Space News Update - September 20, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: Russians delay next crew launch to station Story 2: Hubble Watches as Comet 332P Breaks Apart Story 3: Astronomers discover five new Neptune trojans Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Russians delay next crew launch to station 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)

Hubble Watches as Comet 332P Breaks Apart

Astronomers discover five new Neptune trojans

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, September 20 • 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. Wednesday, September 21 • As summer ends, the Sagittarius Teapot moves west of due south during evening and tips increasingly far over, as if pouring out the last of summer. Look for it left of Mars. Thursday, September 22 • Autumn begins in the Northern Hemisphere, and spring in the Southern Hemisphere, at the equinox: 10:21 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (14:21 UT). This is when the Sun crosses the equator heading south for the season. • Coincidentally, every year when summer turns to fall, Deneb takes over from brighter Vega as the zenith star around the time when twilight fades into night (for skywatchers at mid-northern latitudes). Friday, September 23 • The W pattern of Cassiopeia stands high in the northeast after dark. The right-hand side of the W is tilted up. Look along the second segment of the W counting down from the top. It's not quite horizontal. Notice the dim naked-eye stars along that segment (not counting its two ends). The one on the right is Eta Cassiopeiae, magnitude 3.4, a Sun-like star just 19 light-years away with an orange-dwarf companion — a lovely binary in a telescope. The "one" on the left is a wide naked-eye pair, Upsilon1 and Upsilon2 Cassiopeiae, 0.3° apart. They're orange giants unrelated to each other, 200 and 400 light-years away. • Last-quarter Moon (exact at 5:56 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on this date). The Moon rises around midnight or 1 a.m. on the morning of Saturday the 24th. Once it's fairly well up you'll find that it's in Gemini, with Castor and Pollux to its left. Orion is much farther to its right. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Sep 20, 4:08 AM < 1 min 10° 10° above NNE 10° above NE Tue Sep 20, 5:41 AM 4 min 36° 10° above NW 32° above ENE Wed Sep 21, 4:51 AM 2 min 23° 21° above N 20° above NE Wed Sep 21, 6:25 AM 1 min 18° 10° above WNW 18° above WNW Thu Sep 22, 5:34 AM 5 min 84° 19° above NW 11° above SE Fri Sep 23, 4:45 AM 39° 39° above ENE 11° above ESE Fri Sep 23, 6:18 AM 10° above W 10° above S 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) 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 20 - Replay of ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Event with the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston and Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA (NTV-1 (Public)) 12:30 p.m., Thursday, September 22 - ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interviews with the Associated Press and KGO-TV, San Francisco with Flight Engineer Kate Rubins of NASA (Starts at 12:20 p.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Sep 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 RM20 Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 24101 Cassini Closest Approach To Earth (1.333 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 11911 Angel Closest Approach To Earth (1.722 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 31 Euphrosyne Closest Approach To Earth (2.259 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 4442 Garcia Closest Approach To Earth (2.749 AU) Sep 20 - 65th Anniversary (1951), Aerobee Missile Launch (Yorik the Monkey & Mice - 1st Animals to Survive Rocket Flight) Sep 21 - Moon Occults Aldebaran Sep 21 - Comet 73P-AY/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (0.623 AU) Sep 21 - Comet 73P-AZ/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (0.623 AU) Sep 21 - Comet 93P/Lovas Closest Approach To Earth (1.389 AU) Sep 21 - Apollo Asteroid 469219 (2016 HO3) Closest Approach To Earth (0.160 AU) Sep 21 - Apollo Asteroid 5786 Talos Closest Approach To Earth (0.939 AU) Sep 21 - Asteroid 2675 Tolkien Closest Approach To Earth (0.986 AU) Sep 21 - H.G. Wells' 150th Birthday (1866) Sep 22 - Autumnal Equinox, 14:21 UT Sep 22 - EKS N2/ Tundra 12L Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M Launch Sep 22 - Comet 135P/Shoemaker-Levy At Opposition (3.147 AU) Sep 22 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 DS53 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU) Sep 22 - Asteroid 386622 New Zealand Closest Approach To Earth (0.894 AU) Sep 22 - Asteroid 5029 Ireland Closest Approach To Earth (1.681 AU) Sep 22 - Asteroid 8353 Megryan Closest Approach To Earth (2.028 AU) Sep 22 - Kuiper Belt Object 2010 RE64 At Opposition (51.670 AU) Sep 22 - 15th Anniversary (2001), Deep Space 1, Comet Borrelly Flyby Sep 22 - Peter Pallas' 175th Birthday (1741) Sep 22 - Michael Faraday's 225th Birthday (1791) Sep 22 - Thomas Wright's 305th Birthday (1711) Sep 23 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #460 (OTM-460) Sep 23 - Comet 73P-AA/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.081 AU) Sep 23 - Comet 338P/McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (1.356 AU) Sep 23 - Comet 31P/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (3.703 AU) Sep 23 - Comet 294P/LINEAR At Opposition (4.100 AU) Sep 23 - Asteroid 43844 Rowling Closest Approach To Earth (1.283 AU) Sep 23 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.346 AU) Sep 23 - Asteroid 12490 Leiden Closest Approach To Earth (2.517 AU) Sep 23 - Kuiper Belt Object 308933 (2006 SQ372) At Opposition (26.252 AU) Sep 23 - Kuiper Belt Object 120347 Salacia At Opposition (43.735 AU) Sep 23 - Willie McCool's 55th Birthday (1961) Sep 23 - 170th Anniversary (1846), Johann Galle's Discovery of Neptune Sep 23 - Johann Encke's 225th Birthday (1791) JPL Space Calendar

Water-Powered Cubes Aim for Moon Orbit Food for Thought Water-Powered Cubes Aim for Moon Orbit

50,000 Kilometers over the Sun Image Credit & Copyright: Pete Lawrence Space Image of the Week 50,000 Kilometers over the Sun  Image Credit & Copyright: Pete Lawrence