Transcript Record-breaking pulsar takes tests of general relativity into new

Space News Update
- April 26, 2013 In the News
Story 1:
NASA Probes Near Sun Safe from Triple Solar Eruption
Story 2:
SpaceShipTwo could go supersonic Monday, billionaire backer says
Story 3:
Record-breaking pulsar takes tests of general relativity into new territory
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
>
Record-breaking pulsar takes tests of
general relativity into new territory
SpaceShipTwo could go supersonic
Monday, billionaire backer says
Record-breaking pulsar takes tests of
general relativity into new territory
The Night Sky
Friday, April 26
· Around the end of twilight, the Moon
rises below Saturn. With binoculars, look
closer below Saturn for the wide double
star Alpha2 and Alpha1 Librae,
magnitudes 2.8 and 5.2 respectively.
(They're numbered in order of their
westward progression across the sky, not
in order of brightness).
Saturday, April 27
· Saturn is at opposition tonight: opposite
the Sun as seen from Earth. See more
under "This Week's Planet Roundup"
below.
· The waning gibbous Moon rises in the
southeast very late this evening, with the
red supergiant Antares sparkling to its
right. By early dawn Sunday morning
Antares is below the Moon in the
southwest, as shown above.
The Night Sky
Sunday, April 28
· The classic small-scope binary star
Gamma Virginis, or Porrima, shines upper
right of Spica, 14° from it (about a fist and
a half at arm's length) these evenings.
Porrima's two equal components were
almost unresolvably close together for
much of the last decade, but this spring
they've widened to 2 arcseconds apart.
Use high power. (An orbit diagram is in
the May Sky & Telescope, page 51.)
Monday, April 29
· It's almost May, yet the winter star Sirius
still twinkles low above the westsouthwest horizon in late twilight. How
much later into the spring can you keep it
in view?
ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver:
SATELLITE
MAX
ELEV
(DEG)
LOCAL
DURATION
APPROACH
DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME
(MIN)
(DEG-DIR)
(DEG-DIR)
ISS
Fri Apr 26/08:23 PM
4
52
38 above W
10 above SE
ISS
Sat Apr 27/09:09 PM
<1
10
10 above WSW
10 above SW
ISS
Sun Apr 28/08:19 PM
3
19
16 above WSW
10 above S
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
April 26, Friday
6:30 a.m. - ISS Progress 51 Docking Coverage (Docking scheduled at approximately
8:30 a.m. EDT) - JSC (All Channels)
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. - NASA’s Great Moon Buggy Race - MSFC (Education Channel)
9:30 a.m. - 7:15 p.m. - Live Coverage of FIRST Robotic Finals from St. Louis Missouri HQ (Public Channel)
11 a.m. - Space Station Live - JSC (Media Channel)
April 27, Saturday
9 a.m. - 6 p.m. - NASA’s Great Moon Buggy Race - MSFC (Education Channel)
9:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. - Live Coverage of FIRST Robotic Finals from St. Louis Missouri - HQ
(Public Channel)
Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.
Space Calendar
Apr 26 - Comet 193P/LINEAR-NEAT At Opposition (2.976 AU)
Apr 26 - Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (5.230
AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 2612 Kathryn Occults HIP 34608 (6.4 Magnitude Star)
Apr 26 - [Apr 22] Asteroid 2013 GE55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 2575 Bulgaria Closest Approach To Earth (1.008 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 3153 Lincoln Closest Approach To Earth (1.727 AU)
Apr 26 - Asteroid 16626 Thumper Closest Approach To Earth (1.925 AU)
Apr 26 - 15th Anniversary (1998), Cassini, Venus Flyby
Apr 26 - 165th Anniversary (1848), Andrew Graham's Discovery of Asteroid 9 Metis
Apr 27 - Comet 278P/McNaught At Opposition (1.224 AU)
Apr 27 - Comet 162P/Siding Spring At Opposition (3.764 AU)
Apr 27 - Comet C/2006 S3 (LONEOS) At Opposition (4.851 AU)
Apr 27 - Comet C/2010 L3 (Catalina) Closest Approach To Earth (10.087 AU)
Apr 27 - [Apr 24] Asteroid 2013 HP11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)
Apr 28 - Saturn At Opposition
Apr 28 - Comet C/2013 F1 (Boattini) At Opposition (1.738 AU)
Apr 28 - 10th Anniversary (2003), Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Launch
Apr 28 - Eugene Shoemaker's 85th Birthday (1928)
Apr 29 - Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu At Opposition (2.433 AU)
Eugene Shoemaker wearing
Apr 29 - Asteroid 1909 Alekhin Occults HIP 78933 (3.9 Magnitude Star)
a Bell Rocket Belt while training
Apr 29 - Asteroid 242643 (2005 NZ6) Near-Earth Flyby (0.064 AU)
astronauts
Apr 29 - Asteroid 7016 Conandoyle Closest Approach To Earth (1.184 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 9134 Encke Closest Approach To Earth (1.919 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 11945 Amsterdam Closest Approach To Earth (2.150 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 12432 Usuda Closest Approach To Earth (2.180 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 9252 Goddard Closest Approach To Earth (2.413 AU)
Apr 29 - Asteroid 1537 Transylvania Closest Approach To Earth (2.890 AU)
Eugene Shoemaker wearing a Bell Rocket Belt while training astronauts.
JPL Space Calendar
Apr 29 - Asteroid 3202 Graff Closest Approach To Earth (3.019 AU)
Food for Thought
NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager
Space Image of the Week
Image Credit: NASA, Solar Dynamics Observatory