Space News Update - September 19, 2014 - In the News Departments Story 1: Pursuit of Dark Matter Progresses at AMS Story 2: NASA Mars Spacecraft (MAVEN) Ready for Sept. 21 Orbit Insertion Story 3: Hubble Helps Find Smallest Known Galaxy Containing a Supermassive Black Hole   Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Pursuit of Dark Matter Progresses at AMS 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 Mars Spacecraft (MAVEN) Ready for Sept. 21 Orbit Insertion

Hubble Helps Find Smallest Known Galaxy Containing a Supermassive Black Hole

The Night Sky Friday, September 19 In early dawn Saturday morning, Jupiter shines upper left of the waning Moon in the east, as shown at right. How long has it been since you turned your scope on either Jupiter or the maria-covered waning crescent? Saturday, September 20 In bright twilight, Mercury and fainter Spica are in conjunction 0.6° apart just above the west-southwest horizon. Use binoculars to scan for them about 20 minutes after sunset. The eclipsing variable star Algol (Beta Persei) should be at its minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple of hours centered on 10:55 p.m. EDT. In early dawn on Sunday the 21st, the waning crescent Moon shines far below Jupiter and closer to the right of Regulus, as shown above. Sunday, September 21 Aquila's dark secret: If you're blessed with a really dark sky, try finding the big dark nebula known as "Barnard's E" near Altair in Aquila, using Gary Seronik's Binocular Highlight column and chart in the September Sky & Telescope, page 45. And if you have a sky that dark, also use binoculars to investigate the big, dim North America Nebula and its surroundings near Deneb in Cygnus using the September issue's Deep-Sky Wonders article, page 56. Monday, September 22 The September equinox comes at 10:29 p.m. on this date EDT (2:29 September 23rd UT). This is when the Sun crosses the equator heading south for the year. Fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere, spring in the Southern Hemisphere. Day and twilight-plus-night are nearly equal in length. The Sun rises and sets almost exactly east and west. As summer ends, the Sagittarius Teapot is moves west of due south during evening and tips increasingly far over, as if pouring out the last of summer. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Sat Sep 20, 4:28 AM < 1 min 14° 14 above NNE 11 above NNE Sat Sep 20, 6:03 AM 1 min 10° 10 above NNW 10 above N Sun Sep 21, 5:14 AM 2 min 11° 10 above NNE Mon Sep 22, 4:27 AM Mon Sep 22, 6:02 AM 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, September 20   12:30 a.m., Video B-Roll Feed of the Processing of the SpaceX-CRS 4 Falcon 9 Rocket and the Dragon Cargo Craft (all channels) 1 a.m., Coverage of the SpaceX-CRS 4/Dragon Launch (Launch time is 2:14 a.m. ET) (all channels) 3:45 a.m., SpaceX-CRS-4/Dragon Post-Launch News Conference (all channels) Sunday, September 21 9:30 p.m., Live Coverage of MAVEN - Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) - Clean Feed (NTV-3 (Media)) 9:30 p.m. Live Coverage of MAVEN - Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education)) 11:59 p.m., Post MAVEN - Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI) News Conference (all channels) Monday, September 22 5:30 a.m., Coverage of the Grapple of the SpaceX-CRS 4/Dragon at the ISS (Grapple of Dragon scheduled at appx. 7:30 a.m. ET) (all channels) 9:30 a.m., Coverage of the Berthing of the SpaceX-CRS 4/Dragon to the ISS (Berthing scheduled to begin appx. 9:45 a.m. ET) (all channels) 2 p.m., Video File of the ISS Expedition 41/42 Crew Activities and Soyuz TMA-14M Spacecraft Encapsulation at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Sep 19 - [Sep 13] Comet 309P/LINEAR At Opposition (1.276 AU) Sep 19 - Comet 95P/Chiron Occults UCAC4-444-130878 (14.5 Magnitude Star) Sep 19 - Asteroid 2014 RH12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.058 AU) Sep 19 - Asteroid 3672 Stevedberg Closest Approach To Earth (0.978 AU) Sep 19 - Asteroid 1996 Adams Closest Approach To Earth (1.199 AU) Sep 19 - Asteroid 2097 Galle Closest Approach To Earth (1.328 AU) Sep 19 - Asteroid 1865 Cerberus Closest Approach To Earth (1.458 AU) Sep 19 - ESA Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Day 2014, Noordwijk, The Netherlands Sep 20 - [Sep 19] Dragon CRS-4/ Spinsat/ Arkyd-3/ RapidScat Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station) Sep 20 - Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) At Opposition (1.314 AU) Sep 20 - Comet P/2011 A2 (Scotti) At Opposition (3.190 AU) Sep 20 - Comet C/2012 Q1 (Kowalski) Closest Approach To Earth (9.373 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 12249 (1988 SH2) Occults HIP 1821 (6.4 Magnitude Star) Sep 20 - [Sep 16] Asteroid 2014 RW18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU) Sep 20 - Asteroid 2014 QJ33 Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU) Sep 21 - [Sep 18] MAVEN, Mars Orbit Insertion Sep 21 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (26 Degrees) Sep 21 - Comet 148P/Anderson-LINEAR At Opposition (1.844 AU) Sep 21 - Comet C/2013 P3 (Palomar) Closest Approach To Earth (7.657 AU) Sep 21 - Comet C/2013 P3 (Palomar) At Opposition (7.657 AU) Sep 21 - Asteroid 2011 UT Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU) Sep 21 - Asteroid 9969 Braille Closest Approach To Earth (1.744 AU) Sep 21 - Asteroid 11739 Baton Rouge Closest Approach To Earth (2.050 AU) Sep 21 - Asteroid 2104 Toronto Closest Approach To Earth (2.629 AU) Sep 21 - Kuiper Belt Object 120347 Salacia At Opposition (43.573 AU) Sep 21 - 40th Anniversary (1974), Mariner 10, 2nd Mercury Flyby Sep 21 - 65th Anniversary (1949), Beddgelert Meteorite Fall (Hit Hotel in Wales) Sep 21 - Gustav Holst's 140th Birthday (1874) JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought NASA Chooses American Companies to Transport U.S. Astronauts to International Space Station

Space Image of the Week Aurora over Maine