1. 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

2. 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)

3. Closest temperate world orbiting quiet star discovered

4. NASA Detects Solar Flare Pulses at Sun and Earth

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. Space Calendar Aug PSLV Launch JPL Space Calendar
Nov th 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 (2006 UK) Near-Earth Flyby (0.022 AU)
Nov 17 - Aten Asteroid 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 ( AU)
Nov 17 - Plutino (2003 UZ413) At Opposition ( 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 ( AU)
Nov 18 - Kuiper Belt Object 2010 VK201 At Opposition ( 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 Jerusalem Closest Approach To Earth (1.320 AU)
Nov 19 - Asteroid Andypuckett Closest Approach To Earth (1.676 AU)
Nov 19 - Plutino (2002 VR128) At Opposition ( AU)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Space Calendar Aug PSLV Launch JPL Space Calendar
Nov 19 - Kuiper Belt Object Sedna At Opposition ( AU)
Nov th 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 Topeka Closest Approach To Earth (2.089 AU)
Nov 20 - Asteroid 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 (2000 EW70) Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
Nov 21 - Apollo Asteroid (2003 EB50) Near-Earth Flyby (0.094 AU)
Nov 21 - Asteroid Verish Closest Approach To Earth (1.152 AU)
Nov 21 - Asteroid Buddy Closest Approach To Earth (1.370 AU)
Nov 21 - Asteroid 2579 Spartacus Closest Approach To Earth (1.384 AU)
Nov 21 - Asteroid 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

10. 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

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