Space News Update - November 6, In the News Story 1: MAVEN Reveals Speed of Solar Wind Stripping Martian Atmosphere Story 2: Aurora on Mars Story 3: Story 3: Hubble Uncovers the Fading Cinders of Some of Our Galaxy’s Earliest Homesteaders Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

MAVEN Reveals Speed of Solar Wind Stripping Martian Atmosphere

Aurora on Mars 1.Ratchet Wrench ‘ ed’ to Space Station

Hubble Uncovers the Fading Cinders of Some of Our Galaxy’s Earliest Homesteaders

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, November 6 In dawn tomorrow morning (Saturday the 7th), the waning crescent Moon shines strikingly paired with Venus, as shown at lower right. Faint Mars makes it a triangle! Jupiter looks on from above them. Leo stands above all. Saturday, November 7 Algol should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 5:20 p.m. EST according to recently revised predictions. Watch Algol rebrighten for several more hours through the course of the evening. Comparison-star chart. In the dawn of Sunday the 8th the waning crescent Moon hangs below the Jupiter-Mars-Venus lineup, right about in line with them. Can you make out 3rd- magnitude Gamma (γ) Virginis in the Moon's vicinity? Sunday, November 8 Cassiopeia stands on end high in the northeast after nightfall this month. If you have a telescope, surely you look in on Cassiopeia's clustery deep-sky sights from time to time. But how about T Cassiopeiae and its companion? This pair of stars offers a striking color contrast when T Cas is near its maximum brightness of about magnitude 8.3, as it is now. See the November Sky & Telescope, page 45. The finder map there also includes eight lovely open clusters right around Cassiopeia's W pattern. Monday, November 9 Near Cassiopeia lies faint Lacerta the Lizard, surprisingly rich in deep-sky objects considering its naked-eye modesty. Or maybe not so surprising — it's athwart the northern Milky Way. See Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders telescopic guided tour in the November Sky & Telescope, page 50. Lacerta's brightest open cluster, large and loose NGC 7243, is magnitude 6.4 with a nice double star inside. Happy 81st birthday, Carl Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996). If only.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Sat Nov 7, 4:14 AM1 min13°13° above SE12° above ESE Sat Nov 7, 5:47 AM6 min58°10° above WSW10° above NE Sun Nov 8, 4:57 AM3 min68°58° above S12° above ENE Mon Nov 9, 4:07 AM< 1 min16°16° above ENE Mon Nov 9, 5:39 AM4 min28°18° above WNW10° above NNE

NASA-TV Highlights Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA websiteNASA website MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA Monday, November 9 10 a.m., Space Station Live (all channels) 11 a.m., In-Flight Interviews with ABC’s “The View” and ITV News (Starts at 11:05am) (all channels) Tuesday, November 10 7 a.m., In-Flight Event for JAXA (all channels) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Nov 06 - Comet P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) Perihelion (1.629 AU)Comet P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs)Perihelion Nov 06 - Asteroid 39 Laetitia At Opposition (8.9 Magnitude)Asteroid 39 LaetitiaAt Opposition Nov 06 Apollo Asteroid 2015 VY Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 VYNear-Earth Flyby Nov 06 - Aten Asteroid 2002 XY38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)Aten Asteroid 2002 XY38Near-Earth Flyby Nov 06 - Asteroid Whiterabbit Closest Approach To Earth (1.667 AU)Asteroid Whiterabbit Nov 06 - Asteroid 2169 Taiwan Closest Approach To Earth (1.675 AU)Asteroid 2169 Taiwan Nov 07 - Amor Asteroid 2015 TL143 Near-Earth Flyby (0.066 AU)Amor Asteroid 2015 TL143 Nov 07 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 TM143 Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 TM143 Nov 07 - Apollo Asteroid 2008 VA15 Near-Earth Flyby (0.075 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2008 VA15Near-Earth Flyby Nov 07 - Apollo Asteroid 3200 Phaethon Closest Approach To Earth (1.450 AU)Apollo Asteroid 3200 PhaethonClosest Approach To Earth Nov 08 - [Nov 03] Aten Asteroid 2004 VJ1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.098 AU)Aten Asteroid 2004 VJ1Near-Earth Flyby Nov th Anniversary (1960), Little Joe 5 LaunchLittle Joe 5 Nov 08 - Charles Kowal's 75th Birthday (1940)Charles Kowal's Nov 08 - Graham Bell's 80th Birthday (1935)Graham Bell's Nov th Anniversary (1895), Wilhelm Rontgen's Discovery of X-RaysWilhelm Rontgen'sDiscovery of X-Rays Nov 09 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #430 (OTM-430)Cassini Nov 09 - Comet 220P/McNaught At Opposition (1.095 AU)Comet 220P/McNaughtAt Opposition Nov 09 - Comet 315P/LONEOS At Opposition (2.750 AU)Comet 315P/LONEOSAt Opposition Nov 09 - Aten Asteroid 2008 WQ2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU)Aten Asteroid 2008 WQ2Near-Earth Flyby Nov 09 - Asteroid 9134 Encke Closest Approach To Earth (1.917 AU)Asteroid 9134 Encke Nov 09 - Phobos and Deimos Webcast: Properties of Meteorite AnaloguesPhobos and Deimos Webcast: Properties of Meteorite Analogues Nov th Anniversary (2005), Venus Express Launch (ESA Venus Orbiter)Venus Express Nov th Anniversary (1970), OFO-1 (Orbiting Frog Otolith) LaunchOFO-1 (Orbiting Frog Otolith) Nov th Anniversary (1925), Robert Millikan Confirms Cosmic Rays From Outer SpaceRobert MillikanConfirms Cosmic Rays From Outer Space Nov 09 - Hermann Weyl's 130th Birthday (1885)Hermann Weyl's

Food for Thought Out with the Old, In with the New: Telescope Mirrors Get New Shape New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week The Great Orion Nebula M42 Image Credit & Copyright: Terry Hancock (Down Under Observatory)Terry HancockDown Under Observatory