Space News Update - February 17, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Colorful Cosmic 'Flower' Blooms in Gorgeous NASA Valentine Story 2: Story 2: Mars Rover Nearing Marathon Achievement Story 3: Story 3: The Starry Jewels of the Orion Constellation Explained Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Colorful Cosmic 'Flower' Blooms in Gorgeous NASA Valentine

Mars Rover Nearing Marathon Achievement

The Starry Jewels of the Orion Constellation Explained

The Night Sky Tuesday, February 17 Mars is now just 2° above Venus in the west-southwest at dusk. They'll remain at least this close for the next nine days. The shadow of Jupiter's moon Io crosses Jupiter's face from 6:13 to 8:31 p.m. EST. It's following along sixteen minutes behind Io itself, which is less visible. Around 9:10 p.m. EST, Callisto disappears into occultation behind Jupiter's western limb. Then from 10:35 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. EST Europa's shadow crosses Jupiter, following thirty-five minutes behind Europa itself. And, Jupiter's Great Red Spot comes into view around the planet's celestial eastern edge by midnight EST, to reach the planet's central meridian around 1:47 a.m. EST. Wednesday, February 18 Juno, the 3rd-discovered asteroid, was at opposition three weeks ago but is now better placed for evening viewing. It's a little west of the head of Hydra (which is west of Jupiter) and magnitude 8.5. With your telescope, work your way to its exact position using the chart in the February Sky & Telescope, page 50. Thursday, February 19 Algol is at its minimum light for a couple hours centered on 9:17 p.m. EST. Mutual eclipse among Jupiter's moons. Io casts its shadow onto Ganymede from 7:35 to 7:43 p.m. EST this evening, dimming it by 0.8 magnitude — that is, reducing its brightness by half — at the middle of that time. Friday, February 20 Venus, the thin crescent Moon, and little Mars form a tight bunch in the west-southwest during and after dusk, as shown above. They fit in a circle just 2° across at the times of dusk for most of North America. Sky & Telescope Saturday, February 21 Venus and Mars are in conjunction 0.4° apart at dusk, with the Moon now looking on from on high, as shown above.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver: DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisapperas Tue Feb 17, 7:31 PM1 min18°11 above NNW18 above NNW Wed Feb 18, 6:38 PM3 min17°10 above NNW16 above NE Wed Feb 18, 8:13 PM< 1 min10°10 above NW Thu Feb 19, 7:20 PM2 min38°10 above NW38 above N Fri Feb 20, 6:27 PM5 min27°10 above NW16 above ENE Fri Feb 20, 8:05 PM< 1 min17°17 above WNW Sat Feb 21, 7:11 PM3 min72°15 above WNW57 above SSE

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website 5:45 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Coverage of the ISS Progress 58 Launch (Launch scheduled at 6 a.m. ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan) (all channels) 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Space Station Live (all channels) 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Coverage of the ISS Progress 58 Docking to the ISS (Docking scheduled at 12 p.m. ET) (all channels) 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 17 - Women in STEM: STEM in the Global Science Community (all channels) 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, February 18 - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Event (all channels) 2 p.m., Wednesday, February 18 - ISS Expedition 42 Spacewalk Preview Briefing (all channels) 6 a.m., Friday, February 20 - Coverage of U.S. Spacewalk # 29 (Wilmore and Virts) - JSC (all channels)

 Feb 17 - [Feb 11] Progress M-26 Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 58P)Progress M-26  Feb 17 - [Feb 11] 50th Anniversary (1965), Ranger 8 Launch (Moon Impact Mission)Ranger 8  Feb 17 - Eutelsat 115 West B/ ABS 3A Falcon 9 LaunchEutelsat 115 West BABS 3AFalcon 9 Launch  Feb 17 - Comet 309P/LINEAR Perihelion (1.740 AU)Comet 309P/LINEARPerihelion  Feb 17 - Asteroid 2015 BF511 Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)Asteroid 2015 BF511  Feb 17 - [Feb 15] Asteroid (2000 AC6) Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)Asteroid (2000 AC6)Near-Earth Flyby  Feb 17 - Asteroid 6677 Renoir Closest Approach To Earth (2.588 AU)Asteroid 6677 Renoir  Feb 17 - Asteroid 767 Bondia Closest Approach To Earth (2.658 AU)Asteroid 767 Bondia  Feb 17 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (2.922 AU)Asteroid 1134 Kepler  Feb 17 - Asteroid 3552 Don Quixote Closest Approach To Earth (5.953 AU)Asteroid 3552 Don QuixoteClosest Approach To Earth  Feb 18 - Comet 32P/Comas Sola Closest Approach To Earth (1.352 AU)Comet 32P/Comas SolaClosest Approach To Earth  Feb 18 - Comet 291P/NEAT At Opposition (2.781 AU)Comet 291P/NEATAt Opposition  Feb 18 - Comet 213P/Van Ness At Opposition (3.659 AU)Comet 213P/Van NessAt Opposition  Feb 18 - Comet 213P/Van Ness-B At Opposition (3.660 AU)Comet 213P/Van Ness-BAt Opposition  Feb 18 - Asteroid 293 Brasilia Closest Approach To Earth (1.624 AU)Asteroid 293 Brasilia  Feb th Anniversary (1995), Neagari Meteorite Fall (Hit Car in Japan)Neagari Meteorite Fall  Feb th Anniversary (1930), Clyde Tombaugh's Discovery of PlutoClyde Tombaugh'sPluto  Feb 18 - Alessandro Volta's 270th Birthday (1745)Alessandro Volta's  Feb 19 - Comet P/2010 K2 (WISE) At Opposition (1.224 AU)Comet P/2010 K2 (WISE)At Opposition  Feb 19 - Comet 107P/Wilson-Harrington At Opposition (2.438 AU)Comet 107P/Wilson-HarringtonAt Opposition  Feb 19 - Asteroid Moe Closest Approach To Earth (1.218 AU)Asteroid Moe  Feb 19 - Asteroid 3989 Odin Closest Approach To Earth (1.516 AU)Asteroid 3989 Odin  Feb 19 - Kuiper Belt Object (2000 CR105) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2000 CR105)At Opposition  Feb 20 - Garpun Proton-M/Briz-M LaunchGarpun  Feb 20 - Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR At Opposition (2.196 AU)Comet 156P/Russell-LINEARAt Opposition  Feb 20 - Comet 261P/Larson At Opposition (3.698 AU)Comet 261P/LarsonAt Opposition  Feb 20 - Asteroid (2002 RQ25) Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU)Asteroid (2002 RQ25)Near-Earth Flyby  Feb 20 - Asteroid Atira Closest Approach To Earth (0.524 AU)Asteroid AtiraClosest Approach To Earth  Feb 20 - Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou Closest Approach To Earth (1.130 AU)Asteroid 8256 Shenzhou  Feb 20 - Asteroid 7919 Prime Closest Approach To Earth (1.693 AU)Asteroid 7919 Prime  Feb 20 - Asteroid Dobson Closest Approach To Earth (2.140 AU)Asteroid Dobson  Feb 20 - George Smoot's 70th Birthday (1945)George Smoot's  Feb 21 - Cosmos-Bars N1 Soyuz U Launch  Feb 21 - Venus Passes 0.5 Degrees From MarsVenusMars  Feb 21 - Comet 206P/Barnard-Boattini At Opposition (1.586 AU)Comet 206P/Barnard-BoattiniAt Opposition  Feb 21 - Comet 249P/LINEAR At Opposition (2.381 AU)Comet 249P/LINEARAt Opposition  Feb 21 - Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (2.589 AU)Comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina)Closest Approach To Earth  Feb 21 - Comet 276P/Vorobjov At Opposition (4.082 AU)Comet 276P/VorobjovAt Opposition  Feb 21 - Asteroid 3192 A'Hearn Closest Approach To Earth (0.989 AU)Asteroid 3192 A'Hearn  Feb 21 - Tom Gehrels' 90th Birthday (1925)Tom Gehrels' Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought Interesting Facts About Planet Mars

Space Image of the Week Image Credit: NASA, ESO, NAOJ, Giovanni Paglioli; Assembling and processing: R. Colombari and R. Gendler M106: A Spiral Galaxy with a Strange Center