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Space News Update
- November 22, 2016 In the News
Story 1:
‘Great Valley’ Found on Mercury
Story 2:
ESA’s New Mars Orbiter Prepares for First Science
Story 3:
Bright Radio Bursts Probe Universe's Hidden Matter
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
Space Calendar
NASA-TV Highlights
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
‘Great Valley’ Found on Mercury
ESA’s New Mars Orbiter Prepares for First
Science
Bright Radio Bursts Probe Universe's Hidden
Matter
The Night Sky
Tuesday, November 22

We're two thirds of the way through fall, so Capella is shining
in the northeast as soon as the stars come out. As night grows
darker, look to its right by about three fists at arm's length for
the frosty little Pleiades cluster. It's the size of your fingertip at
arm's length.
Wednesday, November 23

Two faint fuzzies naked-eye: The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
and the Perseus Double Cluster are two of the most famous
deep-sky objects. They're both cataloged as 4th magnitude,
and in a good sky you can see each with the unaided eye.
They're located only 22° apart, very high toward the east early
these evenings — to the right of Cassiopeia and closer below
Cassiopeia, respectively.

To find exactly where to look, you'll need a good sky chart.
The all-sky constellation chart in the center of the November
Sky & Telescope will do just fine.
Thursday, November 24

Does the Sun already seem to be setting about as early as it
ever will? You're right! We're still about a month away from
the winter solstice — but the Sun sets its earliest around
December 7th if you're near latitude 40° north, and right now
it already sets within only 3 minutes of that time.

A surprising result of this: The Sun actually sets a trace earlier
on Thanksgiving than on Christmas — even though Christmas
is around solstice time! This offset is made up for by the
opposite happening at sunrise: the Sun doesn't come up its
latest for the year until January 4th. Blame the tilt of Earth's
axis and the eccentricity of Earth's orbit.
Sky & Telescope
ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
No Sightings of ISS from Denver Until Monday, November 28th, 2016
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
MAVEN Launch November 18, 2013
NASA
NASA-TV Highlights
(all times Eastern Time Zone)
Wednesday, November 23

9 a.m. - ISS Expedition 50 In-Flight Interview for French Journalists with Flight Engineer
Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (NTV-1 with English interpretation; native
language on NTV-3) (starts at 9:15 a.m.) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website
Space Calendar

Nov 22 - EKS N2/ Tundra 12L Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat-M Launch

Nov 22 - Tianlian 1 CZ-3C Launch

Nov 22 - Comet 338P/McNaught Perihelion (2.302 AU)

Nov 22 - Comet 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu At Opposition (3.735 AU)

Nov 22 - Comet 91P/Russell At Opposition (4.192 AU)

Nov 22 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 VC1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.045 AU)

Nov 22 - Amor Asteroid 2016 VS1 Near-Earth Flyby (0.050 AU)

Nov 22 - Aten Asteroid 2012 UK171 Near-Earth Flyby (0.062 AU)

Nov 22 - Asteroid 8120 Kobe Closest Approach To Earth (1.280 AU)

Nov 22 - Asteroid 2807 Karl Marx Closest Approach To Earth (1.532 AU)

Nov 23 - Amor Asteroid 2005 TF Near-Earth Flyby (0.095 AU)

Nov 23 - Asteroid 3494 Purple Mountain Closest Approach To Earth (1.479 AU)

Nov 23 - Asteroid 10093 Diesel Closest Approach To Earth (1.599 AU)

Nov 23 - Alfonso X's 795th Birthday (1221 AD)

Nov 24 - Mercury Passes 3.5 Degrees From Saturn

Nov 24 - Comet 323P/SOHO Perihelion (0.040 AU)

Nov 24 - Comet 42P/Neujmin At Opposition (3.792 AU)

Nov 24 - Asteroid 1801 Titicaca Occults HIP 33595 (6.2 Magnitude Star)

Nov 24 - Asteroid 160512 Franck-Hertz Closest Approach To Earth (1.338 AU)

Nov 24 - Asteroid 7986 Romania Closest Approach To Earth (1.353 AU)

Nov 24 - 25th Anniversary (1991), STS-44 Launch (Space Shuttle Atlantis, DSP)

Nov 25 - Apollo Asteroid 2016 WG Near-Earth Flyby (0.011 AU)

Nov 25 - Comet C/2015 V1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (4.499 AU)

Nov 25 - Aten Asteroid 2003 WU21 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU)

Nov 25 - Asteroid 5535 Annefrank Closest Approach To Earth (1.170 AU)

Nov 25 - Lewis Rutherfurd's 100th Birthday (1816)

Nov 26 - Cassini, Orbital Trim Maneuver #466 (OTM-466)
JPL Space Calendar
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
Food for Thought
Distant Star Kepler 11145123 is Roundest
Object Ever Observed in Nature
Space Image of the Week
The Heart and Soul Nebulas
Image Credit & Copyright: David Lindemann