Space News Update - May 18, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Where to See the Annular Solar Eclipse Online Story 2: Story 2: SpaceX Launch on May 19, 4:55 AM Story 3: Story 3: NASA Lends Galaxy Evolution Explorer to Caltech Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Where to See the Annular Solar Eclipse Online

SpaceX Launch on May 19, 4:55 AM

NASA Lends Galaxy Evolution Explorer to Caltech

The Night Sky Friday, May 18 Arcturus is the brightest star high in the southeast these evenings. It's the leading light of the constellation Bootes, the Herdsman. The main stars of Bootes form a narrow, bent kite shape extending left of Arcturus, nearly three fists at arm's length long. Or maybe the kite is a pointy-toed shoe, with Arcturus the tip of the toe. Saturday, May 19 Venus is moving lower in the west every evening as twilight fades. It's now 2° left of much fainter Beta Tauri, which has been descending almost in parallel with it. Sunday, May 20 Partial/annular eclipse of the Sun! See our article, May 20th's Annular Eclipse of the SunMay 20th's Annular Eclipse of the Sun Arcturus shines high in the southeastern sky after dark. Vega, equally bright, shines lower in the northeast. A third of the way from Arcturus to Vega, look for dim Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, with its one modestly bright star, Alphecca. Two thirds of the way from Arcturus to Vega is the dim Keystone of Hercules. New Moon (exact at 7:47 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). Monday, May 21 Can you pick up this month's thin crescent Moon yet? During twilight in the Americas it's barely 24 hours old. (After all, it was in front of the Sun yesterday afternoon!) Using binoculars, look for it no more than a half hour after sunset well below Venus in the west-northwest, as shown at lower right.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information For Denver: SATELLITELOCALDURATION MAX ELEV APPROACHDEPARTURE DATE/TIME(MIN)(DEG)(DEG-DIR) ISSFri May 18/05:08 AM42610 above SSW21 above ESE ISSSat May 19/04:16 AM31210 above SSE11 above ESE ISSSun May 20/04:56 AM46310 above SW39 above ENE ISSMon May 21/04:04 AM32823 above S16 above E

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.NASA website May 18, Friday 4 p.m. - Replay of SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Pre-Launch Briefing - HQ (All Channels) 6 p.m. – Replay of NASA Social at Kennedy Space Center, Florida – HQ (Public and Education Channels) 6 p.m. - Replay of SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Pre-Launch Briefing - HQ (Media Channel) 8 p.m. – Replay of ISS Update (5/18) – HQ (All Channels) 9 p.m. - Replay of SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Pre-Launch Briefing - HQ (All Channels) 10 p.m. – Replay of NASA Social at Kennedy Space Center, Florida – HQ (All Channels) May 19, Saturday 2 a.m. - Replay of SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Pre-Launch Briefing - HQ (All Channels) 3:30 a.m. - SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Launch Coverage Begins (Launch scheduled at 4:55 a.m. EDT) - KSC (All Channels) 8:30 a.m. - SpaceX/Falcon 9 Dragon Post-Launch News Conference - KSC (All Channels) May 21, Monday 2:30 a.m. - SpaceX/Dragon Fly-Under of the ISS Coverage - JSC (All Channels) 10 a.m. - SpaceX/Dragon Mission Status Briefing - JSC (All Channels)

Space Calendar May 18 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #322 (OTM-322)Cassini May 18 - Comet C/2010 R1 (LINEAR) Perihelion (5.621 AU)Comet C/2010 R1 (LINEAR)Perihelion May 18 - Lecture: Faults and Folds on Mercury, Houston, TexasLecture: Faults and Folds on Mercury May Bootleg Astronomy Star Party, Harmon, Illinois2012 Bootleg Astronomy Star Party May 19 -[May 18] Dragon C-2 & C-3 Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station)Dragon C-2 & C-3Falcon 9 Launch May 19 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults 2UCAC (11.7 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 433 Eros Occults 2UCAC May 19 - Asteroid 2660 Wasserman Occults HIP (6.4 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 2660 Wasserman Occults HIP May 19 - Asteroid 2010 KK37 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)Asteroid 2010 KK37Near-Earth Flyby May 19 - Northern Meeting of the British Interplanetary Society, York, United KingdomNorthern Meeting of the British Interplanetary Society May 19 - Keele Observatory's 50th Birthday Star Party, Keele, United KingdomKeele Observatory's 50th Birthday Star Party May Cracow School of Theoretical Physics: Astroparticle Physics in the LHC Era, Zakopane, PolandCracow School of Theoretical Physics: Astroparticle Physics in the LHC Era May 20 -[May 17] Annular Solar Eclipse, Visible From China, Japan & North AmericaAnnular Solar Eclipse May 20 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Tethys, Enceladus, Daphnis, Prometheus, Pan, Methone, Pallene & TelestoCassini May 20 - Asteroid 2675 Tolkien Closest Approach To Earth (1.337 AU)Asteroid 2675 Tolkien May 20 - Asteroid Samthurman Closest Approach To Earth (1.716 AU)Asteroid Samthurman May ESF Research Conference: The Modern Era of Helio- and Asteroseismology, Otz Valley, near Innsbruck, AustriaESF Research Conference: The Modern Era of Helio- and Asteroseismology May Japan Geoscience Union Meeting (JpGU) 2012, Chiba City, JapanJapan Geoscience Union Meeting (JpGU) 2012 May th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Italy12th Pisa Meeting on Advanced Detectors May 20-Jun 09 - Aspen Meeting Summer 2012: A Window on the Formation of the Milky Way, Aspen, ColoradoAspen Meeting Summer 2012: A Window on the Formation of the Milky Way May 21 - Asteroid (1950 DA) Closest Approach To Earth (0.238 AU)Asteroid (1950 DA)Closest Approach To Earth May 21 - Asteroid Jerusalem Closest Approach To Earth (1.438 AU)Asteroid Jerusalem May 21 - Asteroid 3252 Johnny Closest Approach To Earth (1.802 AU)Asteroid 3252 Johnny May 21 - Colloquium: The Distribution of Star-forming Regions in the Milky Way, Sydney, AustraliaColloquium: The Distribution of Star-forming Regions in the Milky Way JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought The Awesome Complexity of Hypersonic Flight

Space Image of the Week Image Credit: NASA