Space News Update - August 2, 2013 - In the News Departments Story 1: Get Ready for the 2013 Perseids Story 2: Monster Galaxies Lose Their Appetite With Age Story 3: NASA's Space Launch System Program PDR: Answers to the Acronym   Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Get Ready for the 2013 Perseids 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)

Monster Galaxies Lose Their Appetite With Age

NASA's Space Launch System Program PDR: Answers to the Acronym

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, August 2 · As summer begins to wane, The Big Dipper hangs diagonally on the wall of the northwestern sky during evening. It's about as high as bright Arcturus, shining to its left in the west.   · In early dawn Saturday morning (you can set your alarm), the waning crescent Moon hangs to the upper right of Jupiter, Mars, and Mercury low in the east-northeast, as shown at right. Saturday, August 3 · During Sunday dawn an even thinner waning Moon poses to the right of the Jupiter-Mars-Mercury line, as shown at right. Sunday, August 4 · The asteroid 3 Juno is brightest at opposition this week, glimmering at magnitude 9.0 at the Aquarius-Aquila border. Pick it up with your scope using the finder chart in the AugustSky & Telescope, page 51. Monday, August 5 · The little constellation Scutum, off the tail of Aquila, is faint to the naked eye but important for its super-rich Milky Way field and its deep-sky objects. See Fred Schaaf's "The Shield of King Sobieski" in the AugustSky & Telescope, page 47. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Sat Aug 3, 3:05 AM 2 min 15° 10 above NNW 15 above NNE Sat Aug 3, 4:41 AM 6 min 57° 10 above NW 11 above ESE Sat Aug 3, 9:23 PM 4 min 28° 10 above SSW 25 above ESE Sun Aug 4, 3:52 AM 35° 11 above E Sun Aug 4, 5:29 AM 5 min 25° 11 above WNW 10 above S Sun Aug 4, 8:35 PM 16° 11 above SSE Sun Aug 4, 10:10 PM 53° 10 above WSW 11 above NE Mon Aug 5, 3:06 AM 3 min 24° 23 above N 10 above E Mon Aug 5, 4:40 AM 46° 10 above WNW 10 above SSE Mon Aug 5, 9:22 PM 86° 10 above SW 12 above NE Mon Aug 5, 11:00 PM 18° 10 above NNE 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) August 3, Saturday

 3 p.m. - Coverage of the HTV-4 Launch to the ISS (Launch scheduled at 3:48 p.m. ET) - JSC via Tanegashima, Japan (All Channels)   August 5, Monday

 8:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 36 In-Flight Event for the European Space Agency with Italian Media - JSC (All Channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Aug 02 - Comet 278P/McNaught Perihelion (2.098 AU) Aug 02 - Comet 227P/Catalina-LINEAR At Opposition (4.297 AU) Aug 02 - Asteroid 2013 OF Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU) Aug 02 - Asteroid 2579 Spartacus Closest Approach To Earth (1.101 AU) Aug 02 - Asteroid 2710 Veverka Closest Approach To Earth (1.612 AU) Aug 03 - [Aug 01] HTV-4 (Kounotori 4) H-2B Launch (International Space Station) Aug 03 - Comet 148P/Anderson-LINEAR At Opposition (3.697 AU) Aug 04 - Asteroid 3 Juno At Opposition (8.6 Magnitude) Aug 04 - Asteroid 3 Juno Occults 2UCAC 30282141 (12.2 Magnitude Star) Aug 04 - Asteroid 1951 Lick Closest Approach To Earth (0.371 AU) Aug 05 - Comet C/2012 V1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.163 AU) Aug 05 - Comet 98P/Takamizawa Perihelion (1.673 AU) Aug 05 - Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU) Aug 05 - Comet P/2011 JB15 (Spacewatch-Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (4.544 AU) Aug 05 - Comet C/2010 S1 (LINEAR) Closest Approach To Earth (5.205 AU) Aug 05 - Asteroid 2013 LF7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU) Aug 05 - Asteroid 10958 Mont Blanc Closest Approach To Earth (1.460 AU) Aug 05 - Asteroid 1094 Siberia Closest Approach To Earth (1.814 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought What’s The Asteroid Capture Mission Going to Look Like? NASA’s Starting Its Review

Space Image of the Week Tropic of Cancer