Space News Update - July 12, 2013 - In the News Departments Story 1: NASA Hubble Finds a True Blue Planet Story 2: Space Station Illuminates Dusty Plasmas for a Wide Range of Research Story 3: Impossible Monster Stars That Might Collide Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA Hubble Finds a True Blue Planet > NASA Hubble Finds a True Blue Planet

Space Station Illuminates Dusty Plasmas for a Wide Range of Research

Impossible Monster Stars That Might Collide

The Night Sky Friday, July 12 · The waxing crescent Moon, faint Regulus, and bright Venus form a curving line low in the western twilight, as shown at right. Saturday, July 13 · Summery Scorpius struts in the south right after dark. Now is the time (before the Moon grows bright) to explore its Milky-Way-rich southern part, full of bright deep-sky objects. The northern part of Scorpius includes orange Antares and, to Antares's right, Delta Scorpii, a star that 13 years ago doubled in brightness and still rivals Antares for attention. Sunday, July 14 · Do you live too far north to see Alpha Centauri? The nearest star for northerners is Barnard's Star, a red dwarf 6.0 light-years away in northern Ophiuchus. At magnitude 9.6 it's fairly easy in most telescopes. See the article, finder charts and photo in the July Sky & Telescope, page 48. Monday, July 15 · First-quarter Moon (exact at 11:18 p.m. EDT). Look quite close to the Moon for Spica. Saturn glows off to their upper left. Think photo opportunity. The Moon occults (hides) Spica for skywatchers in Hawaii and parts of Central and South America; see map and timetables.

ISS Sighting Opportunities For Denver: No Sighting Opportunities through July 15th Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website. No Special Programming Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jul 12 - Comet 191P/McNaught At Opposition (1.919 AU) Jul 12 - Comet 246P/NEAT At Opposition (2.011 AU) Jul 12 - Comet 113P/Spitaler At Opposition (3.287 AU) Jul 12 - Comet 202P/Scotti At Opposition (3.866 AU) Jul 12 - Kuiper Belt Object 50000 Quaoar Occults 2UCAC 26260657 (12.4 Magnitude Star) Jul 12 - Asteroid 1886 Lowell Closest Approach To Earth (1.211 AU) Jul 12 - Asteroid 1159 Granada Closest Approach To Earth (1.259 AU) Jul 12 - Asteroid 10797 Guatemala Closest Approach To Earth (1.294 AU) Jul 12 - Asteroid 289586 Shackleton Closest Approach To Earth (1.471 AU) Jul 12 - Asteroid 11739 Baton Rouge Closest Approach To Earth (2.875 AU) Jul 12 - 25th Anniversary (1988), Phobos 2 Launch (Soviet Mars Orbiter) Jul 13 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #353 (OTM-353) Jul 13 - [Jul 08] Comet P/1819 W1 (Blanpain) At Opposition (2.831 AU) Jul 13 - Asteroid 2012 LA11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.093 AU) Jul 13 - Asteroid 136 Austria Closest Approach To Earth (1.122 AU) Jul 13 - Southern California Astronomy Expo, San Diego, California Jul 13 - Carlsbad Caverns National Park Star Party, Carlsbad, California Jul 14 - Asteroid 188534 Mauna Kea Closest Approach To Earth (1.805 AU) Jul 14 - Asteroid 2315 Czechoslovakia Closest Approach To Earth (2.113 AU) Jul 14 - Asteroid 589 Croatia Closest Approach To Earth (2.173 AU) Jul 15 - Comet 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup Closest Approach To Earth (1.208 AU) Jul 15 - Comet 147P/Kushida-Muramatsu At Opposition (3.570 AU) Jul 15 - Comet 174P/Echeclus Closest Approach To Earth (5.558 AU) Jul 15 - Asteroid 2010 AF30 Near-Earth Flyby (0.046 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Asteroid Expert Receives Carl Sagan Medal for Public Communication Food for Thought Asteroid Expert Receives Carl Sagan Medal for Public Communication

Space Image of the Week Curiosity Heading for Mount Sharp, Sol 329 Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech