Transcript Fomalhaut b: An Exoplanet Redeemed

Space News Update
- October 26, 2012 In the News
Story 1:
Fomalhaut b: An Exoplanet Redeemed
Story 2:
Giant “Invisible” Vortex Still Remains on Saturn Following Huge Storm
Story 3:
Rocket explosion raises worries over space debris
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week
>
Fomalhaut b: An Exoplanet Redeemed
Giant “Invisible” Vortex Still Remains on
Saturn Following Huge Storm
Rocket explosion raises worries over
space debris
The Night Sky
Friday, October 26
· The Ghost of Summer Suns. Halloween is
approaching, and this means that Arcturus, the star
sparkling low in the west-northwest in twilight, is
taking on its role as "the Ghost of Summer Suns."
What does this mean? For several days centered on
October 29th every year, Arcturus occupies a
special place above your local landscape. It closely
marks the spot in your sky where the Sun stood at
the same time, by the clock, during warm June and
July — in broad daylight, of course. So, in the last
days of October each year, you can think of Arcturus
as the chilly Halloween ghost of the departed
summer Sun.
· The waxing gibbous Moon shines in the east early
this evening. Look to its upper left for the Great
Square of Pegasus, tipped onto one corner.
Saturday, October 27
· The bright Moon shines below the Great Square of
Pegasus's bottom corner early this evening. From
the Square's left corner extends a big, slightly
downward line of three stars (including the corner).
These form the backbone and leg of Andromeda.
The Night Sky
Sunday, October 28
· Plucked from obscurity to make astronomical
history, the star 51 Pegasi will be known for all ages
as the first Sun-like star discovered to host a planet
beyond our solar system (in 1995). At 5th magnitude
it's an easy binocular target next to the Great Square
of Pegasus, even in moonlight. Can you spot it, and
show it to others? Use the chart with Gary Seronik's
Binocular Highlight column in the November Sky &
Telescope, page 45.
Monday, October 29
· Full Moon (exact at 3:49 p.m. Eastern Daylight
Time). Look a fist-width above the Moon for the
brightest stars of Aries, lined up nearly horizontally.
· Algol should be at minimum light for a couple hours
centered on 10:03 p.m. EDT.
ISS Sighting Opportunities
For Denver:
SATELLITE
LOCAL
DURATION
DATE/TIME
(MIN)
MAX
ELEV
(DEG)
APPROACH
DEPARTURE
(DEG-DIR)
(DEG-DIR)
ISS
Fri Oct 26/07:46 PM
2
37
10 above NW
37 above NNW
ISS
Sat Oct 27/06:56 PM
5
30
10 above NW
19 above ENE
ISS
Sun Oct 28/07:44 PM
3
60
12 above WNW
60 above SSW
ISS
Mon Oct 29/06:54 PM
6
72
10 above NW
14 above ESE
Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information
NASA-TV Highlights
October 26, Friday
1:30 p.m. - Video B-Roll of ISS Expedition 33 Spacewalk Tasks - JSC (Public and Media
Channels)
2 p.m. - ISS Expedition 33 Program and Spacewalk Briefing - JSC (Public and Media
Channels)
October 28, Sunday
7 a.m. - SpaceX/Dragon CRS-1 Unberthing and Release Coverage (Unberthing begins at
7:55 a.m. ET, release scheduled at 9:26 a.m. ET) - JSC (All Channels)
Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website.
Space Calendar
Oct 26 - DubaiSat 2/ STSat 3/ Brite-PL 1/ WNISAT-1 Dnepr 1 Launch
Oct 26 - STSat 2C Naro 1 Launch
Oct 26 - Mercury At Its Greatest Eastern Elongation (24 Degrees)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 162004 (1991 VE) Near-Earth Flyby (0.087 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 16260 Sputnik Closest Approach To Earth (1.000 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 3200 Phaethon Closest Approach To Earth (1.325 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 3341 Hartmann Closest Approach To Earth (1.365 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 46977 Krakow Closest Approach To Earth (1.366 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 15371 Steward Closest Approach To Earth (2.040 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 310 Margarita Closest Approach To Earth (2.067 AU)
Oct 26 - Asteroid 3933 Portugal Closest Approach To Earth (2.325 AU)
Oct 27 - Asteroid 2099 Opik Closest Approach To Earth (0.507 AU)
Oct 27 - Asteroid 5035 Swift Closest Approach To Earth (1.463 AU)
Oct 27 - Asteroid 9341 Gracekelly Closest Approach To Earth (1.467 AU)
Oct 27 - Asteroid 5608 Olmos Closest Approach To Earth (1.670 AU)
Oct 28 - [Oct 21] Dragon CRS-1 Returns To Earth
Oct 28 - European Summer Time Ends - Set Clock Back 1 Hour (European Union)
Oct 28 - Asteroid 76272 De Jong Closest Approach To Earth (1.194 AU)
Oct 28 - Asteroid 51829 Williemccool Closest Approach To Earth (1.421 AU)
Oct 28 - Asteroid 26715 South Dakota Closest Approach To Earth (1.450 AU)
Oct 28 - Asteroid 11881 Mirstation Closest Approach To Earth (1.457 AU)
Oct 28 - Asteroid 3975 Verdi Closest Approach To Earth (1.819 AU)
Oct 29 - [Oct 20] Asteroid 2012 UW9 Near-Earth Flyby (0.024 AU)
Oct 29 - Asteroid 2000 EA14 Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU)
Oct 29 - Asteroid 1154 Astronomia Closest Approach To Earth (2.508 AU)
JPL Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Japan's JAXA wants to send up space plane or
capsule by 2022
Space Image of the Week
Image Credit: NASA