Space News Update - January 6, In the News Story 1: Story 1: Kepler Candidate Planets Searched for Signs of Intelligent Life Story 2: Story 2: SpaceX to Try Daring Rocket Landing on Ocean Platform Tuesday: Watch It Live Story 3: Story 3: In an eerie scene, Chinese villagers visit rocket crash site Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Kepler Candidate Planets Searched for Signs of Intelligent Life

SpaceX to Try Daring Rocket Landing on Ocean Platform Tuesday: Watch It Live

In an eerie scene, Chinese villagers visit rocket crash site

The Night Sky Tuesday, January 6 Watch lower left of the Moon for Jupiter and then Regulus to rise in early evening. In early evening at this time of year, the Great Square of Pegasus balances on one corner high in the west. The vast Andromeda-Pegasus constellation complex runs all the way from near the zenith (Andromeda's foot) down through the Great Square (Pegasus's body) almost to the western horizon (Pegasus's nose). Wednesday, January 7 This evening you can finally see Comet Lovejoy in a moonlight-free sky again — if you look within an hour or so after dark. The comet is closest to Earth tonight, and it's also entering its brightest two weeks at 5th or 4th magnitude. The waning gibbous Moon rises about an hour after darkness is complete. Brilliant Jupiter shines to its left, as shown above. Although they look close together, Jupiter is 1,660 times farther away than the Moon — and 40 times larger in diameter. Algol is at minimum light for a couple hours centered on 8:56 p.m. EST. Mercury and Venus at their closest together, Jan.10, Catch Mercury and Venus shining closest together this as twilight fades on Saturday evening the 10th. Little Mars looks on from their upper left. Thursday, January 8 Mercury and Venus are within 1° of each other, low in the southwest in evening twilight, from now through next Monday. Think photo opportunity! Mercury, Venus, and Mars are all on the far side of the Sun from us now. Friday, January 9 In this coldest time of the year, the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime. Sky & Telescope Saturday, January 10 This evening Venus and Mercury are at their closest together low in the sunset, 0.7° apart. Look for them above the southwest horizon about 45 minutes after sundown. Bright Capella high overhead, and bright Rigel in Orion's foot, are at almost the same right ascension — so they cross your sky’s meridian at almost the same time (around 10 p.m. now, depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone). This means that whenever Capella passes its very highest, Rigel will always mark true south over your landscape. Capella goes exactly through your zenith if you're at latitude 46° north.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver:

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Daylight Time) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website 5 a.m., Tuesday, January 6 - Coverage of the Launch of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship to the ISS (all channels) 7:45 a.m., Tuesday, January 6 - SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Post-Launch News Conference – KSC (all channels) 9:15 a.m., Tuesday, January 6 - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Interviews with the Associated Press and KGO-TV, San Francisco (all channels) 4:30 a.m., Thursday, January 8 - Coverage of the Rendezvous and Grapple of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship at the ISS (Grapple scheduled at appx. 6 a.m. ET) (all channels) 8:15 a.m., Thursday, January 8 - Coverage of the Installation of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship to the ISS (all channels)

Jan 06 - [Jan 04] CRS-5 Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)/ AggieSat 4/ Bevo 2/ SERPENS Falcon 9R Launch (International Space Station)CRS-5Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)AggieSat 4Bevo 2SERPENSFalcon 9R Launch Jan 06 - Comet 116P/Wild Closest Approach To Earth (2.233 AU)Comet 116P/WildClosest Approach To Earth Jan 06 - Comet 180P/NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (2.259 AU)Comet 180P/NEATClosest Approach To Earth Jan 06 - Comet C/2014 Q6 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (4.223 AU)Comet C/2014 Q6 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion Jan 06 - Asteroid 6592 Goya Closest Approach To Earth (1.463 AU)Asteroid 6592 Goya Jan 06 - Asteroid 3752 Camillo Closest Approach To Earth (1.711 AU)Asteroid 3752 CamilloClosest Approach To Earth Jan 06 - Asteroid Grantstokes Closest Approach To Earth (1.824 AU)Asteroid Grantstokes Jan 06 - Asteroid 2329 Orthos Closest Approach To Earth (2.594 AU)Asteroid 2329 OrthosClosest Approach To Earth Jan th Anniversary (1985), La Criolla Meteorite Fall (Hit House in Argentina)La Criolla Meteorite Fall Jan 06 - [Jan 01] Liisi Oterma's 100th Birthday (1915)Liisi Oterma's Jan 06 - Jacques Etienne Montgolfier's 270th Birthday (1745)Jacques Etienne Montgolfier's Jan 06 - Jacob Bernoulli's 360th Birthday (1655)Jacob Bernoulli's Jan 07 - Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) Closest Approach To Earth (0.469 AU)Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)Closest Approach To Earth Jan 07 - Comet P/2014 U2 (Kowalski) At Opposition (0.624 AU)Comet P/2014 U2 (Kowalski) Jan 07 - Comet P/2014 X1 (Elenin) Perihelion (1.815 AU)Comet P/2014 X1 (Elenin) Jan 07 - Comet C/2014 W3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (5.481 AU)Comet C/2014 W3 (PANSTARRS) Jan 07 - Asteroid 2999 Dante Closest Approach To Earth (1.054 AU)Asteroid 2999 Dante Jan 07 - Asteroid 4559 Strauss Closest Approach To Earth (2.099 AU)Asteroid 4559 Strauss Jan th Anniversary (1985), Sakigake Launch, Japan Comet Halley MissionSakigake Jan th Anniversary (1610), Galileo Galilei's Discovery of Jupiter's Moons Io, Europa, Ganymede & CallistoGalileo Galilei's Discovery of Jupiter's MoonsIoEuropaGanymedeCallisto Jan 08 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #400 (OTM-400)Cassini Jan 08 - Comet 132P/Helin-Roman-Alu Closest Approach To Earth (1.801 AU)Comet 132P/Helin-Roman-AluClosest Approach To Earth Jan 08 - Comet 187P/LINEAR At Opposition (4.087 AU)Comet 187P/LINEARAt Opposition Jan 08 - Comet C/2013 W2 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (4.448 AU)Comet C/2013 W2 (PANSTARRS)Perihelion Jan 08 - Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.982 AU)Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS)Closest Approach To Earth Jan 08 - Asteroid (2001 SW63) Occults HIP (5.4 Magnitude Star)Asteroid (2001 SW63) Occults HIP Jan 08 - Asteroid 2010 AN61 Near-Earth Flyby (0.075 AU)Asteroid 2010 AN61Near-Earth Flyby Jan 08 - Asteroid 6135 Billowen Closest Approach To Earth (1.462 AU)Asteroid 6135 Billowen Jan 08 - Gyula Fenyi's 170th Birthday (1845)Gyula Fenyi's Jan th Anniversary (1760), Great Comet of 1760 Near-Earth Flyby (26.5 Lunar Distance)Great Comet of 1760Near-Earth Flyby Jan 09 - Comet 106P/Schuster Closest Approach To Earth (1.509 AU)Comet 106P/SchusterClosest Approach To Earth Jan 09 - Comet C/2014 J1 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (1.959 AU)Comet C/2014 J1 (Catalina)Closest Approach To Earth Jan 09 - Comet P/2012 O2 (McNaught) At Opposition (4.294 AU)Comet P/2012 O2 (McNaught)At Opposition Jan 09 - Comet 186P/Garradd At Opposition (4.558 AU)Comet 186P/GarraddAt Opposition Jan 09 - Asteroid 2014 YZ8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)Asteroid 2014 YZ8Near-Earth Flyby Jan 09 - Asteroid 9781 Jubjubbird Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)Asteroid 9781 Jubjubbird Jan 09 - Asteroid 4511 Rembrandt Closest Approach To Earth (2.089 AU)Asteroid 4511 Rembrandt Jan th Anniversary (1990), STS-32 Space Shuttle Columbia Launch (LDEF Satellite)STS-32 Space Shuttle Columbia Launch Jan 10 - Comet P/2013 T1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.752 AU)Comet P/2013 T1 (PANSTARRS)At Opposition Jan 10 - Comet C/2014 B1 (Schwartz) At Opposition ( AU)Comet C/2014 B1 (Schwartz)At Opposition Jan 10 - Asteroid 2127 Tanya Closest Approach To Earth (2.339 AU)Asteroid 2127 Tanya Jan 10 - Asteroid 1132 Hollandia Closest Approach To Earth (2.440 AU)Asteroid 1132 Hollandia Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar

Food for Thought How Did We Find the Distance to the Sun?

Space Image of the Week Image Credit & Copyright: László Francsics At the Heart of Orion