1. Space News Update - January 9, 2015 - In the News Departments
Story 1: Using a Vanishing Neutron Star to Measure Space-time Warp
Story 2: NASA Satellite Set to Get the Dirt on Soil Moisture
Story 3: SpaceX Readies Rocket for Saturday Launch
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. Using a Vanishing Neutron Star to Measure Space-time Warp
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 Satellite Set to Get the Dirt on Soil Moisture

4. SpaceX Readies Rocket for Saturday Launch

5. The Night Sky
Comet Lovejoy is at its best this week and next, especially now that the Moon is gone from the evening sky. The comet is glowing at about 4th magnitude well to the west of Orion early in the week — nice in binoculars and possibly visible very dimly to the unaided eye, depending on your sky conditions. By week's end it's higher overhead, nearly west of the Pleiades. See our article and finder chart: How to See Comet Lovejoy.
Friday, January 9
In this coldest time of the year, the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime — as if (per Leslie Peltier) from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky.The Big Dipper, meanwhile, is creeping up low in the north-northeast, with its handle very low and its bowl to the upper right.
Saturday, January 10
Venus and Mercury are closest together this evening in twilight, 0.7° apart. Look low in the southwest about 45 minutes after sunset, as shown here. They'll stay within 1° of each other through Monday.
Sunday, January 11
Early on these cold, cold evenings with the Moon now gone, bundle up for a telescopic adventure challenge in the hot southern constellation of Fornax, the Furnace, crossing the meridian low in the south. Sue French guides you through its galaxy riches with her Deep-Sky Wonders article, charts, and drawings in the January Sky & Telescope, page 56.
Monday, January 12
Here it is the coldest very bottom of the year, and the Summer Star, Vega, is still hanging in there. Look for it twinkling over the northwest horizon during and shortly after nightfall. The farther north you are the higher it will be.
As Vega sinks low, the Northern Cross stands upright on the horizon to its left.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Sat Jan 10, 5:16 AM
2 min
44°
44 above ENE
10 above ENE
Sat Jan 10, 6:50 AM
5 min
20°
10 above WNW
10 above NNE
Sun Jan 11, 6:00 AM
3 min
29°
28 above NW
11 above NNE
Mon Jan 12, 5:11 AM
1 min
18°
18 above NE
10 above NE
Mon Jan 12, 6:45 AM
13°
10 above NW
Tue Jan 13, 5:55 AM
17°
17 above NNW
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

7. NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
Friday, January 9
10 a.m., 1 p.m. Replay of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) Mission: L-30 Media Briefing (all channels)
2 p.m., 4 p.m FIRST Kickoff (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education))
8 p.m., Replay of NASA ISS Earth Science Briefing: Cloud Aerosol Transport System (CATS) (all channels)
8:35 p.m., Replay of NASA ISS Research and Technology Briefing (all channels)
10 p.m., Replay of SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) -5 Prelaunch News Conference (all channels)
Saturday, January 10
3:30 a.m., Coverage of the Launch of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship to the ISS (all channels)
6:15 a.m., SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Post-Launch News Conference (all channels)
Monday, January 12
4:30 a.m., Coverage of the Rendezvous and Grapple of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship at the ISS (all channels)
8:15 a.m., Coverage of the Installation of the SpaceX/Dragon CRS-5 Cargo Ship to the ISS (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Jan 09 - Comet 106P/Schuster Closest Approach To Earth (1.509 AU)
Jan 09 - Comet C/2014 J1 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (1.959 AU)
Jan 09 - Comet P/2012 O2 (McNaught) At Opposition (4.294 AU)
Jan 09 - Comet 186P/Garradd At Opposition (4.558 AU)
Jan 09 - Asteroid 2014 YZ8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU)
Jan 09 - Asteroid 9781 Jubjubbird Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)
Jan 09 - Asteroid 4511 Rembrandt Closest Approach To Earth (2.089 AU)
Jan th Anniversary (1990), STS-32 Space Shuttle Columbia Launch (LDEF Satellite)
Jan 10 - [Jan 08] CRS-5 Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS)/ AggieSat 4/ Bevo 2/ SERPENS Falcon 9R Launch (International Space Station
Jan 10 - Comet P/2013 T1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.752 AU)
Jan 10 - Comet C/2014 B1 (Schwartz) At Opposition ( AU)
Jan 10 - Asteroid 2127 Tanya Closest Approach To Earth (2.339 AU)
Jan 10 - Asteroid 1132 Hollandia Closest Approach To Earth (2.440 AU)
Jan 11 - [Jan 04] Cassini, Titan Flyby
Jan 11 - Mars Winter Solstice
Jan 11 - Comet 77P/Longmore Closest Approach To Earth (2.776 AU)
Jan 11 - Comet 271P/van Houten-Lemmon At Opposition (4.097 AU)
Jan 11 - Comet P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-Grauer) Closest Approach To Earth (5.098 AU)
Jan 11 - Asteroid 2014 XM7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU)
Jan 11 - Asteroid 945 Barcelona Closest Approach To Earth (1.357 AU)
Jan 11 - Asteroid 3594 Scotti Closest Approach To Earth (1.521 AU)
Jan 11 - Asteroid 6560 Pravdo Closest Approach To Earth (1.631 AU)
Jan 12 - [Jan 06] New Horizons, Start of Distant Pluto Operations
Jan 12 - Comet 72P/Denning-Fujikawa Closest Approach To Earth (1.823 AU)
Jan 12 - Comet P/2013 R3 (Catalina-PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (2.374 AU)
Jan 12 - Comet P/2007 R2 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (2.463 AU)
Jan 12 - Comet 100P/Hartley Closest Approach To Earth (2.646 AU)
Jan 12 - Comet C/2014 Y1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.568 AU)
Jan 12 - Comet P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-Grauer) At Opposition (5.098 AU)
Jan 12 - [Jan 03] Asteroid 2014 YT34 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
Jan 12 - Asteroid 5381 Sekmet Closest Approach To Earth (0.685 AU)
Jan 12 - Asteroid 4825 Ventura Closest Approach To Earth (1.309 AU)
Jan 12 - Asteroid 990 Yerkes Closest Approach To Earth (1.825 AU)
Jan th Anniversary (2005), Deep Impact Delta 2 Launch
Jan th Anniversary (1910), Discovery of the Great January Comet of 1910
Jan 12 - Joseph Helffrich's 125th Birthday (1890)
Jan 12 - Royal Astronomical Society's 195th Birthday (1820)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Lockheed Martin Recognized for Outstanding Service to Meteorology
Food for Thought
Lockheed Martin Recognized for Outstanding Service to Meteorology

10. Hubble 25th Anniversary: Pillars of Creation
Space Image of the Week
Hubble 25th Anniversary: Pillars of Creation
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA)