Space News Update - November 3, In the News Story 1: First Detection of Molecular Oxygen at a Comet Story 2: Spirals in Dust Around Young Stars May Betray Presence of Massive Planets Story 3: Story 3: Deepest-Ever Dive Through Enceladus Plume Completed Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

First Detection of Molecular Oxygen at a Comet

Spirals in Dust Around Young Stars May Betray Presence of Massive Planets

Deepest-Ever Dive Through Enceladus Plume Completed

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, November 3  Around 9 p.m., depending on where you are, zero-magnitude Capella rises exactly as high in the northeast as zero- magnitude Vega has sunk in the west-northwest. How accurately can you time this event? Astrolabe not required... but it would help. Wednesday, November 4  Algol should be at its minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for a couple hours centered on 8:30 p.m. EST according to its recently revised predictions. Comparison-star chart. The waning crescent Moon poses with Jupiter on the morning of Friday the 6th, then with Venus and Mars on Saturday the 7th. Thursday, November 5  By about 9 p.m. Orion is clearing your eastern horizon (depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone). High above Orion shines orange Aldebaran. Above Aldebaran is the little Pleiades cluster, the size of your fingertip at arm's length. Far left of the Pleiades shines bright Capella.  The waning Moon shines with Jupiter before and during dawn on Friday morning the 6th, as shown at right. Venus and Mars are below them. Think photo opportunity: Use a tripod, a long lens or zoom, and include a bit of foreground. Friday, November 6  In Saturday's dawn, the waning crescent Moon has now stepped down a notch to shine strikingly paired with Venus, as shown at right. Faint Mars close by makes it a triangle. Jupiter shines above them.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver : DateVisibleDateAppearsDisappears Wed Nov 4, 5:16 AM< 1 min10°10° above SE Thu Nov 5, 5:57 AM6 min54°11° above SW11° above ENE Fri Nov 6, 5:04 AM3 min26°11° above S25° above ESE Sat Nov 7, 4:14 AM1 min13°13° above SE12° above ESE

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) 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 Tuesday, November 3  12:30 p.m. - ISS Expedition 45 In-Flight Interviews with Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” and the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley with ISS Commander Scott Kelly of NASA (Starts at 12:25 pm) (all channels) Wednesday, November 4 2 p.m. - Live Shot Interviews from the Johnson Space Center, Houston (all channels) Thursday, November 5  2 p.m. - NASA News Conference – Mars Space Science Update (all channels) Friday, November 6  5:30 a.m. - U.S. ISS Spacewalk Coverage (Lindgren and Kelly; Spacewalk Begins at 7:10 a.m. ET) (NTV-1 (Public), NTV-2 (Education))  6 a.m. - Live Satellite Media Interviews on Mars MAVEN Results (NTV-3 (Media))

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar  Nov 03 - Venus Passes 0.7 Degrees From MarsVenusMars  Nov 03 - Taurids Meteor Shower PeakTaurids Meteor Shower Peak  Nov 03 - Comet C/2013 P4 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (5.450 AU)Comet C/2013 P4 (PANSTARRS)  Nov 03 - Apollo Asteroid 4450 Pan Closest Approach To Earth (1.194 AU)Apollo Asteroid 4450 Pan  Nov 03 - Tsutomu Seki's 85th Birthday (1930)Tsutomu Seki's  Nov SPARC SOLARIS-HEPPA Working Group Meeting, Boulder, ColoradoSPARC SOLARIS-HEPPA Working Group Meeting  Nov 04 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #429 (OTM-429)Cassini  Nov 04 - Comet P/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (2.580 AU)Comet P/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS)  Nov 04 - Comet 235P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.670 AU)Comet 235P/LINEAR  Nov 04 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 TD179 Near-Earth Flyby (0.027 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 TD179  Nov 04 - Asteroid Philchristensen Closest Approach To Earth (1.343 AU)Asteroid Philchristensen  Nov 04 - Centaur Object Bienor At Opposition ( AU)Centaur Object Bienor  Nov 04 - Kuiper Belt Object (2002 UX25) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2002 UX25)  Nov th Anniversary (2010), EPOXI, Comet 103P/Hartley 2 FlybyEPOXI  Nov 05 - Comet P/2014 V1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (2.305 AU)Comet P/2014 V1 (PANSTARRS)  Nov 05 - Comet 278P/McNaught At Opposition (3.793 AU)Comet 278P/McNaught  Nov 05 - Comet 246P/NEAT At Opposition (3.862 AU)Comet 246P/NEAT  Nov 05 - Asteroid 1718 Namibia Closest Approach To Earth (1.076 AU)Asteroid 1718 Namibia  Nov 05 - Asteroid 1704 Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.369 AU)Asteroid 1704 Wachmann  Nov 05 - Asteroid Manilla Closest Approach To Earth (1.482 AU)Asteroid Manilla  Nov 05 - Apollo Asteroid 7092 Cadmus Closest Approach To Earth (1.549 AU)Apollo Asteroid 7092 Cadmus  Nov 05 - Kuiper Belt Object (2002 TC302) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2002 TC302)  Nov 05 - Leon Teisserenc de Bort's 160th Birthday (1855)Leon Teisserenc de Bort's  Nov 06 - Comet P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs) Perihelion (1.629 AU)Comet P/2008 Y2 (Gibbs)  Nov 06 - Asteroid 39 Laetitia At Opposition (8.9 Magnitude)Asteroid 39 Laetitia  Nov 06 - Aten Asteroid 2002 XY38 Near-Earth Flyby (0.083 AU)Aten Asteroid 2002 XY38  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

Food for Thought Cosmic Soufflé: The Tricky Art of Spiral Galaxies New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week Charon and the Small Moons of Pluto Image Credit: NASA, Johns Hopkins U. APL, SwRI