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Space News Update - December 10, 2013 -. In the News Story 1: Curiosity Discovers Ancient Mars Lake Could Support Life Story 2: Get Ready for the 2013 Geminid Meteor Shower Story 3: Is Anything Left of ISON? Spacecraft Continue to Monitor Comet’s Remains Departments The Night Sky
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Space News Update - December 10, 2013 - In the News Story 1:Curiosity Discovers Ancient Mars Lake Could Support Life Story 2:Get Ready for the 2013 Geminid Meteor Shower Story 3:Is Anything Left of ISON? Spacecraft Continue to Monitor Comet’s Remains Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting OpportunitiesSpace Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week
Is Anything Left of ISON? Spacecraft Continue to Monitor Comet’s Remains This image from the STEREO A spacecraft shows Comet ISON (upper right) still visible on Dec. 3, 2013. Credit: NASA.
The Night Sky • Tuesday, December 10 • The eastern (left-hand) side of the Great Square of Pegasus points down at the Moon this evening. • Wednesday, December 11 • Which rises first: bright Jupiter in the east-northeast, or bright Rigel in Orion's foot in the east-southeast? Both come up soon after dark. At the latitudes of New York and Denver (about 40° N), Rigel comes first tonight. As far north as Ottawa and Seattle (about 46° N), Jupiter now leads. • Thursday, December 12 • The tiny black shadow of Jupiter's fast-moving moon Io crosses Jupiter's face tonight from 10:02 p.m. EST to 12:17 a.m. EST. Following soon behind is Io itself, transiting from 10:37 p.m. to 12:52 a.m. EST. In a telescope, Io is much less visible on Jupiter's bright face than its shadow is. • The Moon brightens as it waxes to full on the night of the 16th. • Friday, December 13 • The Geminid meteor shower should be at its peak tonight, from 9 or 10 p.m. until dawn Saturday morning. The best viewing time is after your local moonset: in the hour before the beginning of morning twilight on the 14th. But bright meteors will show even through the moonlight earlier. • The eclipsing binary star Algol should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 9:50 p.m. EST. Sky & Telescope
ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
(all times Eastern Time Zone) • December 12, Thursday12 p.m. - ISS Mission Control Console Interview with the Digital Learning Network - JSC (All Channels) • December 13, Friday9:40 a.m. - ISS Expedition 38 In-Flight Interviews with the Associated Press and space.com - JSC (All Channels) MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar Dec 10 - CBERS 3 CZ-4B Launch Dec 10 - Comet P/2013 G1 (Kowalski) Perihelion (3.353 AU) Dec 10 - Comet 115P/Maury At Opposition (4.270 AU) Dec 10 - Asteroid 2200 Pasadena Closest Approach To Earth (1.573 AU) Dec 11 - Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), Trajectory Correction Maneuver #1 (TCM-1) Dec 11 - Comet 280P/Larsen Perihelion (2.636 AU) Dec 11 - Comet C/2013 V2 (Borisov) At Opposition (3.582 AU) Dec 11 - Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (4.069 AU) Dec 11 - Asteroid 2006 CT Near-Earth Flyby (0.063 AU) Dec 11 - Asteroid 1134 Kepler Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU) Dec 11 - Asteroid 767 BondiaClosest Approach To Earth (2.125 AU) Dec 11 - Annie Jump Cannon's 150th Birthday (1863) Dec 12 - GPS 2F-5 Delta 4M Launch Dec 12 - Comet P/2013 W1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (0.808 AU) Dec 12 - Comet 285P/LINEAR At Opposition (1.506 AU) Dec 12 - Comet 154P/Brewington Perihelion (1.608 AU) Dec 12 - Comet 37P/Forbes At Opposition (3.778 AU) Dec 12 - Comet C/2013 W2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.944 AU) Dec 12 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults HIP 66423 (7.8 Magnitude Star) Dec 12 - Asteroid 3590 Holst Closest Approach To Earth (1.141 AU) Dec 12 - Asteroid 8103 Fermi Closest Approach To Earth (2.113 AU) Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower Peak Dec 14 - Chang'e 3, Moon Landing (China) JPL Space Calendar
Food for Thought CU-Boulder Scientist: 2012 Solar Storm Points Up Need for Society to Prepare
Space Image of the Week The Butterfly Nebula Image Credit: NASA/ESA/Hubble