Space News Update - January 16, 2018 - In the News Departments Story 1: Hubble Finds Substellar Objects in the Orion Nebula Story 2: Scientists Take Viewers to the Center of the Milky Way Story 3: Ingredients for Life Revealed in Meteorites That Fell to Earth Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

Hubble Finds Substellar Objects in the Orion Nebula 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)

Scientists Take Viewers to the Center of the Milky Way

Ingredients for Life Revealed in Meteorites That Fell to Earth

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, January 16 After dinnertime, the enormous Andromeda-Pegasus complex runs from near the zenith down toward the western horizon. Just west of the zenith, spot Andromeda's high foot: 2nd- magnitude Gamma Andromedae (Almach), slightly orange. Andromeda is standing on her head. About halfway down from the zenith to the west horizon is the Great Square of Pegasus, balancing on one corner. Down from its bottom corner run the stars outlining Pegasus's neck and head, ending at his nose: 2nd-magnitude Enif, due west and also slightly orange. New Moon (exact at 9:17 p.m. EST). Wednesday, January 17 On these moonless nights, explore little-known sights in Cassiopeia, high in the northwest. Sky & Telescope Thursday, January 18 Sirius twinkles brightly after dinnertime below Orion in the southeast. Around 8 or 9 p.m., depending on your location, Sirius shines precisely below fiery Betelgeuse in Orion's shoulder. How accurately can you time this event for your location, perhaps using a plumb bob or the vertical edge of a building? Of the two, Sirius leads early in the evening, and Betelgeuse leads later. Welcome to pre-telescopic astronomy. Friday, January 19 • The Moon is still just a thin waxing crescent and, in any case, it sets pretty soon after dusk. So: is your sky dark enough for you to see the winter Milky Way? By midevening now, the Milky Way runs vertically up and across the zenith: from Canis Major low in the southeast, up between Orion and Gemini, through Auriga and Perseus almost straight overhead, and down through Cassiopeia, Cepheus, and Cygnus to the northwest horizon.

ISS Sighting Opportunities ISS For Denver: Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears Tue Jan 16, 5:53 AM 3 min 31° 31° above WSW 11° above SSE Wed Jan 17, 5:03 AM 1 min 19° 19° above SE 10° above SE Thu Jan 18, 5:46 AM < 1 min 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) Tuesday, January 16 4 p.m. - RS-25 Engine Fire Test from Stennis Space Center (all channels) Wednesday, January 17 11 a.m. - ISS Expedition 54 In-Flight Educational Event with Boise State University in Boise, Idaho and NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba (starts at 11:25 a.m.) (all channels) Thursday, January 18 12 p.m. - ISS Expedition 54 In-Flight Event with ABC Digital Network and Space.com with NASA Flight Engineer Scott Tingle (starts at 12:10 p.m.) (all channels) 2 p.m. - ISS Expedition 54 U.S. Spacewalk Preview Briefing (all channels) Friday, January 19 12 p.m. - ISS Expedition 54 In-Flight Educational Event with the Christa McAuliffe Challenger Center at Framingham State University in Framingham, Massachusetts and Flight Engineers Joe Acaba and Scott Tingle of NASA and Flight Engineer Norishige Kanai of Japan (all channels) Tue May 30, 9:16 PM 1 min 14° 14° above N 10° above NNE Tue May 30, 10:53 PM < 1 min 10° 10° above N Wed May 31, 00:30 AM 18° 18° above N Wed May 31, 10:01 PM Wed May 31, 11:38 PM 2 min 15° 14° above NE Thu Jun 1, 9:09 PM 11° 11° above N Thu Jun 1, 10:45 PM 12° 12° above N 10° above NE Fri Jun 2, 00:20 AM 17° 10° above NW 17° above NNW Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Jan 16 - ASNARO-2 Epsilon 2 Launch Jan 16 - Comet 324P/La Sagra Closest Approach To Earth (2.528 AU) Jan 16 - Apollo Asteroid 2018 AV2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.017 AU) Jan 16 - Apollo Asteroid 2018 AM2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.031 AU) Jan 16 - Apollo Asteroid 438017 (2003 YO3) Near-Earth Flyby (0.071 AU) Jan 16 - Asteroid 7169 Linda Closest Approach To Earth (1.625 AU) Jan 16 - Asteroid 9951 Tyrannosaurus Closest Approach To Earth (1.738 AU) Jan 16 - Asteroid 159814 Saguaro Closest Approach To Earth (2.234 AU) Jan 16-18 - Workshop: Dwarfs Stars and Clusters with K2, Boston, Massachusetts Jan 16-18 - Meeting: Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe, Irvine, California Jan 16-19 - Workshop: The Architecture of LISA Science Analysis - Imagining the Future, Pasadena, California Jan 17 - Comet 128P-A/Shoemaker-Holt At Opposition (2.370 AU) Jan 17 - Comet 279P/La Sagra At Opposition (2.906 AU) Jan 17 - Comet C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.397 AU) Jan 17 - Comet C/2017 AB5 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (8.396 AU) Jan 17 - Apollo Asteroid 2018 AG4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.004 AU) Jan 17 - Asteroid 4352 Kyoto Closest Approach To Earth (1.494 AU) Jan 17 - Asteroid 2041 Lancelot Closest Approach To Earth (1.889 AU) Jan 17 - Asteroid 8080 Intel Closest Approach To Earth (2.057 AU) Jan 17-18 - 18th Small Bodies Assessment Group Meeting, Moffett Field, California Jan 17-19 - Workshop: The Atacama Large-Aperture Submm/mm Telescope (AtLAST), Garching, Germany Jan 17-19 - Meeting: Best Practices for a Future Open Code Policy for NASA Space Science, Washington DC Jan 18 - SBIRS GEO-4 Atlas 5 Launch Jan 18 - Comet 324P/La Sagra At Opposition (2.529 AU) Jan 18 - Comet 287P/Christensen At Opposition (4.049 AU) JPL Space Calendar

NASA Team First to Demonstrate X-ray Navigation in Space Food for Thought NASA Team First to Demonstrate X-ray Navigation in Space

Space Image of the Week The Horsehead Nebula Image Credit: CFHT, Coelum, MegaCam, J.-C. Cuillandre (CFHT) & G. A. Anselmi (Coelum)