Space News Update- May 30, 2011 -

In the News

Story 1: Dark Matter, Spiders and Worms: Weird Science on Shuttle Endeavour's Final

Story 2:The Moon gets wetter

Story 3: Spitzer Sees Crystal Rain in Infant Star Outer Clouds

 Departments

The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities

Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights

Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week

Dark Matter, Spiders and Worms: Weird Science on Shuttle Endeavour's Final Flight

The Moon gets wetter

Spitzer Sees Crystal Rain in Infant Star Outer Clouds

The Night Sky

Thursday, June 2 · Saturn and Porrima have now closed to 17 arcminutes of each other, practically as close as they will get. Although they look like neighbors, Saturn is only 76 light-minutes from Earth, while Porrima is 39 light-years in the background. That's more than a quarter million times farther away!

· Friday, June 3 · Look west in twilight for thin waxing crescent Moon far below Pollux and Castor, as shown here.

· Monday, May 30 · Saturn's biggest and brightest satellite, Titan, is about four ring-lengths east of the planet tonight.  Tuesday, May 31 · The brightest star in the east these nights is Vega. You can't miss it. Look for the little triangle-and-parallelogram pattern of the constellation Lyra dangling to its lower right. · The galaxies of the great Virgo Cluster are numerous but not that bright as Messier objects go. Nevertheless, if you have a dark sky, even binoculars are enough for you to hunt for ten of them as very faint smudges west of Epsilon Virginis. Use Gary Seronik's Binocular Highlight column and finder chart in the May Sky & Telescope, page 45.· Meanwhile, the dawn planet lineup continues to lengthen in the east, with Jupiter now very plain and easy.

Wednesday, June 1 · Saturn (with Porrima next to it) and Spica draw the eye in the south after dusk. But don't forget Corvus, the Crow, below them. Corvus's uppermost bright star, Delta Corvi, is a wide telescopic double: magnitudes 3.0 and 9.2, separation 25 arcseconds. · New Moon (exact at 5:03 p.m. EDT). A partial eclipse of the Sun will be visible from much of the arctic. Parts of Japan, Alaska, and the Canadian Maritimes will also experience a very slight partial eclipse. Maps and details.

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 Tue May 31/03:10 AM 1 25 25 above E 11 above ENE

ISS Tue May 31/04:42 AM 3 20 11 above WNW 15 above N

ISS Wed Jun 01/03:32 AM 1 52 51 above NW 26 above NNEISS Wed Jun 01/05:07 AM 2 11 10 above NW 10 above NISS Thu Jun 02/02:23 AM < 1 11 11 above ENE 11 above ENEISS Thu Jun 02/03:54 AM 2 20 15 above WNW 17 above NISS Fri Jun 03/02:45 AM < 1 26 26 above NNE 21 above NEISS Fri Jun 03/04:18 AM 2 11 10 above NW 10 above N

SHUTTLE Tue May 31/03:09 AM 1 25 25 above E 11 above ENE

SHUTTLE Tue May 31/04:41 AM 3 20 11 above WNW 15 above N

SHUTTLE Wed Jun 01/03:31 AM 1 53 53 above NW 26 above NNE

SHUTTLE Wed Jun 01/05:06 AM 2 11 10 above NW 10 above NSHUTTLE Thu Jun 02/02:21 AM < 1 11 11 above ENE 11 above ENESHUTTLE Thu Jun 02/03:52 AM 2 21 15 above WNW 18 above N

NASA-TV Highlights

Program Notice:NASA Television’s Continuous Live Coverage of STS-134 Mission (May 16 – June 1) – JSC/KSC (All Channels/*except where noted) The Daily NASA TV Mission Schedule is Available at http://www.nasa.gov/shuttletv www.nasa.gov/shuttletv

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

June 3, Friday12 p.m. - Video File of the ISS Expedition 28 Crew Activities in Baikonur, Kazakhstan

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

Space Calendar 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) May 31 - RBSP-A & B (Radiation Belt Storm Probes) Atlas 5 Launch May 31 - Asteroid 896 Sphinx Closest Approach To Earth (0.900 AU) May 31 - Asteroid 3351 Smith Closest Approach To Earth (2.358 AU) Jun ?? - Yaogan 12 CZ-4B Launch Jun ?? - Beidou 2-M2 (Compass M-2) CZ-3A Launch Jun ?? - Rasad 1 Safir-B1 Launch (Iran) Jun 01 - Partial Solar Eclipse, Visible in Asia, N. America, Iceland Jun 01 - Space Shuttle Endeavour Return To Earth (STS-134) Jun 01 - Asteroid 9885 Linux Closest Approach To Earth (1.496 AU) Jun 01 - Asteroid 5145 Pholus Closest Approach To Earth (23.055 AU) Jun 02 - Comet 164P/Christensen Perihelion (1.675 AU) Jun 02 - Asteroid 2009 BD Near-Earth Flyby (0.002 AU) Jun 02 - Asteroid 447 Valentine Closest Approach To Earth (2.067 AU) Jun 03 - Asteroid 2010 XK Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU) Jun 03 - 45th Anniversary (1966), Gemini 9 Launch (Thomas Stafford & Eugene Cernan)

JPL Space Calendar

Food for ThoughtAmazing Spacewalk Photos: Shuttle Endeavour

at Space Station 

Space Image of the Week