Space News Update - December 9, 2016 - In the News Departments Story 1: NASA Remembers American Legend John Glenn Story 2: Cassini Beams Back First Images from New Orbit Story 3: ALMA Measures Size of Seeds of Planets Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA Remembers American Legend John Glenn In this computer graphic, NASA's Voyager 1 probe, moving toward upper left, nears the edge of the sun's influence, flying through a region of space dominated by a "magnetic highway" that helps mediate the flow of particles into and out of the solar system. The region includes particles from the sun's southern hemisphere that have been forced northward by the pressure of the interstellar wind. Voyager 1 is expected to cross the boundary into interstellar space sometime within the next few years if not sooner. (Credit: NASA)

Cassini Beams Back First Images from New Orbit

ALMA Measures Size of Seeds of Planets

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, December 9 • Vega still glitters brightly in the northwest early these evenings. Deneb is the brightest star above it. Deneb is the head of the big Northern Cross, which now extends to Deneb's lower left. By about 10 p.m. the Northern Cross swings down and around to plant itself upright on the northwest horizon (as seen from mid-northern latitudes). Saturday, December 10 • Right after dark you'll find the Pleiades high in the east, with Aldebaran and the Hyades below them. Far below these, Orion is beginning to clear the horizon. By about 9 p.m. Orion is much higher and Sirius is rising below it, completing this famous tall stack of December stars. Sunday, December 11 • Watch for early Geminid meteors! The occasional Geminid should be flashing into view by now even through the moonlight. The shower is due to peak late Tuesday night December 13–14, as told below. On any night, rates increase through the evening and will be greatest from midnight to 4 a.m., when the radiant in Gemini is high overhead. Monday, December 12 • The Moon, just a day before full, occults Aldebaran tonight for nearly everyone in North America — around the middle of the night in the East, and earlier in the evening for the West. In westernmost Europe, the occultation happens before dawn on the 13th. The bright orange star vanishes on the Moon's narrow dark limb just beyond the brilliantly sunlit landscape, so use a telescope and look up the exact time for your location. Sky & Telescope

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Fri Dec 9, 4:58 PM < 1 min 11° 11° above N 10° above NNE Sat Dec 10, 5:41 PM 1 min 10° 10° above NNW 10° above N Sun Dec 11, 6:26 PM Mon Dec 12, 5:34 PM 2 min Tue Dec 13, 6:18 PM 15° 15° above N Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information

NASA-TV Highlights (all times Eastern Time Zone) MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013 NASA NASA-TV Highlights   (all times Eastern Time Zone) Monday, December 12 6 a.m., NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Spacecraft Prelaunch Program by NASA EDGE (all channels) 7 a.m., NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) Spacecraft Launch Coverage and Commentary (all channels) 2:30 p.m., Hidden Figures Panel Discussion (all channels) Tuesday, December 13 4:30 a.m., Coverage of the Grapple of the JAXA “Kounotori” H-II Transfer Vehicle Cargo Ship (Capture is scheduled at appx. 6 a.m. ET) (all channels) 9 a.m., Coverage of the Installation of the JAXA “Kounotori” H-II Transfer Vehicle Cargo Ship to the ISS (starts at 9:15 a.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Dec 09 - [Dec 09] HTV 6 H-2B Launch (International Space Station), Successful Dec 09 - [Dec 09] Apollo Asteroid 2016 XV17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU) Dec 09 - Aten Asteroid 1994 XL1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.092 AU) Dec 09 - Asteroid 8837 London Closest Approach To Earth (1.453 AU) Dec 09 - Asteroid 15000 CCD Closest Approach To Earth (2.029 AU) Dec 09 - Asteroid 1000 Piazzia Closest Approach To Earth (3.056 AU) Dec 09 - Meeting: Frozen Worlds and Landscapes of our Solar System, London, United Kingdom Dec 09 - Meeting: Radio Galaxies in the Local Universe, London, United Kingdom Dec 09 - 10th Anniversary (2006), STS-116 Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery, International Space Station) Dec 09 - Steve Pravdo's 65th Birthday (1951) Dec 09 - Henry Kendall's 90th Birthday (1926) Dec 10 - Comet C/2014 OE4 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (6.245 AU) Dec 10 - Asteroid 3054 Strugatskia Occults HIP 29367 (6.8 Magnitude Star) Dec 10 - Apollo Asteroid 2014 HM4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.060 AU) Dec 10 - [Dec 04] Apollo Asteroid 2016 XF Near-Earth Flyby (0.069 AU) Dec 10 - Asteroid 3693 Barringer Closest Approach To Earth (1.993 AU) Dec 10 - Plutino 84922 (2003 VS2) At Opposition (35.638 AU) Dec 10 - Plutino 307463 (2002 VU130) At Opposition (39.392 AU) Dec 10 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 XR190 At Opposition (56.394 AU) Dec 11 - [Dec 09] Fengyun 4A CZ-3B Launch Dec 11 - Juno, Period Reduction Maneuver (PRM) Dec 11 - Cassini, Distant Flyby of Prometheus & Pallene Dec 11 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (21 Degrees) Dec 11 - Comet 318P/McNaught-Hartley At Opposition (3.241 AU) Dec 11 - Comet P/2005 L1 (McNaught) At Opposition (3.683 AU) Dec 11 - Asteroid 96193 Edmonton Closest Approach To Earth (1.298 AU) Dec 11 - Tsien Hsu-shen's 105th Birthday (1911) Dec 12 - Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System 1-8 (CYGNSS 1-8) Pegasus XL Launch Dec 12 - Comet C/2016 U1 (NEOWISE) Closest Approach To Earth (0.709 AU) Dec 12 - [Dec 04] Apollo Asteroid 2016 XA Near-Earth Flyby (0.018 AU) Dec 12 - Atira Asteroid 2008 UL90 Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU) Dec 12 - [Dec 09] Apollo Asteroid 2016 XA18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.051 AU) Dec 12 - Asteroid 4457 van Gogh Closest Approach To Earth (1.680 AU) Dec 12 - Asteroid 371 Bohemia Closest Approach To Earth (1.918 AU) Dec 12 - Asteroid 1495 Helsinki Closest Approach To Earth (2.065 AU) Dec 12 - 55th Anniversary (1961), Oscar 1 Launch JPL Space Calendar

Home Computers Discover Record-Breaking Binary Neutron Star New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Home Computers Discover Record-Breaking Binary Neutron Star

NGC 4696: Filaments around a Black Hole Space Image of the Week NGC 4696: Filaments around a Black Hole Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble, A. Fabian