Space News Update - August 26, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: Jupiter's Extended Family? A Billion or More Story 2: SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down with Crucial NASA Research Samples Story 3: Astronomers Discover Dark Matter Galaxy, by Accident Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Jupiter's Extended Family? A Billion or More 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)

SpaceX Dragon Splashes Down with Crucial NASA Research Samples

Astronomers Discover Dark Matter Galaxy, by Accident

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, August 26 • Venus and Jupiter have closed to only 1° apart, very low in the west after sunset. That's less than a finger-width at arm's length. See tomorrow's entry. Saturday, August 27 • Venus-Jupiter conjunction. Starting about 20 minutes after sunset, look low above the horizon due west, left of where the Sun went down. Bring binoculars. The two planets will be less than ½° apart at the time of twilight for most of the world, and only about 0.1° apart for the longitudes of the Americas. That's so close that you may need the binoculars to see that they are two objects, not one! And you might try for much fainter Mercury, 5° to their lower left in bright twilight (for North America). Good luck; Mercury has faded down to magnitude +0.8. Sky & Telescope Sunday, August 28 • You can tell that summer's days are numbered: when darkness falls, Cassiopeia has risen about as high in the northeast as the Big Dipper has declined in the northwest. • Also, with August nearing its end, you can say hello to the Double Cluster in Perseus without having to stay up late. After dark, find the tilted W of Cassiopeia partway up the northeastern sky. Note the two stars of its lower-left segment (the faint end of the W). Using binoculars, aim at the midpoint between them and then drop down by a little more than the full width of the binocular's view (for typical binoculars). Look for two little irregular cotton puffs, touching each other and tilted diagonally. With a dark enough sky you can even make them out with the unaided eye, as a distinct enhancement of the background Milky Way. Monday, August 29 • Crisp nights of late summer are prime Milky Way time, as hot-weather humid hazes give way to dryer, clearer air (at least where a lot of us live). After dark, the Milky Way runs from Sagittarius in the south, up and left across Aquila, through the big Summer Triangle very high in the east, and on down through Cassiopeia to Perseus rising low in the north-northeast.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: No Sightings for Denver Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) Saturday, August 27 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)   Saturday, August 27 7 a.m., 11 p.m., Replay of Space Station Live (8/25/16) (all channels) 2 p.m., 8 p.m., Replay of the ISS Expedition 48 U.S. Spacewalk #37 Preview Briefing (all channels) Sunday, August 28 10 a.m., 6 p.m., Replay of the ISS Expedition 48 U.S. Spacewalk #37 Preview Briefing (all channels) Monday, August 29 3:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., NASA TV Video B-Roll Feed of ISS Expedition 50-51 Crew (Whitson, Pesquet, Novitskiy) Training and Past Missions (all channels) 4 p.m., 8 p.m., 10 p.m., Monday, August 29 - Replay of the ISS Expedition 50-51 Crew News Conference (Whitson, Pesquet, Novitskiy) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 26 - [Aug 26] Dragon Supply Ship Return to Earth (International Space Station) Aug 26 - Amor Asteroid 433 Eros Closest Approach To Earth (0.725 AU) Aug 26 - Asteroid 2281 Biela Closest Approach To Earth (0.877 AU) Aug 26 - Atira Asteroid 2007 EB26 Closest Approach To Earth (0.882 AU) Aug 26 - Asteroid 149 Medusa Closest Approach To Earth (1.128 AU) Aug 26 - Asteroid 19019 Sunflower Closest Approach To Earth (1.223 AU) Aug 26 - Asteroid 2451 Dollfus Closest Approach To Earth (1.376 AU) Aug 26 - Asteroid 7554 Johnspencer Closest Approach To Earth (2.950 AU) Aug 26 - Kuiper Belt Object 225088 (2007 OR10) At Opposition (86.592 AU) Aug 26 - 35th Anniversary (1981), Voyager 2, Saturn Flyby Aug 27 - Mercury Passes 5.3 Degrees From Venus Aug 27 - Venus Passes 0.1 Degrees From Jupiter Aug 27 - Comet C/2015 TQ209 (LINEAR) Perihelion (1.413 AU) Aug 27 - Comet C/2015 V4 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (5.460 AU) Aug 27 - Amor Asteroid 2016 OM1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU) Aug 27 - Asteroid 11947 Kimclijsters Closest Approach To Earth (1.551 AU) Aug 27 - Asteroid 1762 Russell Closest Approach To Earth (1.745 AU) Aug 27 - Asteroid 18235 Lynden-Bell Closest Approach To Earth (2.463 AU) Aug 27 - Centaur Object 7066 Nessus At Opposition (26.173 AU) Aug 27 - Kuiper Belt Object 307982 (2004 PG115) At Opposition (36.953 AU) Aug 28 - Insat 3DR GSLV Launch Aug 28 - Comet 93P/Lovas At Opposition (1.460 AU) Aug 28 - Comet 139P/Vaisala-Oterma At Opposition (2.969 AU) Aug 28 - Comet 159P/LONEOS At Opposition (3.957 AU) Aug 28 - Asteroid 14220 Alexgibbs Closest Approach To Earth (1.465 AU) Aug 28 - Asteroid 10378 Ingmarbergman Closest Approach To Earth (1.830 AU) Aug 28 - Asteroid 204852 Frankfurt Closest Approach To Earth (1.866 AU) Aug 28 - Asteroid 19482 Harperlee Closest Approach To Earth (1.932 AU) Aug 29 - Comet 176P/LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.723 AU) Aug 29 - Comet P/2015 M2 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (5.007 AU) Aug 29 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 PA40 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU) Aug 29 - Asteroid 118401 LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.723 AU) Aug 29 - Asteroid 8721 AMOS Closest Approach To Earth (2.788 AU) Aug 29 - Johann Holetschek's 160th Birthday (1846) JPL Space Calendar

ESO Discovers Earth-Size Planet in Habitable Zone of Nearest Star Food for Thought ESO Discovers Earth-Size Planet in Habitable Zone of Nearest Star

Space Image of the Week Curiosity at Murray Buttes on Mars  Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS