Space News Update - December 11, In the News Story 1: NASA Telescopes Detect Jupiter-Like Storm on Small Star Story 2: Bright Spots on Ceres: Mystery Solved? Story 3: Story 3: Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan, bringing three station crewmen back to Earth Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar NASA-TV Highlights Food for Thought Space Image of the Week

NASA Telescopes Detect Jupiter-Like Storm on Small Star

Bright Spots on Ceres: Mystery Solved? 1.Ratchet Wrench ‘ ed’ to Space Station

Soyuz lands in Kazakhstan, bringing three station crewmen back to Earth

The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, December 11 Sirius is, famously, the brightest star in the night sky. Have you ever tried to catch Sirius actually rising? If you can find a good view down to the east-southeast horizon, watch for Sirius emerging into view. It's about two fists at arm's length below Orion's Belt. It rises around 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. now (depending on where you live). When a star is very low, it tends to twinkle quite slowly and often in vivid colors. Sirius is bright enough to show these effects especially well. Keep an eye out for early Geminid meteors! The shower is due to peak late Sunday and Monday nights.due to peak late Sunday and Monday nights New Moon (exact at 5:29 a.m. EST). Saturday, December 12 Vega still glitters brightly in the northwest early these evenings. Deneb is the brightest star above it, in second place. Deneb is also the head of the big Northern Cross, which now extends to Deneb's lower right. By 9 or 10 p.m. the Northern Cross swings down and around to plant itself upright on the northwest horizon (as seen from mid-northern latitudes). Sunday, December 13 The Geminid Meteor shower should reach its peak late tonight and tomorrow night, December 13–14 and 14–15. The sky will be moonless. See the December Sky & Telescope, page 44, or our online article Geminids in 2015: Moonless and Marvelous.Sky & TelescopeGeminids in 2015: Moonless and Marvelous Monday, December 14 The Geminids continue. See above. Sirius, the Dog Star, and Procyon, the Little Dog Star 25° to its left, shine low in the east by 9 p.m. If you live around latitude 30° N (Tijuana, New Orleans, Jacksonville), the two canine stars will be at the same height above your horizon. If you're north of that latitude, Procyon will be higher. If you're south of there, Sirius will be the higher one. Tuesday, December 15 The waxing crescent Moon hangs in the southwest at nightfall. Look above it for the two brightest stars of Aquarius: Beta (β) and, higher, Alpha (α) Aquarii. Alpha is the bottom-right point of the Water Jar asterism.

ISS Sighting Opportunities Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting InformationSatellite Sighting Information No sightings for Denver

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 8 p.m., Friday, December 11 - Replay of Video File of the ISS Expedition 45/Soyuz TMA-17M Landing and Post-Landing Activities (all channels) 9 p.m., Friday, December 11 - Video File of the ISS Expedition 45/Soyuz TMA-17M Landing and Post- Landing Activities; Scheduled to Include Post-Landing Interviews with ISS Expedition 45 Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren of NASA and Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (all channels) 10 p.m., Friday, December 11 - Replay of Video File of the ISS Expedition 45/Soyuz TMA-17M Landing and Post-Landing Activities (all channels) 11 a.m., Sunday, December 13 - Video File of the Soyuz TMA-19M Rocket Mating, Rollout to the Launch Pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Launch Pad Interviews (all channels) 12 p.m., Monday, December 14 - Video File of the Russian State Commission Meeting and Final ISS Expedition Pre-Launch Crew News Conference in Baikonur, Kazakhstan (all channels) 4:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 15 - B-Roll Feed of ISS Expedition Crew Launch Day Pre-Launch Activities (Starts at 4:45 a.m.) (all channels) (all times Eastern Time Zone)

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Dec 11 -[Dec 11] Elektro-L N2 Zenit-3SLBF/Fregat-SB Launch, SuccessfulElektro-L N2Zenit-3SLBF/Fregat-SB Launch Dec 11 - Comet 194P/LINEAR At Opposition (0.936 AU)Comet 194P/LINEARAt Opposition Dec 11 - Comet 303P/NEAT At Opposition (2.898 AU)Comet 303P/NEATAt Opposition Dec 11 - Comet P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) Closest Approach To Earth (6.045 AU)Comet P/2011 S1 (Gibbs)Closest Approach To Earth Dec 11 - Aten Asteroid (1998 WT24) Near-Earth Flyby (0.028 AU)Aten Asteroid (1998 WT24)Near-Earth Flyby Dec 11 - Asteroid Sedona Closest Approach To Earth (2.099 AU)Asteroid Sedona Dec 11 - Kuiper Belt Object 2004 XR190 At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object 2004 XR190At Opposition Dec 11 - Royal Astronomical Society Ordinary Meeting, London, United KingdomRoyal Astronomical Society Ordinary Meeting Dec 12 - Comet 327P/Van Ness Perihelion (1.560 AU)Comet 327P/Van NessPerihelion Dec 12 - Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEAT Perihelion (1.930 AU)Comet 204P/LINEAR-NEATPerihelion Dec 12 - Comet 286P/Christensen At Opposition (3.637 AU)Comet 286P/ChristensenAt Opposition Dec 12 -[Dec 11] Apollo Asteroid 2015 XA169 Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 XA169 Dec 12 - Asteroid 7784 Watterson Closest Approach To Earth (1.567 AU)Asteroid 7784 Watterson Dec 12 - Asteroid 9860 Archaeopteryx Closest Approach To Earth (2.355 AU)Asteroid 9860 Archaeopteryx Dec th Anniversary (1970), Explorer 42 Launch (1st X-Ray Satellite)Explorer 42 Dec 13 -[Dec 10] Garpun N2 Proton M/Briz M P1 LaunchGarpun Dec 13 - Geminids Meteor Shower PeakGeminids Meteor Shower Dec 13 - Comet 180P/NEAT Perihelion (2.488 AU)Comet 180P/NEATPerihelion Dec 13 - Comet 197P/LINEAR At Opposition (3.643 AU)Comet 197P/LINEARAt Opposition Dec 13 - Comet P/2011 S1 (Gibbs) At Opposition (6.045 AU)Comet P/2011 S1 (Gibbs)At Opposition Dec 13 -[Dec 11] Apollo Asteroid 2015 XR169 Near-Earth Flyby (0.003 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 XR169 Dec 13 - Apollo Asteroid 2015 WK Near-Earth Flyby (0.055 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 WKNear-Earth Flyby Dec 13 - Asteroid 1896 Beer Closest Approach To Earth (1.242 AU)Asteroid 1896 Beer Dec 13 - Asteroid 2830 Greenwich Closest Approach To Earth (1.514 AU)Asteroid 2830 Greenwich Dec 13 - Asteroid Spector Closest Approach To Earth (1.705 AU)Asteroid Spector Dec 13 - Asteroid Shemp Closest Approach To Earth (1.805 AU)Asteroid Shemp Dec 13 - Centaur Object (2004 PA44) At Opposition ( AU)Centaur Object (2004 PA44)At Opposition Dec 13 - Kuiper Belt Object Chaos At Opposition ( AU)Kuiper Belt Object ChaosAt Opposition Dec 14 - Comet 92P/Sanguin At Opposition (2.328 AU)Comet 92P/SanguinAt Opposition Dec 14 - Comet 183P/Korlevic-Juric Closest Approach To Earth (3.459 AU)Comet 183P/Korlevic-JuricClosest Approach To Earth Dec 14 - Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE) At Opposition (3.668 AU)Comet P/2014 L2 (NEOWISE)At Opposition

Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar Dec 14 -[Dec 09] Apollo Asteroid 2015 XX128 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 XX128 Dec 14 -[Dec 11] Aten Asteroid 2015 XX169 Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)Aten Asteroid 2015 XX169 Dec 14 - Asteroid Showalter Closest Approach To Earth (1.635 AU)Asteroid Showalter Dec 14 - Asteroid 5281 Lindstrom Closest Approach To Earth (1.854 AU)Asteroid 5281 Lindstrom Dec 14 - Asteroid Maxwell Closest Approach To Earth (2.153 AU)Asteroid Maxwell Dec 14 - Asteroid Baton Rouge Closest Approach To Earth (2.325 AU)Asteroid Baton Rouge Dec th Anniversary (1990), Creation of the Canadian Space AgencyCanadian Space Agency Dec th Anniversary (1900), Max Planck Formulates Quantum Physics HypothesisMax PlanckFormulates Quantum Physics Hypothesis Dec 15 -[Dec 08] Soyuz TMA-19M Soyuz-FG Launch (International Space Station 46S)Soyuz TMA-19MSoyuz-FG Launch Dec 15 -[Dec 08] 50th Anniversary (1965), Gemini 6 Launch (Walter Schirra & Thomas Stafford)Gemini 6 Dec 15 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #433 (OTM-433)Cassini Dec 15 -[Dec 07] Apollo Asteroid 2015 XN55 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2015 XN55Near-Earth Flyby Dec 15 - Atira Asteroid 2013 JX28 Closest Approach To Earth (0.680 AU)Atira Asteroid 2013 JX28Closest Approach To Earth Dec 15 - Asteroid 3115 Baily Closest Approach To Earth (1.241 AU)Asteroid 3115 Baily Dec 15 - Asteroid Angstrom Closest Approach To Earth (1.549 AU)Asteroid Angstrom Dec 15 - Apollo Asteroid 2212 Hephaistos Closest Approach To Earth (2.433 AU)Apollo Asteroid 2212 HephaistosClosest Approach To Earth Dec th Anniversary (1970), Venera 7, Venus Landing (USSR)Venera 7 Dec th Anniversary (1965), 1st Manned Spacecraft Rendezvous (Gemini 6 & 7)1st Manned Spacecraft Rendezvous (Gemini 6 & 7)

Food for Thought Kepler’s Giant Exoplanets — Real or Not? New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale

Space Image of the Week Pluto’s Close-up, Now in Color Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI