1. NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check
Space News Update
- September 27,
In the News
Story 1:
NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa
Story 2:
NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check
Story 3: Pluto’s ‘Heart’ Sheds Light on a Possible Buried Ocean
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. NASA’s Hubble Spots Possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa
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)

3. NASA’s Asteroid-Bound Spacecraft Aces Instrument Check

4. Pluto’s ‘Heart’ Sheds Light on a Possible Buried Ocean

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, September 27
This is the time of year when, during the evening, the dim Little Dipper "dumps water" into the bowl of the Big Dipper way down below. The Big Dipper will dump it back in the evenings of spring.
As dawn brightens Wednesday morning the 28th, spot the thin crescent Moon between Regulus above it and Mercury below it, as shown at right.
Wednesday, September 28
As dawn brightens Thursday morning the 29th, look for a super-thin crescent Moon near Mercury very low in the east. Start looking about 45 minutes before your local sunrise time. Binoculars will help as dawn grows bright.
Thursday, September 29
The Two Top Miras. Chi Cygni now overhead in the evening, and Mira (Omicron Ceti) visible late at night, are the two brightest Mira-type stars in the sky: long-period red variables. Chi Cyg should be at or just past its maximum brightness, 5th magnitude or so. Mira should be nearly at its minimum, 8th or 9th mag. Follow them through the coming months with the article and finder charts in the October Sky & Telescope, page 49. As one brightens and the other dims, when will they pass each other in brightness?
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Tue Sep 27, 7:31 PM
2 min
13°
10° above SSE
12° above ESE
Tue Sep 27, 9:05 PM
< 1 min
12°
10° above WSW
12° above WSW
Wed Sep 28, 8:13 PM
3 min
66°
10° above SW
66° above SSE
Thu Sep 29, 7:21 PM
6 min
31°
10° above SSW
11° above ENE
Thu Sep 29, 8:59 PM
21°
18° above WNW
21° above WNW
Fri Sep 30, 8:07 PM
48°
26° above W
25° above NNE
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone)
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Time Zone)
Wednesday, September 28
12 p.m. - ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with the NBC “Meet the Press” Podcast with Chuck Todd and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins (all channels)
Thursday, September 29
11:30 a.m., - ISS Expedition 49 In-Flight Interview with Cosmopolitan.com and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins (starts at 11:45 a.m.) (all channels)
Friday, September 30
6 a.m. - NASA Joins Rosetta End of Mission coverage from European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany (Starts at 6:15 a.m.) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Sep 27 - Cassini, Titan Flyby
Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BH/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU)
Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BI/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU)
Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BM/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU)
Sep 27 - Comet 73P-BP/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU)
Sep 27 - Comet 175P/Hergenrother At Opposition (3.906 AU)
Sep 27 - Comet C/2015 V3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.281 AU)
Sep 27 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 SG Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU)
Sep 27 - Amor Asteroid 2016 QB2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
Sep 27 - Asteroid Stony Ridge Closest Approach To Earth (1.583 AU)
Sep 27 - Asteroid Batavia Closest Approach To Earth (1.641 AU)
Sep 27 - Asteroid 2791 Paradise Closest Approach To Earth (1.701 AU)
Sep 27 - Asteroid Menaechmus Closest Approach To Earth (1.945 AU)
Sep 27 - Plutino (2001 QF298) At Opposition ( AU)
Sep 28 - Mercury At Its Greatest Western Elongation (18 Degrees)
Sep 28 - Comet 73P-BA/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (1.005 AU)
Sep 28 - Comet P/2008 SH164 (LINEAR) At Opposition (2.174 AU)
Sep 28 - Comet 250P/Larson At Opposition (2.778 AU)
Sep 28 - Apollo Asteroid 6239 Minos Closest Approach To Earth (0.945 AU)
Sep 28 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.662 AU)
Sep 28 - Asteroid 4149 Harrison Closest Approach To Earth (1.904 AU)
Sep 28 - Asteroid 904 Rockefellia Closest Approach To Earth (1.958 AU)
Sep 29 - Moon Occults Mercury
Sep 29 - Comet 263P/Gibbs At Opposition (2.413 AU)
Sep 29 - Asteroid 11 Parthenope At Opposition (8.9 Magnitude)
Sep 29 - Asteroid 705 Erminia Occults HIP (6.5 Magnitude Star)
Sep 29 - Apollo Asteroid 3200 Phaethon Closest Approach To Earth (0.402 AU)
Sep 29 - Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Closest Approach To Earth (1.180 AU)
Sep 29 - Asteroid 1855 Korolev Closest Approach To Earth (1.434 AU)
Sep 30 - Rosetta, Crash Landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
JPL Space Calendar

9. Incoming! New Warning System Tracks Potentially Dangerous Asteroids
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
Food for Thought
Incoming! New Warning System Tracks Potentially Dangerous Asteroids

10. The Helix Nebula in Infrared
Space Image of the Week
The Helix Nebula in Infrared
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Spitzer Space Telescope; Processing: Judy Schmidt