1. Space News Update - May 17, 2019 - In the News Departments Story 1:
New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results
Story 2:
NASA's MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars
Story 3:
Maunakea observatories shed new light on obscured infant solar system
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. New Horizons Team Publishes First Kuiper Belt Flyby Science Results
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 MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars

4. Maunakea observatories shed new light on obscured infant solar system

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, May 17
• The Moon, nearly full, shines in dim Libra. Binoculars will help you see through the moonlight to Beta Librae nearly 5° to the Moon's upper left (for North America), and Alpha Librae a similar distance to the Moon's lower right. Alpha is a nice binocular double star.
Stepping back for a much wider view, bright Arcturus shines very high above the Moon. Look less far to the Moon's right or upper right and there's Spica, one magnitude fainter.
Saturday, May 18
• Full Moon (exact at 5:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). The Moon rises around sunset. After dark it hangs above the rising head of Scorpius, flooding it with moonlight. Can you see any stars of Scorpius at all? The brightest is orange Antares, about 10° below the Moon. Second brightest is Delta Scorpii, nearer the Moon.
Sunday, May 19
• The Moon, a day past full, forms a wide triangle with Jupiter to its lower left and Antares to its right.
Monday, May 20
• The bright "star" upper right of the Moon late this evening is Jupiter. The giant planet is 40 times larger in diameter than the Moon but is currently 1,700 times farther away.
Tuesday, May 21
• This is the time of year when Leo the Lion starts walking downward toward the west, on his way to departing into the sunset in early summer. Right after dark, spot the brightest star fairly high in the west-southwest. That's Regulus, his forefoot.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Fri May 17, 00:22 AM
< 1 min
11°
11° above NNE
10° above NNE
Fri May 17, 1:58 AM
10°
10° above N
Fri May 17, 3:34 AM
5 min
22°
11° above NNW
10° above ENE
Fri May 17, 5:10 AM
6 min
53°
10° above WNW
10° above SE
Fri May 17, 9:50 PM
72°
10° above SW
10° above NE
Fri May 17, 11:27 PM
19°
Sat May 18, 2:43 AM
4 min
16°
10° above NNW
Sat May 18, 4:19 AM
77°
10° above NW
11° above ESE
Sat May 18, 8:59 PM
35°
10° above SSW
Sat May 18, 10:36 PM
27°
11° above W
Sun May 19, 1:52 AM
3 min
13°
Sun May 19, 3:28 AM
42°
Sun May 19, 5:05 AM
10° above W
10° above S
Sun May 19, 9:44 PM
43°
10° above WSW
12° above NE
Sun May 19, 11:25 PM
1 min
12°
12° above N
Mon May 20, 1:03 AM
Mon May 20, 2:37 AM
26°
10° above E
Mon May 20, 4:14 AM
37°
10° above SSE
Mon May 20, 8:53 PM
80°
11° above NE
Mon May 20, 10:34 PM
2 min
16° above N
Tue May 21, 00:12 AM
Tue May 21, 1:47 AM
14°
14° above NNW
Tue May 21, 9:43 PM
22° above NNW
Tue May 21, 11:21 PM
No Sightings in Denver through Friday Apr 26th
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)
May 17, Friday 3 p.m. – Houston, We Have a Podcast Live with the band Shinedown in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month  (All Channels)
May 28, Tuesday 11:25 a.m. - International Space Station In-Flight Event with the Washington Post with NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch (All Channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
May 17 - [May 10] 50th Anniversary (1969), Venera 6, Venus Impact
May 17 - [May 15] BeiDou 2G8 CZ-3C Launch
May 17 - Comet 74P/Smirnova-Chernykh At Opposition (2.865 AU)
May 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JG1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
May 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 GT1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)
May 17 - Amor Asteroid (2001 SN263) (2 Moons) Closest Approach To Earth (1.268 AU)
May 17 - Asteroid 3263 Bligh Closest Approach To Earth (1.539 AU)
May 17 - Asteroid 20 Massalia Closest Approach To Earth (1.617 AU)
May 17 - Asteroid Motorhead Closest Approach To Earth (2.481 AU)
May 17 - Asteroid 325 Heidelberga Closest Approach To Earth (2.724 AU)
May 17 - Kuiper Belt Object 2015 BP519 At Opposition ( AU)
May th Anniversary (1999), STS-96 Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery, International Space Station)
May 18 - [May 11] Blue Moon
May 18 - [May 11] 50th Anniversary (1969), Apollo 10 Launch
May 18 - Venus Passes 1.1 Degrees From Uranus
May 18 - Comet P/2003 T12 (SOHO) At Opposition (2.640 AU)
May 18 - Comet 206P/Barnard-Boattini At Opposition (3.671 AU)
May 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2012 KT12 Near-Earth Flyby (0.008 AU)
May 18 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JR1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
May 18 - Asteroid Vellinga Closest Approach To Earth (1.066 AU)
May 18 - Asteroid Pinocchio Closest Approach To Earth (1.581 AU)
May 18 - Asteroid Alaska Closest Approach To Earth (1.899 AU)
May 18 - Neptune Trojan 2010 TS191 At Opposition ( AU)
May 19 - Moon Occults Dwarf Planet Ceres
May 19 - Comet P/2018 C1 (Lemmon-Read) At Opposition (3.077 AU)
May 19 - Comet 183P/Korlevic-Juric At Opposition (3.257 AU)
May 19 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.232 AU)
May 19 - Asteroid 2022 West Closest Approach To Earth (2.006 AU)
May 19 - Asteroid 742 Edisona Closest Approach To Earth (2.114 AU)
May 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 2015 KH162 At Opposition ( AU)
May th Anniversary (2004), Hayabusa (MUSES-C), Earth Flyby
May 19 - Dick Scobee's 80th Birthday (1939)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
May 20 - [May 17] Yaogan 33 CZ-4B Launch
May 20 - Comet C/2017 M4 (ATLAS) At Opposition (2.490 AU)
May 20 - Comet P/2017 W3 (Gibbs) At Opposition (3.692 AU)
May 20 - [May 11] Apollo Asteroid 2019 JL3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)
May 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2019 JB1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)
May 20 - Apollo Asteroid (2002 QF15) Near-Earth Flyby (0.088 AU)
May 20 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 QP16 Near-Earth Flyby (0.099 AU)
May 20 - Asteroid 736 Harvard Closest Approach To Earth (1.234 AU)
May 21 - Dwarf Planet Ceres Occults UCAC  (11.5 Magnitude Star)
May 21 - Apollo Asteroid Lugh Closest Approach To Earth (1.388 AU)
May 21 - Asteroid 9618 Johncleese Closest Approach To Earth (1.451 AU)
May 21 - Asteroid 1197 Rhodesia Closest Approach To Earth (1.549 AU)
May 21 - Asteroid Haleakala Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)
May 21 - C. Michelle Olmstead's 50th Birthday (1969)
JPL Space Calendar

10. Food for Thought
NASA aims for quick start to 2024 Moon landing via newly named Artemis Program

11. Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA
Space Image of the Week
On the verge
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA