1. Space News Update - October 11, 2016 - In the News Departments
Story 1:
NASA's Opportunity Rover: On From 'Marathon Valley' to Gully on Endeavour Rim
Story 2:
Spiral Arms Embrace Young Star
Story 3: NASA’S MAVEN Spacecraft Celebrates One Mars Year of Science
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. NASA's Opportunity Rover: On From 'Marathon Valley' to Gully on Endeavour Rim
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. Spiral Arms Embrace Young Star

4. NASA’S MAVEN Spacecraft Celebrates One Mars Year of Science

5. The Night Sky Friday, October 14
Tuesday, October 11
Vega is the brightest star very high in the west at nightfall. Arcturus, equally bright, is getting low in the west-northwest. The brightest star in the vast expanse between them, about a third of the way from Arcturus back up toward Vega, is Alphecca, magnitude 2.2 — the crown jewel of Corona Borealis. Alphecca is a 17-day eclipsing binary, but its brightness dips are too slight for the eye to see reliably.
Wednesday, October 12
As evening grows late, look 20° below the Moon — about two fists at arm's length — for Fomalhaut: the "Autumn Star" and the bright mouth of faint Piscis Austrinus, the Southern Fish (no relation to Pisces).
Thursday, October 13
The gibbous Moon lights the southeastern sky after dark. Look upper left of it, by a couple of fists at arm's length, for the Great Square of Pegasus tilted up onto one corner. Far lower right of the Moon is 1st-magnitude Fomalhaut.
Algol should be at minimum brightness, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.1, for roughly two hours tonight centered on 1:00 a.m. EDT; 10:00 p.m. PDT. At any random time you glance up at Algol, you have a 1-in-30 chance of catching it at least 1 magnitude fainter than normal.
Friday, October 14
This is the time of year when the Big Dipper lies level in the north-northwest in mid-evening. Look two fists at arm's length above it for Kochab, the brightest star in the bowl of the Little Dipper.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Tue Oct 11, 8:14 PM
1 min
14°
10° above NNW
14° above N
Wed Oct 12, 7:22 PM
3 min
13°
12° above NE
Thu Oct 13, 8:05 PM
2 min
22°
10° above NW
22° above N
Fri Oct 14, 7:13 PM
4 min
19°
11° above NNW
15° above NE
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)
Wednesday, October 12
1 p.m. - “What’s On-Board” Briefing (all channels)
3 p.m. - Orbital/ATK OA-5 Antares/Cygnus Mission Prelaunch Briefing (all channels)
4 p.m. and 8 p.m. - Replay of “What’s On-Board” Briefing (all channels)
5 p.m. and 9 p.m. - Replay of Orbital/ATK OA-5 Antares/Cygnus Mission Prelaunch Briefing (all channels)
Thursday, October 13
7 a.m. and 2 p.m. - Replay of “What’s On-Board” Briefing (all channels)
8 a.m. and 3 p.m. - Replay of Orbital/ATK OA-5 Antares/Cygnus Mission Prelaunch Briefing (all channels)
4 p.m., Thursday, October 13 - NASA Television Video File News Feed of the ISS Expedition Crew’s Pre- Launch Activities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (Kimbrough, Ryzhikov, Borisenko; recorded from Oct ) (all channels)
10:30 p.m. - Orbital/ATK OA-5 Cygnus Solar Array Deployment Coverage (Solar array deployment to begin at approximately 10:43 p.m. ET) (starts at 10:35 p.m.) (all channels)
11:30 p.m. - Orbital/ATK OA-5 Post-Launch News Conference (time subject to change) (all channels)
Friday, October 14
7:00 p.m. - Video B-Roll Feed of Orbital/ATK CRS-5 Cygnus Processing Starts at 7:45 p.m.) (all channels)
7:30 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the Orbital/ATK OA-5 Antares/Cygnus Mission to the ISS (Launch scheduled at 8:51 p.m. ET) (starts at 7:45 p.m.) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Oct 11 - Mercury Passes 0.9 Degrees from Jupiter
Oct 11 - Comet C/2014 E1 (Larson) At Opposition (3.870 AU)
Oct 11 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TB19 Near-Earth Flyby (0.002 AU)
Oct 11 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TJ10 Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)
Oct 11 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TK18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.014 AU)
Oct 11 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TD11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.015 AU)
Oct 12 - Comet 237P/LINEAR Perihelion (1.985 AU)
Oct 12 - Comet 317P/WISE Closest Approach To Earth (2.654 AU)
Oct 12 - Comet P/2015 PD229 (ISON-Cameron) At Opposition (4.182 AU)
Oct 12 - Comet 174P/Echeclus At Opposition (5.354 AU)
Oct 12 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TO11 Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)
Oct 12 - Asteroid 3590 Holst Closest Approach To Earth (1.301 AU)
Oct 12 - Asteroid 4628 Laplace Closest Approach To Earth (1.922 AU)
Oct 12 - Kuiper Belt Object (1996 TO66) At Opposition ( AU)
Oct 12 - Astronomical Society of France's 125th Birthday (1891)
Oct International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS), Las Cruces, New Mexico
Oct 13 - Moon Occults Neptune
Oct 13 - Comet 82P/Gehrels At Opposition (3.056 AU)
Oct 13 - Asteroid 268 Adorea Occults HIP (1.4 Magnitude Star)
Oct 13 - Asteroid 87 Sylvia (2 Moons) Occults TYC (12.5 Magnitude Star)
Oct 13 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TP18 Near-Earth Flyby (0.037 AU)
Oct 13 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 TX17 Near-Earth Flyby (0.041 AU)
Oct 13 - Aten Asteroid 2007 TR68 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)
Oct 13 - Asteroid 6758 Jesseowens Closest Approach To Earth (1.940 AU)
Oct 14 - CRS-5 (OA-5) Antares-230 Launch (International Space Station)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Methane Muted: How Did Early Earth Stay Warm?
Food for Thought
Methane Muted: How Did Early Earth Stay Warm?

10. Nest of the Eagle Nebula Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Hendren
Space Image of the Week
Nest of the Eagle Nebula
Image Credit & Copyright: Chris Hendren