Space News Update - January 29, 2019 - In the News Departments Story 1: Rover Team Beaming New Commands to Opportunity on Mars Story 2: Earth's Oldest Rock Found On The Moon Story 3: Astronomers Identify Weather Cycle on Jupiter Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Rover Team Beaming New Commands to Opportunity on Mars 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)

Earth's Oldest Rock Found On The Moon

Astronomers Identify Weather Cycle on Jupiter

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, January 29 • In this dark-of-the-Moon period, use binoculars to get acquainted with the little asterisms a few degrees north of the main Hyades V pattern. (Zoom in on the View here.) I call two of these the Jumping Minnow and Dragonfly, imagining warm summer afternoons by a riverbank far separated from these icy winter nights. As in the main, more familiar part of the Hyades, this field sports a number of notable star pairs. Wednesday, January 30 • As dawn begins to brighten on Thursday morning, Antares, Jupiter, Venus, and the waning crescent Moon form a graceful arc, 35° long, in the southeastern sky. But the stars of this show are the Moon and Venus. They form a strikingly close bright pair, about 2° apart at the times of dawn in the Americas. Think photo opportunity! Thursday, January 31 • After dinnertime look due east, not very high, for twinkly Regulus. Extending upper left from it is the Sickle of Leo, a backward question mark. "Leo announces spring," goes an old saying. Actually, Leo showing up in the evening announces the cold, messy back half of winter. Come spring, Leo will already be high. • In Friday's dawn, the thinning crescent Moon hangs lower left of Venus. Look for dim Saturn a similar distance (if you're in North America) on the opposite side of the Moon from Venus, very low. Binoculars help. Friday, February 1 • As soon as it's fully dark, spot the bright, equilateral Winter Triangle in the southeast. Sirius is its brightest and lowest star. Betelgeuse stands above Sirius by about two fists at arm's length. To the left of their midpoint is Procyon. And, standing 4° above Procyon is 3rd-magnitude Gomeisa, Beta Canis Minoris, the only other easy naked-eye star of Canis Minor.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Jan 29, 6:03 PM 3 min 13° 10° above NW 10° above NNE Wed Jan 30, 6:50 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above NNW 10° above N Thu Jan 31, 5:58 PM 2 min 11° Fri Feb 1, 6:44 PM 1 min 11° above N Sat Feb 2, 5:53 PM Sat Feb 2, 7:29 PM 11° above NNW Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) 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) Subject to Change due to Government Shutdown   Thursday, January 31 1:15 p.m.: Canadian Space Agency PAO event with astronaut David Saint-Jacques from the Destiny Laboratory on the International Space Station with Kids Code Jeunesse in Vancouver, British Columbia. Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jan 29 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 BG3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU) Jan 29 - Aten Asteroid 2019 AN11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU) Jan 29 - Aten Asteroid 2013 CW32 Near-Earth Flyby (0.036 AU) Jan 29 - Asteroid 6318 Cronkite Closest Approach To Earth (1.037 AU) Jan 29 - Asteroid 5945 Roachapproach Closest Approach To Earth (1.560 AU) Jan 29 - Asteroid 5515 Naderi Closest Approach To Earth (1.663 AU) Jan 30 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 BJ1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU) Jan 30 - Asteroid 10111 Frensel Closest Approach To Earth (1.557 AU) Jan 30 - Contest: Mechanical Maker Challenge - Mechanical Eye Jan 31 - Moon Occults Venus Jan 31 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 BC3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU) Jan 31 - Asteroid 35978 Arlington Closest Approach To Earth (1.469 AU) Jan 31 - Seminar: Voyager Probing Dark Matter, Barcelona, Spain Jan 31 - Seminar: Gravitational Wave Decay into Dark Energy, Trieste, Italy Feb 01 - Comet 164P/Christensen Closest Approach To Earth (1.850 AU) Feb 01 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 BD3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU) Feb 01 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 AV2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU) Feb 01 - Asteroid 7958 Leakey Closest Approach To Earth (1.109 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Planetary Scientists Continue to Puzzle Over the Mysterious Slope Streaks on Mars. Liquid? Sand? What’s Causing Them?

Credit: JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) Space Image of the Week Once Upon a Time on Ryugu: Asteroid Features (and Its Boulders) Get Storybook Names Credit: JAXA (Japanese Space Agency)