Space News Update- January 3, 2014 -

In the News

Story 1: SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch to next week

Story 2: What's up in planetary missions in 2014

Story 3: Mega-moon, meteor showers: 11 must-watch events to light up 2014 sky

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch to next week

What's up in planetary missions in 2014

Mega-moon, meteor showers: 11 must-watch events to light up

2014 sky

The Night SkyFriday, January 3 After sunset, look far to the lower right of the waxing crescent Moon for Venus, dropping lower every day. How many more days can you keep Venus in view? It will reach inferior conjunction, 5° north of the Sun, on January 11th.

Saturday, January 4 Soon after dark, Sirius, the Dog Star, rises below Orion. And Procyon, the Little Dog Star, rises to the lower right of bright Jupiter. Which of them comes up first? It's Procyon if you're north of latitude 30° (Tijuana, New Orleans, Jacksonville), and Sirius if you're south of there.Hint: "Procyon" means "Before the Dog." That tells you something about where its namers lived.

Sunday, January 5  Jupiter is at opposition. All week it’s at its biggest and brightest for 2014. Read all about observing Jupiter in the January Sky & Telescope.  Algol in Perseus, the prototype eclipsing binary star, should be in one of its periodic dimmings, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 8:24 p.m. EST. Algol takes several additional hours to fade and to rebrighten. Use our comparison-star chart.

Monday, January 6 Jupiter’s Great Red Spot crosses the planet’s central meridian around 9:53 p.m. EST. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities

Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

ISS For Denver:

Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears

Wed Jan 1, 5:15 PM

< 1 min 14° 14 above SSW 11 above S

Mon Jan 6, 6:39 AM

2 min 20° 11 above S 20 above SSE

Tue Jan 7, 5:52 AM

< 1 min 11° 10 above SSE 11 above SE

NASA-TV Highlights

(all times Eastern Daylight Time)

January 4, Saturday10:30 a.m. - FIRST 2014 Season Kick-Off - HQ (Public and Education Channels)

January 6, Monday1:10 p.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Event with the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams - JSC (All Channels) 2 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Science Briefing - WFF (All Channels)3 p.m. - Orbital Sciences/Cygnus-1 Prelaunch News Conference - WFF (All Channels) 

Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar

JPL Space Calendar

Jan 03 - Quadrantids Meteor Shower PeakJan 03 - Comet 276P/Vorobjov Closest Approach To Earth (3.285 AU)Jan 03 - Comet 237P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.989 AU)Jan 03 - Comet 215P/NEAT At Opposition (3.996 AU)Jan 03 - [Dec 27] Asteroid 2013 YL2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU)Jan 03 - Asteroid 48472 Mossbauer Closest Approach To Earth (1.302 AU)Jan 03 - Asteroid 9965 GNU Closest Approach To Earth (1.745 AU)Jan 04 - [Dec 28] 10th Anniversary (2004), Mars Exploration Rover A (Spirit), Mars LandingJan 04 - Earth At Perihelion (0.983 AU From Sun)Jan 04 - [Jan 03] Asteroid 2013 YT102 Near-Earth Flyby (0.043 AU)Jan 04 - Asteroid 2013 XX8 Near-Earth Flyby (0.052 AU)Jan 04 - Asteroid 9548 Fortran Closest Approach To Earth (0.858 AU)Jan 04 - Asteroid 241 Germania Closest Approach To Earth (2.174 AU)Jan 04 - Asteroid 11247 Wilburwright Closest Approach To Earth (2.460 AU)Jan 05 - [Dec 27] G-Sat 14 GSLV-D5 LaunchJan 05 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #368 (OTM-368)Jan 05 - Jupiter At OppositionJan 05 - Comet 209P/LINEAR At Opposition (0.949 AU)Jan 05 - Comet 178P/Hug-Bell At Opposition (1.378 AU)Jan 05 - Comet P/2012 TK8 (Tenagra) At Opposition (2.324 AU)Jan 05 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2013 YE48 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU)Jan 05 - Asteroid 1604 Tombaugh Closest Approach To Earth (2.168 AU)Jan 05 - 45th Anniversary (1969), Venera 5 Launch (USSR Venus Atmospheric Probe)Jan 06 - [Jan 03] Thaicom 6 Falcon 9 LaunchJan 06 - Comet 120P/Mueller At Opposition (2.316 AU)Jan 06 - Comet 286P/Christensen Perihelion (2.376 AU)Jan 06 - [Jan 01] Asteroid 2013 YM48 Near-Earth Flyby (0.023 AU)Jan 06 - Asteroid 2013 UB1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)Jan 06 - Asteroid 3837 Carr Closest Approach To Earth (1.610 AU)Jan 06 - Asteroid 4356 Marathon Closest Approach To Earth (2.331 AU)

Food for Thought

Three-Meter Asteroid Hits Earth’s Atmosphere… Somewhere

Space Image of the Week

Two Solar Flares Say Goodbye 2013 and Welcome 2014Image Credit: NASA/SDO