Donald Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC                   February 4, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Tammy Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone:  301/286-5566)

Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone:  410/338-4514)

NOTE TO EDITORS:  N98-10

SUPERNOVA BLAST WAVE LIGHTS UP ITS 
RING ON NEXT SPACE SCIENCE UPDATE FEB. 10 

       The next Space Science Update (SSU), called "Ring of 
Fire: Shock Wave Sheds New Light on Fading Supernova," is 
scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 10, at 1 p.m. EST, at NASA 
Headquarters, Washington, DC.  

       The Update will feature new Hubble Space Telescope 
images by astronomers who have discovered the first evidence 
that a shock wave pushed ahead of material ejected by the 
famous supernova 1987A is beginning to hit the rings, causing 
them to light up from the energy of the impact.  In coming 
months other parts of the ring are expected to brighten to 
thousands of times their present levels as the shock wave hits.

        Panelists will be:
*  Robert Kirshner, Professor of Astronomy, Harvard University, 
and Associate Director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for 
Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA
*  Dr. Richard McCray, George Gamow Distinguished Professor of 
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 
Boulder
*  Dr. George Sonneborn, astrophysicist, Laboratory for 
Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA's Goddard Space Flight 
Center, Greenbelt, MD
*  Dr. Anne L. Kinney, Space Telescope Science Institute, 
Baltimore, MD
*  Dr. Ed Weiler, Director of NASA's Origins Program, NASA 
Headquarters, panel moderator

      The SSU will originate from the NASA Headquarters 
Auditorium, 300 E St., SW, Washington, DC, and will be carried 
live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for 
reporters covering the event from participating NASA centers.  

       NASA Television is broadcast on  the GE2 satellite 
transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical 
polarization, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 MHz.  Audio of 
the broadcast will be available on voice circuit at NASA's 
Kennedy Space Center, FL, on 407/867-1220.

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