In last week's session of my after-school club, the Endeavour Space Academy, I ran the students through a very quick tour of the solar system using both NASA's Eyes on the Solar System app, and the NASA Solar System Exploration website. Only a couple of the students knew anything at all about the solar system, so I covered the most important points in the 25 minutes available... I wish I had several more hours to cover everything! I asked the students if any of them knew about the Earth's mid-ocean rifts - one said they were covering that in science class. I asked the student if she heard about the ecosystems that exist around the mid-ocean rifts, and extremophiles? I talked about the students about the possibility that similar sub-ocean rift systems might exist on several of the icy moons in the outer solar system, and what that might mean for the search for life.

Saturn appears high above the southwestern horizon after sunset this week, Venus and Jupiter appear much lower towards the horizon.

Venus is very low on the horizon, Jupiter a bit higher and Saturn high above the southwestern horizon after sunset this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

Mercury is low above the southeastern horizon, and Mars a bit higher and near-ish the star Spica before sunrise this week.

Mercury and Mars are low on the southeastern horizon before dawn this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The Moon appears very near the star Regulus in a conjunction occurring in the eastern sky early in the morning of Nov. 20^th.

Conjunction of the Moon and the star Regulus in the eastern sky early in the morning of Nov. 20, 2019. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The waning crescent Moon shares the eastern horizon with the star Arcturus before sunrise this weekend.

A thin waning crescent moon appears low on the eastern horizon before sunrise this weekend. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The constellation Gemini appears above the eastern horizon around 10:00 PM this week.

The constellation Gemini above the eastern horizon at 10:00 PM this week. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

IC 444

IC 444 is a small, 32 square arcminute reflection nebula in the constellation Gemini.

IC 444. Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Location of IC 444. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley

The Moon is at third quarter on Nov. 19th, rising around midnight, and visible to the south after sunrise.

After Nov. 19th, the Moon will be a waning crescent, visible low to the east before sunrise - keep an eye out for earthshine!

The Moon from Nov. 19-25, 2019. Visualizations by Ernie Wright / NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.

Moon News

Join Andrea Jones from @NASAGoddard and NASA’s LRO mission and Dr. @rachelbconnolly, WGBH Director of STEM Education, for a webinar on lunar science & digital media to connect students w/the Moon. Free #edWebinar for K–12 educators on 11/19 at 7pm EST: https://t.co/VaAKuWLms2 pic.twitter.com/AopaxVACXo

— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) November 18, 2019

The Sun has been spotless for 6 days; the northern coronal hole remains large, and a rather large coronal hole appears along the equator. There is a prominent region of coronal loop activity south of the equator.

Sun in 193 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Nov. 19, 2019. Image courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.

"WOW! Just WOW!" Those were the first words to come to mind when seeing all the prominences on the Sun today!

Sun in 304 angstroms (extreme ultraviolet) Nov. 19, 2019. Image courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.

The solar wind speed is 345.2 km/sec (↓), with a density of 4.6 protons/cm³ (↑) at 1300 UT.

Animated LASCO C2 Coronograph showing the solar corona above the Sun's limb (the white circle). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sun News

Ny-Ålesund falls directly below Earth’s magnetic cusp once a day, so particles have a direct path between our planet and space, funneled by Earth’s magnetic field — making this spot uniquely suited for studying how our planet’s oxygen is slowly leaking into space. pic.twitter.com/WBiBq3jw13

— NASA Sun & Space (@NASASun) November 15, 2019

Upcoming Earth-asteroid encounters:

Notes: LD means "Lunar Distance." 1 LD = 384,401 km, the distance between Earth and the Moon. Red highlighted entries are asteroids that either pass very close, or very large with high relative velocities to the Earth. Table from SpaceWeather.com

Asteroid News

A fair number of the science fiction stories I've listened to recently have a basis in the exploitation of asteroid mineral and outer-system ice resources. Imagine the consequences, both societal and economic, of a single entity (corporation, human, free AI or whatever) having access to that much wealth and resources. The old tabletop role-playing game Traveller called them Megacorporations, as does the more recent "Grand Strategy" game Stellaris.

This asteroid could be the most valuable thing in our entire Solar System. It's valued at $700 quintillion -- that's many billion times more valuable than all of the money in the world today pic.twitter.com/Fm25G6UA7x

— CNET (@CNET) November 17, 2019

On Nov. 18, 2019, the NASA All Sky Fireball Network reported 26 fireballs.
(12 sporadics, 11 Leonids, 3 northern Taurids)

In this diagram of the inner solar system, all of the fireball orbits intersect at a single point--Earth. The orbits are color-coded by velocity, from slow (red) to fast (blue). From: Spaceweather.com

Fireball News

A rock from space enters Earth's atmosphere at 50,000 mph lightning up the skies over Tasmania.

Credit: Aussie mom from victoria pic.twitter.com/V0QA7A8rru

— Milky Way Astronomers✨ (@MAstronomers) November 17, 2019

Now that's a #fireball recorded from Loughborough and Norman Lockyer Observatory stations at 23:35 pic.twitter.com/fFGmB902R3

— UK Meteor Network (@UKMeteorNetwork) November 18, 2019

Astronomers have managed to find images of interstellar comet #2IBorisov up to almost a year before it was discovered, stretching back to December 2018 when it was beyond the orbit of Jupiter. Pretty neat!https://t.co/akMJNGSrqS pic.twitter.com/BPk14DxLCU

— Jonathan O’Callaghan (@Astro_Jonny) November 15, 2019

Position of the planets and a couple spacecraft in the inner solar system:

Position of the planets and some spacecraft in the inner solar system, Nov. 19, 2019. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Position of the planets and a couple bodies in the middle solar system - the orbit of comet 103P/Hartley 2 is highlighted:

Position of the planets in the middle solar system, Nov. 19, 2019- the orbit of comet Hartley 2 is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

Comet 103P/Hartley 2

Comet 103P/Hartley (Hartley 2) is a small, oval (or peanut) shaped comet -- its nucleus measures approximately one mile (1.6 kilometers) in diameter. It takes Hartley 2 about 6.47 years to orbit the Sun once. Hartley 2 last reached perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in 2017.

Hartley 2 orbits the Sun within the asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Hartley 2 is a Jupiter-family comet. A Jupiter-family comet is defined as having an orbital period of less than 20 years and one that has been modified by close passages with the gas giant.

One spacecraft has encountered this comet: Deep Impact (EPOXI) in 2010. During its flyby, the spacecraft came within 431 miles (694 kilometers) of the comet. Hartley 2 was the fifth comet to be visited by spacecraft and was the second encounter made by this particular spacecraft. Deep Impact had previously visited comet 9P/Tempel 1 in 2005. - NASA

Comet Hartley 2 imaged by NASA’s EPOXI spacecraft between Nov. 3-4, 2010. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD

Artistic rendition of Comet Hartley 2. Credit: NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley

Position of the planets and a several bodies in the outer solar system:

Position of the planets in the outer solar system, Nov. 19, 2019- the orbit of TNO 2014 MU69 is highlighted. Credit: NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley.

NASA's Interactive Real-Time Web-based Orrery:

Solar System News

This is so very cool: Astronomers have confirmed that Europa blasts out geysers of water, sourced from the ocean deep beneath its surface!https://t.co/f98tneRLLU

— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) November 19, 2019

A Kuiper Belt object spotted by @NASAHubble & visited by @NASANewHorizons was officially named this week. With consent from Powhatan Tribal elders and representatives, it is now known as "Arrokoth," meaning “sky” in the Powhatan/Algonquian language. Watch: https://t.co/MfxVuac4kf pic.twitter.com/jqGSC2KLHB

— NASA (@NASA) November 17, 2019

🌐 A dynamic world of dunes, plains, craters & terrains is revealed in this first-ever geologic map of Saturn's moon, Titan. Lakes and seas are marked blue, but they aren't water! What rains down is methane and ethane in Titan's frigid climate. Zoom in: https://t.co/ufdpxYNEqP pic.twitter.com/lNoA7lkhjo

— NASA (@NASA) November 19, 2019

OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Here’s a 3D printed Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of site Sandpiper. The crater’s steep slopes stand out, along with the ruggedness of Bennu’s southern hemisphere where Sandpiper is located. pic.twitter.com/r45uZbaReK

— NASA's OSIRIS-REx (@OSIRISREx) November 18, 2019

JAXA Hayabusa 2 Asteroid Sample Return Mission

Our “Goodbye Ryugu” Campaign #SAYONARA_Ryugu:

We have been introducing messages from the Hayabusa2 Project staff, and the “Goodbye Ryugu” campaign will end today (11/19).

Everyone, please send us a message!https://t.co/13jELgeTrx

— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) November 19, 2019

International Space Station

The Exp 61 crew researched advanced tech and space biology today while readying to deploy small satellites by midweek. Read more... https://t.co/jXQtWDycWP pic.twitter.com/z6cvkSVPMQ

— Intl. Space Station (@Space_Station) November 19, 2019

Attention media:
On 11/20 we will hold a telecon to discuss research launching to @Space_Station including:

🔥A study analyzing flame behavior in confined spaces
⚛️A new tool for the Cold Atom Lab
🌱A study analyzing barely seeds in microgravity

Sign up: https://t.co/qZ7lArgte7 pic.twitter.com/XOjEF7Od5D

— ISS Research (@ISS_Research) November 18, 2019

NASA Climate

The monthly GISTEMP surface temperature analysis update has been posted. The global mean temperature anomaly for October 2019 was 1.04°C above the 1951-1980 October average. https://t.co/EDTZWL4pYk pic.twitter.com/8d83bhLBMa

— NASA GISS (@NASAGISS) November 15, 2019

Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive
* Confirmed Planets Discovered by TESS refers to the number planets that have been published in the refereed astronomical literature.
* TESS Project Candidates refers to the total number of transit-like events that appear to be astrophysical in origin, including false positives as identified by the TESS Project.
* TESS Project Candidates Yet To Be Confirmed refers to the number of TESS Project Candidates that have not yet been dispositioned as a Confirmed Planet or False Positive.

Exoplanet Artwork by Bob Trembley

I looked at the "list of nearest terrestrial exoplanet candidates," and saw Ross 128 b; I've never been there in SpaceEngine, so I went there:

Artist conception of exoplanet Ross 128 b. Credit: SpaceEngine / Bob Trembley.

Ross 128 b is a confirmed Earth-sized exoplanet, likely rocky, orbiting within the inner habitable zone of the red dwarf Ross 128, at a distance of about 11 light-years from Earth. The exoplanet was found using a decade's worth of radial velocity data using the European Southern Observatory's HARPS spectrograph (High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. Ross 128 b is the nearest exoplanet around a quiet red dwarf, and is considered one of the best candidates for habitability. The planet is only 35% more massive than Earth, receives only 38% more sunlight, and is expected to be a temperature suitable for liquid water to exist on the surface, if it has an atmosphere.

The planet does not transit its host star, which will make atmospheric characterization very difficult until larger telescopes like the European Extremely Large Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope come online. - Wikipedia

"Visiting a Dark Sky Park can get into your soul by allowing you to experience darkness and a solitude and quiet that few places can offer."
- Keith Muir of Forestry

The UK's Galloway Forest National Park is celebrating its 10th anniversary as an International Dark Sky Park! Congratulations to Galloway for ten years of night sky protection and advocacy. Here's to many more! https://t.co/Uh7zSyjN9Y

— IDA Dark-Sky (@IDADarkSky) November 18, 2019

Galaxy NGC 772

#HubbleFriday Many galaxies we see with Hubble look similar: spiral arms, a glowing center, & bright specks of star formation with dark ripples of dust weaving throughout. Spiral galaxy NGC 772 is no exception: https://t.co/kREt8UURb8 pic.twitter.com/ELwmg4cTmH

— Hubble (@NASAHubble) November 15, 2019

Kerbal Space Program v1.8 Sandbox Mode: The Vatican Advanced Technology Space Telescope

I haven't played much KSP this past week, but in working on the upcoming VOF newsletter I'm adding some info on the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, and thought about the evolution of Vatican Observatories, and what the "next logical step" might be. My first thought was "Space Telescopes!" My second thought was that space telescopes are really expensive to build, launch and maintain... but hey! I can dream!

The Next Logical Step? The Vatican Advanced Technology Space Telescope. Credit: Kerbal Space Program / Bob Trembley

Update:

First detection of sugars in meteorites gives clues to origin of life @NASA @PNASNews https://t.co/HHnrgJISBF

— Phys.org (@physorg_com) November 19, 2019

Apps used for this post:

NASA Eyes on the Solar System: an immersive 3D solar system and space mission simulator - free for the PC /MAC. I maintain the unofficial NASA Eyes Facebook page.
Stellarium: a free open source planetarium app for PC/MAC/Linux. It's a great tool for planning observing sessions. A web-based version of Stellarium is also available.
Universe Sandbox: a space simulator that merges real-time gravity, climate, collision, and material interactions to reveal the beauty of our universe and the fragility of our planet. Includes VR support.
SpaceEngine: a free 3D Universe Simulator for Windows. Steam version with VR support available.
Kerbal Space Program: Create and manage your own space program; build and launch rockets, aircraft, space planes, space probes, landers, rovers and more!

Section header image credits:
The Sky - Stellarium / Bob Trembley
Observing Target - Turn Left at Orion / M. Skirvin
The Moon - NASA/JPL-Caltech
The Sun - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Asteroids - NASA/JPL-Caltech
Fireballs - Credited to YouTube
Comets - Comet P/Halley, March 8, 1986, W. Liller
The Solar System - NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley
Spacecraft News - NASA Eyes on the Solar System / Bob Trembley
Exoplanets - Space Engine / Bob Trembley
Light Pollution - NASA's Black Marble
The Universe - Universe Today