Space News Update- November 22, 2013 -
In the News
Story 1: NASA Halts Work on its New Nuclear Generator for Deep Space Exploration
Story 2: Trio of Satellites See 'Watershed' Cosmic Blast in Unique Detail
Story 3: Rover engineers troubleshoot possible 'soft short'
Departments
The Night SkyISS Sighting Opportunities
Space CalendarNASA-TV Highlights
Food for ThoughtSpace Image of the Week
NASA Halts Work on its New Nuclear Generator for Deep Space
Exploration
Trio of Satellites See 'Watershed' Cosmic Blast in Unique Detail
Rover engineers troubleshoot possible 'soft short'
The Night Sky
Friday, November 22 The waning gibbous Moon is up in the east by about 10 p.m. tonight (depending on where you live). Look above it for bright Jupiter and, to Jupiter's left, Pollux and Castor. To the Moon's right twinkles Procyon. Much farther to the right, brighter Sirius is rising or soon to rise.
Saturday, November 23 The eclipsing binary star Algol should be at minimum light, magnitude 3.4 instead of its usual 2.3, for a couple hours centered on 9:06 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It takes several more hours to fade and to rebrighten.
Sunday, November 24 During dawn Monday and Tuesday mornings, when you're preparing to use binoculars or a telescope to make one last pre-perihelion try for Comet ISON barely above the horizon, you'll find Mercury and fainter Saturn shining to the naked eye just 3/4° apart (at the times of dawn in North America). They're well above the spot to look for the comet: by 7° on Monday, 9° on Tuesday.In a telescope, Mercury will be a tiny, slightly gibbous disk 5.6 arcseconds in diameter (no bigger than Mars, high in the southeast), while Saturn is dimmer but much larger: 34″ across its rings. They're a nice consolation prize!
Monday, November 25 Last-quarter Moon (exact at 2:28 p.m. EST). The Moon rises around 1 a.m. tonight. By dawn Tuesday morning it's high in the south, with Regulus to its right and Mars to its lower left. Sky & Telescope
ISS Sighting Opportunities
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
ISS For Denver:
Date Visible Max Height Appears Disappears
Fri Nov 22, 5:30 AM 2 min 11° 11 above N 10 above NNE
Sat Nov 23, 6:17 AM 4 min 21° 11 above NNW 14 above ENE
Sun Nov 24, 5:29 AM
3 min 16° 14 above N 10 above ENE
Mon Nov 25, 4:42 AM
< 1 min 12° 12 above NNE 10 above NE
Mon Nov 25, 6:16 AM
4 min 43° 10 above NW 29 above E
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Daylight Time)
November 22, Friday9 - 11 a.m. - Asteroid Initiative Ideas Synthesis Workshop -- Grand Challenge Panel – Next Generation Engagement - HQ/LPI - (All Channels)11 a.m. - Space Station Live - JSC (Media Channel) 11:15 a.m. - 1:15 p.m. - Asteroid Initiative Ideas Synthesis Workshop -- Summary Plenary Session - HQ/LPI - (All Channels) November 25, Monday3:30 p.m. - Coverage of the Launch of the ISS Progress 53 Cargo Craft (Launch scheduled at 3:53 p.m. ET) - JSC viaBaikonur, Kazakhstan (All Channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar
JPL Space Calendar
Nov 22 - [Nov 22] Swarm A, B & C Rokot KM LaunchNov 22 - Comet P/2013 T2 (Schwartz) At Opposition (1.181 AU)Nov 22 - Comet 271P/van Houten-Lemmon Closest Approach To Earth (3.331 AU)Nov 22 - Asteroid 8553 Bradsmith Closest Approach To Earth (1.443 AU)Nov 22 - 15th Anniversary (1998), Galileo, Europa 18 FlybyNov 23 - Comet P/2012 T3 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.914 AU)Nov 23 - Comet 251P/LINEAR At Opposition (4.254 AU)Nov 23 - Comet C/2012 U1 (PANSTARRS) Closest Approach To Earth (4.763 AU)Nov 23 - Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Closest Approach To Earth (1.531 AU)Nov 23 - Asteroid 51826 Kalpanachawla Closest Approach To Earth (1.845 AU)Nov 24 - Comet P/2005 L1 (McNaught) Perihelion (3.159 AU)Nov 24 - Asteroid 21 Lutetia Occults TYC 0276-00869-1 (10.5 Magnitude Star)Nov 24 - Asteroid 12923 Zephyr Closest Approach To Earth (1.096 AU)Nov 24 - Asteroid 2712 Keaton Closest Approach To Earth (1.164 AU)Nov 24 - Asteroid 54439 Topeka Closest Approach To Earth (2.096 AU)Nov 25 - [Nov 18] Progress M-21M Soyuz U Launch (International Space Station 53P)Nov 25 - Comet P/2005 T2 (Christensen) At Opposition (2.508 AU)Nov 25 - Comet 271P/van Houten-Lemmon At Opposition (3.332 AU)Nov 25 - Asteroid 2010 CL19 Near-Earth Flyby (0.097 AU)Nov 25 - Asteroid 3306 Byron Closest Approach To Earth (1.525 AU)
Food for Thought
JFK's legacy: Setting America on course for the moon
Space Image of the Week
NASA Releases Comet ISON Images from STEREO Image Credit: Karl Battams/NASA/STEREO/CIOC
