Space News Update
- February 7, 2017 In the News
Story 1:
A Black Hole’s Record Breaking Lunch
Story 2:
Mysterious White Dwarf Pulsar Discovered
Story 3:
Curiosity Rover Sharpens Paradox of Ancient Mars
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
A Black Hole’s Record Breaking Lunch
Mysterious White Dwarf Pulsar
Discovered
Curiosity Rover Sharpens Paradox of
Ancient Mars
The Night Sky
Tuesday, February 7
• After dark look due east, not very high, for twinkly
Regulus. Extending upper left from it is the Sickle of Leo,
a backward question mark. "Leo announces spring," goes
an old saying. Actually, Leo showing up in the evening
announces the cold, messy back half of winter. Come
spring, Leo will already be high.
Wednesday, February 8
• This evening, the Moon shines on the segment of the
Winter Hexagon between Pollux and Procyon.
Thursday, February 9
• Look above the Moon now for Pollux and Castor (Pollux
is the lower and brighter of the two, tinted orange). A
similar distance right or upper right of the Moon is
Procyon.
Friday, February 10
• Full Moon (exactly so at 7:33 p.m. EST). A very
deep penumbral eclipse of the Moon is visible around
sunset or early evening from most of the Americas; map
and details. And see the February Sky & Telescope, page
48.
Look for Regulus 6° or 7° to the Moon's lower left as
darkness comes on for North America. By midnight,
Regulus is directly to the Moon's left.
Sky & Telescope
ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Tue Feb 7, 6:29 PM
1 min
10°
10° above N
10° above NNE
Wed Feb 8, 7:13 PM
< 1 min
13°
11° above NNW
13° above N
Thu Feb 9, 6:20 PM
2 min
12°
10° above N
10° above NNE
Fri Feb 10, 7:04 PM
2 min
21°
11° above NNW
21° above N
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Time Zone)
1 p.m., Tuesday, February 7 - ISS Expedition 50 Interviews with the CBS Evening News and
WFTV-TV, Orlando, Fla. and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of NASA (starts at 1:20 p.m.) (all
channels)
12 p.m., Thursday, February 9 - ISS Expedition 50 In-Flight Educational Event with the
Weslaco Independent School District, Weslaco, Texas and Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson of
NASA (starts at 12:05 p.m.) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
07
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
08
-
Cassini, Distant Flyby of Pan, Janus & Methone
[Feb 05] Comet P/2017 B4 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.823 AU)
Comet 50P/Arend Closest Approach To Earth (2.498 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2017 BQ6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2017 BU Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)
[Feb 04] Aten Asteroid 2017 BV93 Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2015 BN509 Near-Earth Flyby (0.042 AU)
Amor Asteroid 2017 BF29 Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2016 YN1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.078 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 38086 Beowolf Closest Approach To Earth (1.096 AU)
Asteroid 4798 Mercator Closest Approach To Earth (1.315 AU)
Asteroid 1001 Gaussia Closest Approach To Earth (2.258 AU)
Asteroid 13330 Dondavis Closest Approach To Earth (2.653 AU)
40th Anniversary (1977), Soyuz 24 Launch (Final launch to Salyut 5 Space Station)
Al Worden's 85th Birthday (1932)
Comet 73P-AB/Schwassmann-Wachmann Perihelion (0.977 AU)
[Feb 05] Comet P/2017 B4 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (1.823 AU)
Comet P/2015 X1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (2.737 AU)
Comet 321P/SOHO Closest Approach To Earth (2.849 AU)
Comet C/2015 X7 (ATLAS) Closest Approach To Earth (3.192 AU)
Comet 284P/McNaught At Opposition (3.725 AU
Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults TYC 1900-00963-1 (11.9 Magnitude Star) & 2UCAC 40675333 (12.5 Magnitude Star)
Asteroid 4140 Branham Occults HIP 89470 (6.1 Magnitude Star)
[Feb 04] Apollo Asteroid 2017 BM93 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU)
Aten Asteroid 2017 BM3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.032 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2016 YJ4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 136617 (1994 CC) (2 Moons) Closest Approach To Earth (1.248 AU)
Asteroid 46686 Anitasohus Closest Approach To Earth (1.478 AU)
Asteroid 2099 Opik Closest Approach To Earth (1.764 AU)
Asteroid 8283 Edinburgh Closest Approach To Earth (1.944 AU)
Asteroid 2104 Toronto Closest Approach To Earth (1.975 AU)
JPL Space Calendar
Space Calendar
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
Feb
08
08
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
-
Asteroid 11739 Baton Rouge Closest Approach To Earth (3.251 AU)
25th Anniversay (1992), Ulysses, Jupiter Flyby
NROL-79 Atlas 5 Launch
Comet 73P-AX/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.623 AU)
Comet 170P/Christensen At Opposition (3.769 AU)
Comet P/2012 K3 (Gibbs) At Opposition (3.900 AU)
Comet C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.807 AU)
Comet C/2015 D3 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (7.382 AU)
Comet C/2014 B1 (Schwartz) At Opposition (8.665 AU)
Apollo Asteroid 2017 BP30 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
Asteroid 203 Pompeja Closest Approach To Earth (1.759 AU)
Asteroid 4047 Chang'E Closest Approach To Earth (2.129 AU)
Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak At Opposition (0.339 AU)
Comet C/2016 J2 (Denneau) At Opposition (3.343 AU)
Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults TYC 1900-01125-1 (12.3 Magnitude Star)
Aten Asteroid 2014 DV110 Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)
Asteroid 6471 Collins Closest Approach To Earth (1.146 AU)
Asteroid 5891 Gehrig Closest Approach To Earth (1.430 AU)
110th Anniversary (1907), August Kopff's Discovery of Asteroid 624 Hecktor (Largest Jupiter Trojan)
JPL Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Queen Elizabeth Prize Honors Digital Imaging Pioneers
JPL research into imaging technology helped to
revolutionize digital cameras in the 1990s, eventually
paving the way for smaller devices like phone cameras and
GoPros.
CMOS technology, which grew out of space imaging
research at JPL, has made dental X-rays safer, cheaper and
easier to process.
Space Image of the Week
The Porpoise Galaxy from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, HLA; Reprocessing & Copyright: Raul Villaverde