Space News Update - August 11, In the News Story 1: Dawn Spacecraft at Ceres – New Pictures as Investigations Continue Story 2: Comet’s Firework Display Ahead of Perihelion Story 3: Story 3: Kick Back, Look Up, We’re in for a GREAT Perseid Meteor Shower Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Dawn Spacecraft at Ceres – New Pictures as Investigations Continue

Comet’s Firework Display Ahead of Perihelion

Kick Back, Look Up, We’re in for a GREAT Perseid Meteor Shower

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, August 11 The red long-period variable star Chi Cygni is near maximum! As of August 7th it was reported at magnitude 4.5. See the article and comparison-star chart in the August Sky & Telescope, page 51. Wednesday, August 12 The Perseid meteor shower should be at its peak late tonight, ideally so for North America. And there's no moonlight. Bundle up warmly (it gets cold under a clear, open August sky late at night), and lie back in a reclining lawn chair. You may see about a meteor a minute on average. The later you watch the better. See Plan for the Perseids! More is in the August Sky & Telescope, page 48. Thursday, August 13 These moonless August nights are prime Milky Way time. After dark, the Milky Way is a great, mottled glowing band running from Sagittarius in the south up and left across Aquila and through the big Summer Triangle very high in the east, then on down through Cassiopeia to Perseus low in the north-northeast. Friday, August 14 This is the time of year when the Teapot asterism of Sagittarius stands highest in the south soon after dark. The Teapot is about the size of your fist at arm's length. It's tipping and pouring to the right, from its triangular spout.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver : DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Tue Aug 11, 8:56 PM1 min10°10 above N10 above NNE Tue Aug 11, 10:32 PM1 min20°14 above NNW20 above N Wed Aug 12, 9:39 PM3 min15°11 above NNW13 above NE Wed Aug 12, 11:15 PM< 1 min13°13 above NW Thu Aug 13, 8:46 PM2 min12°10 above N10 above NNE Thu Aug 13, 10:23 PM< 1 min29°21 above NNW29 above N Fri Aug 14, 9:29 PM3 min23°15 above NNW20 above NE Fri Aug 14, 11:04 PM< 1 min10°10 above WNW

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA Tuesday, August 11  2 p.m. - Replay of the ISS Expedition 45/Visiting Crew News Conference at Star City, Russia (recorded August 10) (all channels)  2:30 p.m. - Video File of the Expedition 45/Visiting Crew’s Ceremonial Visit to the Gagarin Museum in Star City, Russia and their Visit to Red Square and the Kremlin in Moscow (starts at 2:45 p.m.) (all channels) Wednesday, August 12  10 p.m. - Live Coverage of 2015 Perseid Meteor Shower (all channels) Thursday, August 13  9 a.m., - Educational Event with Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren (all channels)  11 a.m. - NASA RS-25 Test Social (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education))  4:30 p.m. - Live Coverage of NASA’s RS-25 Engine Test (all channels) Friday, August 14  6 a.m. - ISS Progress 58 Undocking Coverage (Undocking scheduled at 6:19 a.m. ET) (all channels) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar  Aug 11 - Apollo Asteroid 2011 QG21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2011 QG21  Aug 11 - Asteroid 4999 MPC Closest Approach To Earth (2.127 AU)Asteroid 4999 MPC  Aug 11 - Asteroid 1940 Whipple Closest Approach To Earth (2.163 AU)Asteroid 1940 Whipple  Aug th Anniversary (1975), Acapulco Meteorite Fall in MexicoAcapulco Meteorite  Aug 12 - Perseids Meteor Shower PeakPerseids Meteor Shower  Aug 12 - Comet 51P-A/Harrington Perihelion (1.699 AU)Comet 51P-A/HarringtonPerihelion  Aug 12 - Comet 51P/Harrington Perihelion (1.700 AU)Comet 51P/HarringtonPerihelion  Aug 12 - Comet 297P/Beshore At Opposition (2.080 AU)Comet 297P/BeshoreAt Opposition  Aug 12 - Comet P/2007 T6 (Catalina) At Opposition (3.360 AU)Comet P/2007 T6 (Catalina)  Aug 12 - Apollo Asteroid 2004 AS1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2004 AS1  Aug 12 - Asteroid 6600 Qwerty Closest Approach To Earth (1.076 AU)Asteroid 6600 Qwerty  Aug 12 - Asteroid NASA Closest Approach To Earth (1.156 AU)Asteroid NASA  Aug th Anniversary (1960), Echo 1 LaunchEcho 1  Aug 13 - Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Perihelion (1.243 AU)Comet 67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoPerihelion  Aug 13 - Asteroid 701 Oriola Occults HIP (6.0 Magnitude Star)Asteroid 701 Oriola Occults HIP  Aug 13 - Apollo Asteroid 2011 AK5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2011 AK5  Aug 13 - Apollo Asteroid (2004 AR1) Near-Earth Flyby (0.075 AU)Apollo Asteroid (2004 AR1)  Aug 13 - Apollo Asteroid 3752 Camillo Closest Approach To Earth (1.089 AU)Apollo Asteroid 3752 Camillo  Aug 13 - Asteroid 9133 d'Arrest Closest Approach To Earth (1.297 AU)Asteroid 9133 d'Arrest  Aug 13 - Rasmus Bartholin's 390th Birthday (1625)Rasmus Bartholin's  Aug 14 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #418 (OTM-418)Cassini  Aug 14 - Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (1.089 AU)Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina)  Aug 14 - Comet 104P/Kowal At Opposition (1.648 AU)Comet 104P/Kowal  Aug 14 - Comet 190P/Mueller Closest Approach To Earth (1.839 AU)Comet 190P/Mueller  Aug 14 - Asteroid 21 Lutetia At Opposition (9.0 Magnitude)Asteroid 21 Lutetia

Food for Thought Atmospheric Escape and Flowing N2 Ice Glaciers – What Resupplies Pluto’s Nitrogen? New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week Hubble Finds a Little Gem Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Judy Schmidt Text credit: European Space Agency