Space News Update - November 17, 2017 - In the News Departments Story 1: James Webb Space Telescope Just Got Its 1st Science Targets Story 2: Closest temperate world orbiting quiet star discovered Story 3: NASA Detects Solar Flare Pulses at Sun and Earth Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

James Webb Space Telescope Just Got Its 1st Science Targets 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)

Closest temperate world orbiting quiet star discovered

NASA Detects Solar Flare Pulses at Sun and Earth

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, November 17 • Two challenge planets! As twilight fades, look low in the southwest for Saturn and Mercury, as shown at right. They're about a fist at arm's length apart. Binoculars help. • With the Moon not yet back in the evening sky, take advantage of the dark nights to explore the galaxies inside the top right corner of the Great Square of Pegasus. A bunch are magnitudes 11 to 13. Use a 6-inch or larger scope and Sue French's Deep-Sky Wonders article, chart and photos in the November Sky & Telescope, page 55. Saturday, November 18 • Around 7 p.m. this week, the Great Square of Pegasus stands in its level position very high toward the south. (It's straight overhead if you're as far south as Miami.) Its right (western) side points very far down toward Fomalhaut. Its eastern side points less directly toward Beta Ceti, not as far down. • New Moon (exact at 6:42 a.m. EST). Sunday, November 19 • A mere 20 or 30 minutes after sunset, scan with binoculars just above the southwest horizon for the crescent Moon and Mercury, as shown in the middle panel here. They're about 8° or 9° apart (for North America). Saturn is to Mercury's upper left. • Orion is clearing the eastern horizon by 8 p.m. this week (depending on how far east or west you live in your time zone). His three-star belt is nearly vertical. 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 Aldebaran and the Pleiades shines bright Capella. Sky & Telescope Monday, November 20 • While twilight is still bright, look low in the southwest for the waxing crescent Moon. Left of it by about 3° (for North America) is Saturn. No more than 20 or 30 minutes after sunset, use binoculars to hunt for Mercury 7° or 8° below them, as shown in the middle panel above. Tuesday, November 21 • The crescent Moon, now thicker and higher in twilight, points lower right toward Saturn. Mercury again glimmers lower right of Saturn before setting, as shown in the middle panel above.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Fri Nov 17, 4:31 AM < 1 min 26° 26° above E 22° above E Fri Nov 17, 6:04 AM 5 min 19° 10° above W 10° above S Sat Nov 18, 5:15 AM 3 min 38° 38° above SSW 10° above SSE Sun Nov 19, 4:25 AM 13° 13° above SE 10° above SE Mon Nov 20, 5:08 AM 10° 10° above SSW 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) 1 p.m., Friday, November 17 - Next Steps in the Search for Habitable Worlds – A live event from the University of Wyoming (all channels) 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m., Friday, November 17 - Replay of “Next Steps in the Search for Habitable Worlds” – A live event from the University of Wyoming (NTV-1 (Public)) 2 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., Friday, November 17 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels) 4 a.m., Saturday, November 18 - Launch Coverage of Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) from Vandenberg AFB, California (starts at 4:15 a.m.) (all channels) 10 a.m., 2 p.m., 6 p.m., Saturday, November 18 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels) 1 p.m., 5 p.m., Saturday, November 18 - Replay of “Next Steps in the Search for Habitable Worlds” – A live event from the University of Wyoming (all channels) 8 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m., Sunday, November 19 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels) 9 a.m., 2 p.m., Sunday, November 19 - Replay of “Next Steps in the Search for Habitable Worlds” – A live event from the University of Wyoming (all channels) 10 a.m., Monday, November 20 - ISS Expedition 53 Educational In-Flight Event with the Southside Elementary School in Lebanon, Tennessee and Flight Engineers Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei of NASA (Starts at 10:05 a.m.) (all channels) Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar Aug PSLV Launch JPL Space Calendar Nov 17 - 50th Anniversary (1967), 1st Successful Lift-Off from Lunar Surface (Surveyor 6) Nov 17 - [Nov 13] Leonids Meteor Shower Peak Nov 17 - Comet 24P/Schaumasse Perihelion (1.206 AU) Nov 17 - Comet 73P-BR/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.654 AU) Nov 17 - Comet 73P-BG/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.685 AU) Nov 17 - Apollo Asteroid 444584 (2006 UK) Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU) Nov 17 - Aten Asteroid 136818 Selqet Closest Approach To Earth (0.325 AU) Nov 17 - Asteroid 1288 Santa Closest Approach To Earth (1.810 AU) Nov 17 - Neptune Trojan 2007 VL305 At Opposition (27.240 AU) Nov 17 - Plutino 455502 (2003 UZ413) At Opposition (42.874 AU) Nov 17 - Henry Gellibrand's 420th Birthday (1597) Nov 18 - [Nov 15] Joint Polar Satellite System 1 (JPSS 1)/ Buccaneer RMM/ MiRaTA/ CP 7(DAVE)/ EagleSat/ Fox 1B (RadFxSat)/ MakerSat 0 Delta 2 Launch Nov 18 - Comet 73P-BB/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.782 AU) Nov 18 - Comet 209P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.432 AU) Nov 18 - [Nov 17] Apollo Asteroid 2017 VC14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU) Nov 18 - [Nov 15] Aten Asteroid 2017 VN2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU) Nov 18 - Asteroid 1640 Nemo Closest Approach To Earth (0.947 AU) Nov 18 - Asteroid 4922 Leshin Closest Approach To Earth (1.205 AU) Nov 18 - Asteroid 484 Pittsburghia Closest Approach To Earth (1.727 AU) Nov 18 - Asteroid 4356 Marathon Closest Approach To Earth (2.270 AU) Nov 18 - Neptune Trojan 2011 WG157 At Opposition (29.819 AU) Nov 18 - Kuiper Belt Object 2010 VK201 At Opposition (47.077 AU) Nov 18 - Louis Daguerre's 230th Birthday (1787) Nov 19 - Comet P/2011 VJ5 (Lemmon) At Opposition (0.965 AU) Nov 19 - Comet 5D/Brorsen At Opposition (2.203 AU) Nov 19 - Comet 73P-V/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.711 AU) Nov 19 - Comet 73P-BA/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.830 AU) Nov 19 - Asteroid 63163 Jerusalem Closest Approach To Earth (1.320 AU) Nov 19 - Asteroid 184011 Andypuckett Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU) Nov 19 - Plutino 84719 (2002 VR128) At Opposition (38.568 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Space Calendar Aug PSLV Launch JPL Space Calendar Nov 19 - Kuiper Belt Object 90377 Sedna At Opposition (84.262 AU) Nov 19 - 20th Anniversary (1997), STS-87 Launch (Space Shuttle Columbia) Nov 19 - Eleanor Helin's 85th Birthday (1932) Nov 19 - Keith Runcorn's 95th Birthday (1922) Nov 20 - Mars Summer Solstice Nov 20 - Comet 54P/de Vico-Swift-NEAT Closest Approach To Earth (1.746 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 236P/LINEAR Perihelion (1.837 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 73P-BH/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.841 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 73P-BI/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.841 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 73P-BM/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.842 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 73P-BP/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.842 AU) Nov 20 - Comet 73P-BE/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (2.850 AU) Nov 20 - Comet C/2017 F2 (PANSTARRS) Perihelion (6.931 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 9387 Tweeddledee Closest Approach To Earth (0.944 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 5450 Sokrates Closest Approach To Earth (1.582 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 8630 Billprady Closest Approach To Earth (1.619 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 6154 Stevesynnott Closest Approach To Earth (1.700 AU) Nov 20 - Apollo Asteroid 3671 Dionysus Closest Approach To Earth (1.781 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 54439 Topeka Closest Approach To Earth (2.089 AU) Nov 20 - Asteroid 118945 Rikhill Closest Approach To Earth (2.288 AU) Nov 20 - Otto von Guericke's 415th Birthday (1602) Nov 21 - [Nov 13] Jilin 1-04,1-05,1-06 CZ-6 Launch Nov 21 - Comet P/2017 S9 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (1.393 AU) Nov 21 - Aten Asteroid 234145 (2000 EW70) Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU) Nov 21 - Apollo Asteroid 163696 (2003 EB50) Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 84225 Verish Closest Approach To Earth (1.152 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 16155 Buddy Closest Approach To Earth (1.370 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 2579 Spartacus Closest Approach To Earth (1.384 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 342843 Davidbowie Closest Approach To Earth (1.621 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 2985 Shakespeare Closest Approach To Earth (1.897 AU) Nov 21 - Asteroid 4442 Garcia Closest Approach To Earth (2.501 AU) JPL Space Calendar

Triton’s Arrival was Chaos for the Rest of Neptune’s Moons New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale Food for Thought Triton’s Arrival was Chaos for the Rest of Neptune’s Moons

Major Fireball Meteor Image Credit & Copyright: Ollie Taylor Space Image of the Week Major Fireball Meteor  Image Credit & Copyright: Ollie Taylor