Space News Update

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• Space News Update
• February 10, 2012 -

In the News Story 1 NASA Small Explorer
Mission Celebrates Ten Years andForty Thousand
X-Ray Flares Story 2Spacecraft Computer Issue
Resolved Story 3 Europes ATV space ferry set
for launch to Space Station   Departments The
Night Sky ISS Sighting OpportunitiesSpace
Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for
Thought Space Image of the Week
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NASA Small Explorer Mission Celebrates Ten Years
andForty Thousand X-Ray Flares
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Spacecraft Computer Issue Resolved
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Europes ATV space ferry set for launch to Space
Station
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The Night Sky
Friday, February 10 In the western sky during
twilight and early evening, bright Jupiter and
brighter Venus are now 30 apart and closing.
Venus is the lower one. Watch the gap between
them narrow by 1 per day as they approach their
March 13th conjunction. Saturday, February 11
Algol in Perseus, the prototype eclipsing binary
star, is at its minimum brightness (magnitude 3.4
instead of its usual 2.1) for a couple hours
centered on 1050 p.m. EST (750 p.m. PST).
By midnight tonight, the waning Moon is up in the
southeast with Spica to its lower left and Saturn
farther to the lower left. Mars blazes high to
their upper right by then. Arcturus, tinted less
deeply, shines to their upper left. To the right
of the Moon is the constellation Corvus.   By
dawn Sunday morning they've all moved over to the
southwest and twisted around, as shown at right.
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The Night Sky
Sunday, February 12 Look upper right of
Jupiter this week for the brightest stars of
little Aries, and a similar distance left of
Jupiter for the dimmer head of Cetus. The
asteroid 433 Eros, making a rare pass by Earth,
is still magnitude 8.6 but starts to fade this
week. It's heading south across central Hydra
now. Use our charts in the January Sky
Telescope, page 52, or online. Monday, February
13 Action at Jupiter Io reappears out of
eclipse from Jupiter's shadow around 906 p.m.
EST. A small telescope will show Io gradually
swelling into view just off Jupiter's eastern
limb. Four hours later, at 1003 p.m. Pacific
Standard Time, Europa emerges from eclipse at
about the same location. Meanwhile, the Great Red
Spot crosses Jupiter's central meridian around
1021 p.m. EST (721 p.m. PST).
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For Denver No ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver No ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver
SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)

ISS Sat Feb 11/0700 PM 2 33 11 above SSW 33 above S
ISS Sun Feb 12/0605 PM 4 17 10 above S 10 above E
ISS Sun Feb 12/0741 PM lt 1 22 18 above W 22 above W
ISS Mon Feb 13/0644 PM 4 87 16 above SW 30 above NE
Sighting information for other cities can be
found at NASAs Satellite Sighting Information
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NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
February 13, Monday 2 p.m. - NASA Budget News
Conference - HQ (All Channels)
Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website
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Johann Gottfried Galle
Wilhelm Beer
Space Calendar
Feb 10 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver 309
(OTM-309) Feb 10 - Venus Passes 0.3 Degrees From
Uranus Feb 10 - Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
Closest Approach To Earth (1.850 AU) Feb 10 -
Asteroid 12923 Zephyr Closest Approach To Earth
(1.934 AU) Feb 10 - Asteroid 3623 Chaplin
Closest Approach To Earth (2.073 AU) Feb 11 -
Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner Perihelion (1.030 AU)
Feb 11 - Asteroid 2009 DT10 Near-Earth Flyby
(0.027 AU) Feb 11 - Asteroid 5649 Donnashirley
Closest Approach To Earth (1.004 AU) Feb 11 -
Asteroid 3783 Morris Closest Approach To Earth
(1.688 AU) Feb 11 - Asteroid 12561 Howard
Closest Approach To Earth (1.865 AU) Feb 11 -
Asteroid 8734 Warner Closest Approach To Earth
(1.942 AU) Feb 11 - Asteroid 13070 Seanconnery
Closest Approach To Earth (2.091 AU) Feb 11 -
Asteroid 253 Mathilde Closest Approach To Earth
(2.334 AU) Feb 12 - Asteroid 9357 Venezuela
Closest Approach To Earth (1.993 AU) Feb 12 -
Asteroid 784 Pickeringia Closest Approach To
Earth (2.332 AU) Feb 12 - Kuiper Belt Object
55565 (2002 AW197) At Opposition (45.228 AU) Feb
12 - 65th Anniversary (1947), Sikhote Alin
Meteorite Fall in Russia Feb 13 - Feb 05 Laser
Relativity Satellite (LARES)/ Cubesats/ PW-Sat 1/
Vega Launch (Inaugural Vega Launch) Feb 13 -
Asteroid 50240 Cortina Closest Approach To Earth
(1.266 AU) Feb 13 - John Dreyer's 160th Birthday
(1852)
JPL Space Calendar
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Food for Thought
New Views Show Old NASA Mars Landers
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Space Image of the Week
Enceladus Backlit by Saturn
Illustration Credit Cassini Imaging Team, SSI,
JPL, ESA, NASA Color Composite Gordan Ugarkovic