1. Space News Update - December 4, 2018 - In the News Departments
Story 1:
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Bennu
Story 2:
China Set to Launch First-Ever Spacecraft to the Far Side of the Moon
Story 3: Stunning Exoplanet Time-lapse
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Arrives at Asteroid Bennu
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. China Set to Launch First-Ever Spacecraft to the Far Side of the Moon

4. Stunning Exoplanet Time-lapse

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, December 4
• At this time of year the Big Dipper lies down lowest soon after dark, due north. It's entirely below the north horizon if you're as far south as Miami. But by midnight, the Dipper is standing straight up on its handle in fine view in the northeast.
• Meanwhile, high above, the bowl of the Little Dipper is descending in the evening, lower left of Polaris. By 10 or 11 p.m. it hangs straight down from Polaris.
Wednesday, December 5
• The W of Cassiopeia now stands on end after dark, very high in the northeast. The bottom star of the W is Epsilon (ε) Cassiopeiae. That's your starting point for hunting down the little-known star cluster Collinder 463, sparse and loose but visible in binoculars. It's 8° to Epsilon's north, surrounded by a nice quadrilateral of 4th- and 5th-magnitude stars about 3° wide.
• Algol should be at minimum brightness for a couple hours centered on 6:42 p.m.
Thursday, December 6
• Neptune very close to Mars. This evening, as seen from North America, Neptune appears only 1/3° from Mars — which is 1400 times brighter! Look for Neptune with your scope to Mars's east-northeast, then use high power to check that it's non-stellar.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Tue Dec 4, 5:39 PM
< 1 min
10°
10° above N
Wed Dec 5, 6:23 PM
10° above NNW
Thu Dec 6, 5:31 PM
2 min
11°
10° above NNE
Fri Dec 7, 6:14 PM
1 min
16°
11° above NNW
16° above N
Sat Dec 8, 5:23 PM
3 min
15°
12° 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)
Tuesday, December 4
1 p.m., 5 p.m., 9 p.m. - Replay of SpaceX CRS-16 What’s On Board (All Channels)
2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m. - Replay of the SpaceX CRS-16 Pre-launch News Conference (All Channels)
December 5, Wednesday
12:45 p.m. - SpaceX CRS-16 Launch Coverage; Instantaneous launch at 1:16 p.m. (All Channels)
3:15 p.m. - SpaceX CRS-16 Post-Launch News Conference (All Channels)
8 p.m. , 10 p.m. - Replay of the SpaceX CRS-16 Launch Coverage (All Channels)
9 p.m., 11 p.m. - Replay of the SpaceX CRS-16 Post-Launch News Conference - Kennedy Space Center (All Channels)
Thursday, December 6
2 p.m. –  A Discussion of the History of Hubble Servicing Missions and the Future of Satellite Servicing (All Channels)
December 7, Friday
7-9 a.m. – Live Interviews with International Space Station Expedition astronaut Nick Hague of NASA (All Channels)
10 a.m. – SpaceCast Weekly (All Channels)
11:15 a.m.  – Astronauts Kathryn Thornton and Jeffrey Hoffman Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope’s first servicing mission (Media Channel)
11:45 a.m. – NASA astronaut Serena Aunon-Chancellor hosts an Educational Event with the Mandelstam School in South Miami, Florida, from aboard the Space Station (Public Channel)
1:30 p.m. – A Panel Discussion on the Hubble Space Telescope’s Deployment and Servicing missions over 25 years (All Channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Dec 04 - GSAT 11/ GEO-KOMPSAT-2A Ariane 5 Launch
Dec 04 - Apollo Asteroid 2018 WD2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.009 AU)
Dec 04 - Amor Asteroid 2018 VZ3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.061 AU)
Dec 04 - Asteroid Higgs Closest Approach To Earth (1.971 AU)
Dec 04 - CRS-16/ IDA 3 Falcon 9 Launch (International Space Station)
Dec 05 - Apollo Asteroid 2018 VK5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.067 AU)
Dec 05 - Aten Asteroid 2017 RH16 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)
Dec 05 - Aten Asteroid 2010 TK7 (Earth Trojan) Closest Approach To Earth (0.208 AU)
Dec th Anniversary (2013), Chang'e 3 Lunar Orbit Insertion (China)
JPL Space Calendar

9. Food for Thought
Prehistoric Cave Paintings Show That Ancient People Had Pretty Advanced Knowledge of Astronomy

10. Space Image of the Week The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, The Hubble Heritage Team, (STScI/AURA)