Space News Update - August 29, 2014 - In the News Departments Story 1: Astronomers Spot Two Colliding Galaxies in Distant Universe Story 2: NASA's Spitzer Telescope Witnesses Asteroid Smashup Story 3: Pebble-size Particles May Jump-Start Planet Formation Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Astronomers Spot Two Colliding Galaxies in Distant Universe 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 Spitzer Telescope Witnesses Asteroid Smashup

Pebble-size Particles May Jump-Start Planet Formation

The Night Sky Friday, August 29 The Moon is coming back into the evening sky. Look for the waxing crescent low in the west-southwest in twilight, as shown at lower right. Can you make out Spica twinkling beneath it? Binoculars help. Far to their upper left are Saturn and Mars. Saturday, August 30 The waxing crescent Moon now shines closer to Saturn and Mars, as shown above. Can you see little Alpha Librae in the middle of the narrow triangle they make? Sunday, August 31 Spot the Moon at dusk with Saturn to its right and Mars to its lower left (for North America).As the stars come out this week, the first you see may be Arcturus shining high in the west. As the sky gets a little darker, look to its right for the Big Dipper scooping down in the northwest. Monday, September 1 First-quarter Moon this evening and Tuesday evening (exactly first quarter at 7:11 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Tuesday morning). It's passing over Scorpius, as shown in the image above. Sky & Telescope

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

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Saturday, August 30 8 a.m., 8 p.m. - Replay of NASA Science Briefing, New Horizons Pluto Mission: Mirroring the Voyager Spacecraft Legacy (all channels) 9 a.m., 9 p.m. - Replay of NASA Science Briefing, The Voyager Mission Experience: Memories from the Team (all channels) 10 a.m. - Replay of NASA News Briefing on LDSD (all channels) 1 p.m., 4 p.m. - Replay of NASA, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Present “Ancient Earth, Alien Earth” - How Earth History Teaches Us about Planets Orbiting Other Stars (all channels) Sunday, August 31 9 a.m., 8 p.m. - Replay of NASA Science Briefing, New Horizons Pluto Mission: Mirroring the Voyager Spacecraft Legacy (all channels) 10 a.m., 9 p.m. - Replay of NASA Science Briefing, The Voyager Mission Experience: Memories from the Team (all channels) 1 p.m., 5 p.m. - Replay of NASA, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Present “Ancient Earth, Alien Earth” - How Earth History Teaches Us about Planets Orbiting Other Stars (all channels) 2 p.m. - Replay of NASA News Briefing on LDSD (all channels) Monday, September 1 1 p.m., 4.p.m. - Replay of NASA, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution Present “Ancient Earth, Alien Earth” - How Earth History Teaches Us about Planets Orbiting Other Stars (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 29 - Neptune At Opposition Aug 29 - Comet C/2014 E2 (Jacques) Closest Approach To Earth (0.564 AU) Aug 29 - Asteroid 5203 Pavarotti Closest Approach To Earth (0.869 AU) Aug 29 - Asteroid 12846 Fullerton Closest Approach To Earth (1.915 AU) Aug 29 - Kuiper Belt Object 120178 (2003 OP32) At Opposition (40.967 AU) Aug 29 - Chris Hadfield's 55th Birthday (1959) Aug 30 - Comet P/2006 S6 (Hill) At Opposition (1.881 AU) Aug 30 - Comet P/2012 F5 At Opposition (1.944 AU) Aug 30 - Comet 297P/Beshore Perihelion (2.346 AU) Aug 30 - Comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu At Opposition (2.767 AU) Aug 30 - [Aug 25] Asteroid 2014 QY33 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU) Aug 30 - Asteroid 163132 (2002 CU11) Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU) Aug 30 - [Aug 23] Asteroid 2014 QB33 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU) Aug 30 - Asteroid 2014 PL51 Near-Earth Flyby (0.093 AU) Aug 30 - Asteroid 3131 Mason-Dixon Closest Approach To Earth (2.013 AU) Aug 30 - Asteroid 42776 Casablanca Closest Approach To Earth (2.256 AU) Aug 30 - 30th Anniversary (1984), STS-41-D Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery) Aug 31 - Moon Occults Saturn Aug 31 - Comet P/2012 F5 Closest Approach To Earth (1.944 AU) Aug 31 - Asteroid 4 Vesta Occults 2UCAC 27675441 (12.1 Magnitude Star) Aug 31 - [Aug 29] Asteroid 2014 QO295 Near-Earth Flyby (0.012 AU) Sep 01 - Comet 201P/LONEOS At Opposition (0.990 AU) Sep 01 - [Aug 28] Asteroid 2014 QM266 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU) Sep 01 - [Aug 22] Asteroid 2014 QD3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU) Sep 01 - Asteroid 7016 Conandoyle Closest Approach To Earth (1.617 AU) Sep 01 - Asteroid 2476 Andersen Closest Approach To Earth (1.690 AU) Sep 01 - 35th Anniversary (1979), Pioneer 11, Saturn Flyby JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Quiet, Please: NASA Engineers Wrapping Up Acoustic Testing for Space Launch System

Image Credit: ESO/B. Bailleul Space Image of the Week Thor’s Helmet Nebula Image Credit: ESO/B. Bailleul