Space News Update- October 21, 2011 -

In the News

Story 1: Spiral Arms Hint at the Presence of Planets

Story 2:Syracuse University Scientists Discover New Way to Determine When Water Was Present on

Mars and Earth

Story 3: Space Weather Prediction Model Improves NOAA's Forecast Skill

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Spiral Arms Hint at the Presence of Planets

Syracuse University Scientists Discover New Way to Determine When Water Was Present

on Mars and Earth

Space Weather Prediction Model Improves NOAA's Forecast Skill

The Night Sky

Friday, Oct. 21 · The modest Orionid meteor shower should peak in the early morning hours of Saturday. You might count a dozen or more Orionids per hour under ideal observing conditions. Some are also visible for several mornings before and after. · The Moon, just past last quarter, shines near Regulus below Mars before and during dawn Saturday morning, as shown below.

Saturday, Oct. 22 · Fomalhaut, the Autumn Star, shines low in the south-southeast after dusk. It's due south later in the evening. The western (right-hand) edge of the Great Square of Pegasus, very high in the sky, points down nearly to it.

Sunday, Oct. 23 · The summery constellation Cygnus remains nearly overhead after dinnertime, even higher than bright Vega when you face west and crane your neck. Have you hunted out the subtle star clusters in Cygnus's Milky-Way-rich center? See Sue French's "Deep-Sky Wonders" article, finder chart, and photos in the October Sky & Telescope, page 56.

Monday, Oct. 24 · The tiny black shadow of Jupiter's satellite Europa crosses Jupiter tonight from 12:26 to 2:54 a.m. Tuesday morning Eastern Daylight Time (9:26 to 11:54 p.m. Monday evening Pacific Daylight Time). Europa itself follows only about 15 minutes behind its shadow.

ISS Sighting Opportunities

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

For Denver:

SATELLITE LOCAL DURATIONMAX ELEV

APPROACH DEPARTURE

DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Fri Oct 21/07:47 PM 2 13 10 above NW 13 above N

ISS Sat Oct 22/06:49 PM 4 19 15 above NW 10 above NNE

ISS Sun Oct 23/07:29 PM 2 11 10 above NNW 10 above N

ISS Mon Oct 24/06:30 PM 3 14 10 above NW 10 above NNE

NASA-TV Highlights

October 21, Friday10:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 29 In-Flight Educational Event with the Carver High School in Birmingham, AL - JSC (All Channels) October 24, Monday3 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 29/30 Crew News Conference at Star City, Russia and Visit to Red Square in Moscow - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)3:45 p.m. - NEEMO B-Roll Feed - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)4 - 5 p.m. - Live interviews with the NEEMO 15 crew from the Aquarius Underwater Habitat at Key Largo, FL - JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels) 

Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

Space Calendar

Oct 21 - Orionids Meteor Shower Peak Oct 21 - [Oct 21] Asteroid 2011 UL10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU) Oct 21 - Kuiper Belt Object 15760 (1992 QB1) At Opposition (40.132 AU) Oct 22 - [Oct 15] ROSAT Satellite Reenters Earth's Atmosphere Oct 22 - Asteroid 2011 SM68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.093 AU) Oct 22 - 45th Anniversary (1966), Luna 12 Launch (USSR Moon Orbiter) Oct 23 - Comet C/2011 S2 Perihelion (1.133 AU) Oct 23 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 3390-00294-1 (9.9 Magnitude Star) Oct 23 - Asteroid 4337 Arecibo Closest Approach To Earth (2.564 AU) Oct 24 - MESSENGER, Orbit Correction Maneuver #4 (OCM-4) Oct 24 - Comet 198P/ODAS Closest Approach To Earth (1.217 AU) Oct 24 - Comet P/2011 R3 (Novichonok-Gerke) Closest Approach To Earth (2.654 AU) Oct 24 - Comet 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett Closest Approach To Earth (2.951 AU) Oct 24 - Comet P/2011 P1 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (4.426 AU) Oct 24 - Comet C/2009 W2 (Boattini) Closest Approach To Earth (6.765 AU) Oct 24 - Asteroid 230 Athamantis At Opposition (9.9 Magnitude) Oct 24 - [Oct 21] Asteroid 2011 UH10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU) Oct 24 - [Oct 21] Asteroid 2011 UE10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU) Oct 24 - Asteroid 2003 FH Near-Earth Flyby (0.065 AU) Oct 24 - ATUC Science Meeting: Time Domain Astronomy, Sydney, Australia Oct 24 - 5th Anniversary (2006), MESSENGER, 1st Venus Flyby Oct 24 - 160th Anniversary (1851), William Lassell's Discovery of Uranus Moons Umbriel and Ariel

JPL Space Calendar

Food for ThoughtStudent Scientists to Submit Space Station

Experiments

Space Image of the Week

Draconid Meteors Over Spain Image Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado (TWAN)