Space News Update - November 25, In the News Story 1: NASA's Swift Mission Probes an Exotic Object: ‘Kicked’ Black Hole or Mega Star? Story 2: The Party’s Over for These Youthful Compact Galaxies Story 3: Story 3: Geologic Maps of Vesta from NASA’s Dawn Mission Published Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

NASA's Swift Mission Probes an Exotic Object: ‘Kicked’ Black Hole or Mega Star?

The Party’s Over for These Youthful Compact Galaxies

Geologic Maps of Vesta from NASA’s Dawn Mission Published

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, November 25 Look for Mars left of the crescent Moon in twilight, as shown to the right. Algol is at minimum light for a couple hours centered on 8:39 p.m. EST. Wednesday, November 26 The Moon now shines near Alpha and Beta Capricorni at nightfall, as shown above (depending on your location). Both Alpha and Beta Cap are wide double stars for binoculars. Alpha is easy to resolve; Beta is somewhat less so with its narrower separation and greater brightness difference. It's still Summer Triangle season. The Triangle's brightest star is Vega, well up in the west-northwest after dinnertime. The brightest star above Vega is Deneb. The Triangle's third star, Altair, is farther to Vega's left. Thursday, November 27 Whenever Fomalhaut is "southing" (crossing the meridian due south, which it does around 6 or 7 p.m. this week), you know that the first stars of Orion are just about to rise in the east, and the Pointers of the Big Dipper stand directly below Polaris (if you're in the world's mid-northern latitudes). Friday, November 28 First-quarter Moon (exactly so at 5:06 a.m. Saturday morning EST). Look for Fomalhaut far to its lower left, and Enif, the nose of Pegasus, almost as far to the Moon's upper right.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information ISS For Denver : DateVisibleMax HeightAppearsDisappears Wed Nov 26, 5:35 AM3 min61°28 above NW34 above ESE Thu Nov 27, 4:48 AM< 1 min28°28 above ENE21 above E Thu Nov 27, 6:21 AM5 min24°11 above W11 above S Fri Nov 28, 5:33 AM3 min45°41 above WSW11 above SSE

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 Tuesday, November 25 9:40 a.m. - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Interviews with WBAL-TV, Baltimore and WKRN-TV, Nashville, TN with Station Commander Barry Wilmore and Flight Engineer Terry Virts of NASA (all channels) Tuesday, December 2 7:45 a.m. - ISS Expedition 42 In-Flight Event for ESA and Italian Media with Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti (interpretation included) (all channels) Wednesday, December 3 10 a.m. - Space Station Live (all channels) channels) Wednesday, December 3 10 a.m. - Space Station Live (all channels) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar  Nov 25 - Comet 300P/Catalina Closest Approach To Earth (1.462 AU)Comet 300P/Catalina  Nov 25 - Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro At Opposition (2.447 AU)Comet 133P/Elst-Pizarro  Nov 25 - Asteroid 4970 Druyan Closest Approach To Earth (1.071 AU)Asteroid 4970 Druyan  Nov 25 - Asteroid 5703 Hevelius Closest Approach To Earth (1.173 AU)Asteroid 5703 Hevelius  Nov 25 - Asteroid Madrid Closest Approach To Earth (1.377 AU)Asteroid Madrid  Nov 25 - Asteroid 7495 Feynman Closest Approach To Earth (1.661 AU)Asteroid 7495 Feynman  Nov 25 - Asteroid 9499 Excalibur Closest Approach To Earth (1.949 AU)Asteroid 9499 Excalibur  Nov 25 - Kuiper Belt Object (2005 RR43) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2005 RR43)  Nov 25 - Kuiper Belt Object (2009 YE7) At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object (2009 YE7)  Nov 26 - Mercury Passes 1.7 Degrees From SaturnMercurySaturn  Nov 26 - Comet C/2014 L5 (Lemmon) Perihelion (6.204 AU)Comet C/2014 L5 (Lemmon)  Nov 26 - Asteroid 2014 WY119 Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)  Nov 26 - Asteroid 2014 VG10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)Asteroid 2014 VG10  Nov 26 - Asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock Closest Approach To Earth (1.787 AU)Asteroid 2309 Mr. Spock  Nov 26 - Asteroid 4305 Clapton Closest Approach To Earth (1.900 AU)Asteroid 4305 Clapton  Nov 26 - Asteroid 7392 Kowalski Closest Approach To Earth (1.976 AU)Asteroid 7392 Kowalski  Nov 26 - Asteroid 8250 Cornell Closest Approach To Earth (2.302 AU)Asteroid 8250 Cornell  Nov 26 - Auguste Charlois' 150th Birthday (1864)Auguste Charlois'  Nov 27 - Astra 2G Proton-M Briz-M LaunchAstra 2GProton-M Briz-M Launch  Nov 27 - Moon Occults Asteroid 433 ErosMoon Occults Asteroid 433 Eros  Nov 27 - Asteroid 2014 WR6 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)Asteroid 2014 WR6  Nov 27 - Asteroid 2014 WA5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.057 AU)Asteroid 2014 WA5  Nov 27 - Asteroid 2014 TX57 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)Asteroid 2014 TX57  Nov th Anniversary (1964), Mariner 4 Launch (Mars Flyby Mission)Mariner 4  Nov 28 - Comet 108P/Ciffreo Closest Approach To Earth (0.793 AU)Comet 108P/Ciffreo

Food for Thought Study Investigates How Men and Women Adapt Differently to Spaceflight New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week NASA's SDO Shows Moon Transiting the Sun Credit: NASA/SDO