Space News Update - May 27, 2011 -

Space News Update- May 27, 2011 -

In the News

Story 1: Superflare from Crab Nebula Has Astronomers Mystified

Story 2:Just Four Percent of Galaxies Have Neighbors Like the Milky Way

Story 3: Farthest-ever explosion found at edge of cosmos?

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Superflare from Crab Nebula Has Astronomers Mystified

Just Four Percent of Galaxies Have Neighbors Like the Milky Way

Farthest-ever explosion found at edge of cosmos?

The Night Sky

Friday, May 27 · With summer less than a month away, the big Summer Triangle is making its appearance in the east. Its topmost and brightest star is Vega, plain to see. Look lower left of Vega, by two or three fist-widths at arm's length, for Deneb, the brightest star in that area. Farther to the lower right of Vega is Altair, the last of the three Summer Triangle stars to rise (around 10 or 11 p.m. daylight saving time, depending on your location).

Saturday, May 28 · Before sunrise tomorrow morning, look for the waning crescent Moon hanging above Jupiter. Use binoculars to check out the changing planetary array to their lower left, as shown here. · Late tonight a 7th-magnitude star in Ophiuchus should be occulted for up to 11 seconds by the faint asteroid 217 Eudora as seen from a track running from Florida through Oklahoma and Colorado to Oregon. See map, finder charts, and full information.

The Night Sky

Sunday, May 29 · We're still almost a month from summer, but summery Scorpius is already rearing up in the southeast these evenings. Its brightest star is fiery Antares. Look for the other, whiter stars of upper Scorpius on either side of Antares and farther to its upper right. · Libra, the next constellation west of Scorpius, reaches the meridian in the south not long after dark. Libra's lower portion contains the big dark asteroid Hygiea, magnitude 9.3, just waiting for you to hunt it out. See the article and finder chart in the May Sky & Telescope, page 56. · Early Monday morning an unusually bright star, 4.9-magnitude Nu Pegasi, will be occulted for up to 1.2 seconds by the small asteroid 4569 Baerbel along a thin track (only 9 miles wide!) running from southernmost California through Arizona, Colorado, and the Dakotas. The star will be low in the southeast. Maps and details.

Monday, May 30 · Saturn's biggest and brightest satellite, Titan, is about four ring-lengths east of the planet tonight.

ISS Sighting Opportunities

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

For Denver:

SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE

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

ISS Fri May 27/04:44 AM 3 41 14 above SSW 26 above E

ISS Sat May 28/03:34 AM 1 12 12 above SE 10 above ESE

ISS Sat May 28/05:06 AM 4 51 10 above WSW 33 above NNE

ISS Sun May 29/03:57 AM 2 40 36 above SSE 21 above ENE

ISS Mon May 30/04:19 AM 2 51 24 above WSW 33 above NNE

NASA-TV Highlights

May 31, Tuesday6:30 a.m. - Expedition 26 / 27 Video B-Roll Feed - JSC (Public and Media Channels)7 - 9 a.m. - Live Interviews with Expedition 26 / 27 Flight Engineer Cady Coleman - JSC (Public and Media Channels) Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.

Space Calendar

May 27 - Asteroid 2011 HT Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU) May 28 - Asteroid 2001 Einstein Closest Approach To Earth (0.921 AU) May 29 - [May 25] Asteroid 2011 KE Near-Earth Flyby (0.077 AU) May 29 - 40th Anniversary (1971), Mars 3 Launch (USSR Mars Orbiter/Lander) May 30 - Asteroid 4569 Baerbel Occults HIP 109068 (4.9 Magnitude Star) May 30 - Asteroid 2011 HP Near-Earth Flyby (0.034 AU) May 30 - Asteroid 1539 Borrelly Closest Approach To Earth (2.597 AU) May 30 - 40th Anniversary (1971), Mariner 9 Launch (USA Mars Orbiter) May 30 - 45th Anniversary (1966), Surveyor 1 Launch (USA Moon Lander)  

Surveyor Lunar Lander Model (NASA)

Surveyor Lunar Lander Model (NASA)JPL Space Calendar

Food for ThoughtNASA Concludes Attempts to Contact Mars Rover

Spirit

Space Image of the Week