to the naked eye as the star graduallyfades in and out multiple times among lunar mountains. See the Sky & Telescopearticle and the detailed material about the graze at occultations.org/aldebaran. Nearly a month later, on August 25th, the Moon will occult Aldebaran in daylight, as also briefly described in the August Sky & Telescope article. Friday, July 29 • Bright Vega now passes almost straight overhead around 11 p.m. daylight-saving time, depending on your location. As with all star configurations, you'll see it happening two hours earlier every month. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Jul 26, 2:47 AM 1 min 13° 10° above NNW 13° above N Tue Jul 26, 4:23 AM 6 min 55° 10° above NW 11° above ESE Tue Jul 26, 9:02 PM 5 min 24° 11° above S 10° above ENE Tue Jul 26, 10:38 PM 34° 12° above W 10° above NE Wed Jul 27, 00:19 AM < 1 min 10° 10° above N Wed Jul 27, 1:54 AM Wed Jul 27, 3:30 AM 31° 11° above E Wed Jul 27, 5:06 AM 28° 11° above WNW 10° above SSE Wed Jul 27, 9:44 PM 63° 10° above WSW Wed Jul 27, 11:25 PM 14° 14° above N 10° above NNE Thu Jul 28, 2:39 AM 2 min 20° 20° above NNE Thu Jul 28, 4:13 AM 58° 10° above WNW 12° above SE Thu Jul 28, 8:52 PM 62° 10° above SW 12° above ENE Thu Jul 28, 10:32 PM 19° 19° above NNW 11° above NNE Fri Jul 29, 9:36 PM 30° 11° above W Fri Jul 29, 11:16 PM 11° 11° above N Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website 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) 6 a.m., Friday, July 29 - Live Interviews with NASA Scientists (Doug Morton, Lesley Ott, Eric Brown de Coltoun and Robert Field) on Tracking Global Wildfires as Summer Heats Up (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jul 26 - Superbird 8 (DSN 1) Ariane 5 Launch Jul 26 - Comet 73P-AJ/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (0.957 AU) Jul 26 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 NE39 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU) Jul 26 - Amor Asteroid 2016 NW15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU) Jul 26 - Apollo Asteroid 2135 Aristaeus Closest Approach To Earth (1.506 AU) Jul 26 - Asteroid 52422 LPL Closest Approach To Earth (2.595 AU) Jul 26 - Centaur Object 944 Hidalgo At Opposition (5.458 AU) Jul 26 - Lecture: Bringing Nuclear Power to Mars, Mountain View, California Jul 26 - 45th Anniversary (1971), Apollo 15 Launch (4th Manned Moon Landing) Jul 26-27 - 6th National Capital Area Disks Meeting (NCAD 6), Washington DC Jul 27 - Comet 53P/Van Biesbroeck Closest Approach To Earth (1.529 AU) Jul 27 - Comet P/2008 T1 (Boattini) At Opposition (2.105 AU) Jul 27 - Comet C/2015 J2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.079 AU) Jul 27 - Amor Asteroid 2016 NS16 Near-Earth Flyby (0.079 AU) Jul 27 - Asteroid 12524 Conscience Closest Approach To Earth (0.911 AU) Jul 27 - Asteroid 2614 Torrence Closest Approach To Earth (0.975 AU) Jul 27 - Asteroid 342431 Hilo Closest Approach To Earth (1.292 AU) Jul 27 - George Airy's 215th Birthday (1801) Jul 28 - [Jul 24] NROL-61 Atlas 5 Launch Jul 28 - ExoMars 2016, Trajectory Correction Maneuver Jul 28 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #455 (OTM-455) Jul 28 - Comet 311P/PANSTARRS At Opposition (1.269 AU) Jul 28 - Asteroid 6470 Aldrin Closest Approach To Earth (1.211 AU) Jul 28 - Asteroid 16046 Gregnorman Closest Approach To Earth (2.269 AU) Jul 29 - Moon Occults Aldebaran Jul 29 - South Delta-Aquarids Meteor Shower Peak Jul 29 - Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova Closest Approach To Earth (1.526 AU) Jul 29 - Aten Asteroid 2016 NF23 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU) Jul 29 - Asteroid 7758 Poulanderson Closest Approach To Earth (1.166 AU) Jul 29 - Asteroid 1554 Yugoslavia Closest Approach To Earth (1.235 AU) Jul 29 - Asteroid 5451 Plato Closest Approach To Earth (1.241 AU) Jul 29 - Asteroid 144296 Steviewonder Closest Approach To Earth (1.519 AU) Jul 29 - Asteroid 991 McDonalda Closest Approach To Earth (1.640 AU) Jul 29 - 30th Anniversary (1986), Kokubunji Meteorite Fall (Hit Houses, Roads in Japan) JPL Space Calendar

Ice Volcanoes May Have Erased Craters on Dwarf Planet Ceres Food for Thought Ice Volcanoes May Have Erased Craters on Dwarf Planet Ceres A view of Ceres’ largest well-preserved 170-mile (280-km) impact crater, Kerwan, near the limb. The color coding indicates elevation (blue: low; red: high) exaggerated by a factor of 3.

Space Image of the Week Bent Rings