1. Space News Update - May 24, 2019 - In the News Departments Story 1:
Galaxies as Cosmic Cauldrons
Story 2:
Scientists Uncover Exotic Matter in the Sun's Atmosphere
Story 3:
An Insulating Layer of Gas Could Keep a Liquid Ocean Inside Pluto
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. Galaxies as Cosmic Cauldrons
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. Scientists Uncover Exotic Matter in the Sun's Atmosphere

4. An Insulating Layer of Gas Could Keep a Liquid Ocean Inside Pluto

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, May 24
• The big Summer Triangle comes into view in the east these evenings, one star after another. First in view as night descends is Vega, the brightest star in the east-northeastern sky. Lower left of it (by two or three fists at arm's length) is Deneb. Farther to Vega's lower right is Altair, which rises above the horizon not long after dark.
Saturday, May 25
• Have you ever seen Alpha Centauri? At declination –61° it's permanently out of sight if you live north of latitude 29°. But if you're at the latitude of San Antonio, Orlando, or points south, Alpha Cen skims just above your southern true horizon for a little while late these evenings.
When does this happen? Just about when Alpha Librae, the lower-right of Libra's two brightest stars, is due south over your landscape. At that time, drop your gaze down from there!
Sunday, May 26
• Bright Arcturus, magnitude 0 and pale yellow-orange, shines high overhead toward the south these evenings. The kite
shape of Bootes, its constellation, extends upper left from it. The kite is narrow, slightly bent, and 23° long: about two fists at arm's length.
Just east (left) of the Bootes kite is the semicircle of Corona Borealis, the pretty but mostly dim Northern Crown. Its brightest star, Alphecca, is the gem mounted on its front.
• Last-quarter Moon (exact at 12:34 p.m. EDT). Tonight the Moon rises around 2 a.m. daylight-saving time in dim Aquarius. It's still fairly low in the southeast just as dawn begins on Monday the 27th. At that time, use binoculars to try to catch Fomalhaut (yes, the "Autumn Star"!) barely risen far down below the Moon. The farther south you are, the better your chance of catching Fomalhaut so early in the year.
Monday, May 27
• This is the time of year when Leo the Lion walks 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.
Tuesday, May 28
• Ceres, the largest asteroid, is at opposition and magnitude 7.0 this week. It's high in the south by midnight: in Ophiuchus 9° north of Antares.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Fri May 24, 00:51 AM
< 1 min
15°
11° above NNW
15° above NNW
Fri May 24, 8:49 PM
2 min
18°
18° above NNW
10° above NNE
Fri May 24, 10:26 PM
1 min
10°
10° above N
Sat May 25, 00:03 AM
17°
15° above N
17° above NNE
Sat May 25, 9:37 PM
11°
11° above N
Sat May 25, 11:14 PM
13°
13° above N
11° above NE
Sun May 26, 00:49 AM
10° above NW
Sun May 26, 8:47 PM
12°
12° above NNW
Sun May 26, 10:24 PM
Mon May 27, 00:00 AM
19°
16° above NNW
19° above NNW
Mon May 27, 9:34 PM
Mon May 27, 11:11 PM
21°
18° above N
20° above NNE
Tue May 28, 8:45 PM
Tue May 28, 10:22 PM
3 min
16°
14° above N
10° above ENE
Tue May 28, 11:57 PM
18° above NW
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
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Time Zone)
May 24, Friday 10 a.m. – SpaceCast Weekly (All Channels) 11:35 a.m. - International Space Station In-Flight Event for the Canadian Space Agency and astronaut David Saint-Jacques of CSA (Public Channel with interpretation; Media Channel in native language)
May 24, Saturday 8 a.m., 4 p.m. – Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (All Channels) 9 a.m., 5 p.m. – Replay of NASA Science Live: Storms Across the Solar System (All Channels) 10 a.m., 6 p.m. – Replay of What’s New in Aerospace? – Pit Stops and Space Toilets: A Conversation with NASA Astronaut Drew Feustel (All Channels)
May 25, Sunday 9 a.m., 7 p.m. – Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (All Channels) 10 a.m., 8 p.m. – Replay of NASA Science Live: Storms Across the Solar System (All Channels) 11 a.m.,9 p.m. – Replay of What’s New in Aerospace? – Pit Stops and Space Toilets: A Conversation with NASA Astronaut Drew Feustel – NASA Headquarters (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 24 - Comet C/2018 R3 (Lemmon) Closest Approach To Earth (1.922 AU)
May 24 - Comet P/2008 WZ96 (LINEAR) At Opposition (3.764 AU)
May 24 -[May 17] Apollo Asteroid 2019 JF7 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
May 24 - Asteroid 2956 Yeomans Closest Approach To Earth (1.503 AU)
May 24 - Asteroid Stooke Closest Approach To Earth (1.612 AU)
May 24 - Asteroid Chesley Closest Approach To Earth (1.931 AU)
May 24 - Asteroid Calar Alto Closest Approach To Earth (2.073 AU)
May 24 - Ivan Yarkovsky's 175th Birthday (1844)
May 24 - William Gilbert's 475th Birthday (1544)
May 25 -[May 18] Towel Day - Annual Tribute to Douglas Adams
May 25 - Comet 363P/Lemmon Closest Approach To Earth (2.718 AU)
May 25 - Aten Asteroid 2015 KQ18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)
May 25 - Aten Asteroid (1999 KW4) Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)
May 25 -[May 24] Aten Asteroid 2010 KC Near-Earth Flyby (0.054 AU)
May 25 - Igor Sikorsky's 130th Birthday (1889)
May 25 - John Tebbutt's 185th Birthday (1834)
May 26 - Comet P/2005 T2 (Christensen) Closest Approach To Earth (2.133 AU)
May 26 - Asteroid 4345 Rachmaninoff Closest Approach To Earth (1.943 AU)
May 26 - Amor Asteroid Davidharvey Closest Approach To Earth (2.163 AU)
May 26 - Otto Neugebauer's 120th Birthday (1899)
May 26 - Henri Farman's 145th Birthday (1874)
May 27 - GLONASS-M 758 Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M Launch
May 27 - Asteroid Jonstewart Closest Approach To Earth (1.033 AU)
May 27 - Dwarf Planet Ceres Closest Approach To Earth (1.751 AU)
May 27 - Asteroid 697 Galilea Closest Approach To Earth (1.964 AU)
May 28 - Comet P/2007 R2 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (2.937 AU)
May 28 - Asteroid 9954 Brachiosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (2.110 AU)
May 28 - Plutino (2006 HJ123) At Opposition ( AU)
May th Anniversary (1959), Jupiter C Launch Of Two Monkeys (Able & Baker)
May 28 - Milutin Milankovic's 140th Birthday (1879)
May 28 - Edward Charles Howard's 245th Birthday (1774)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Expeditionary Astronauts Wanted
Food for Thought
Expeditionary Astronauts Wanted

10. Space Image of the Week
Boulders on Bennu  Image Credit: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, University of Arizona