1. Space News Update - October 24, 2017 - In the News Departments
Story 1:
Dawn Mission Extended at Ceres
Story 2:
Fresh Findings from Cassini
Story 3: Good News Everyone! There are Fewer Deadly Undiscovered Asteroids than We Thought
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. Dawn Mission Extended at Ceres
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. Fresh Findings from Cassini

4. Good News Everyone! There are Fewer Deadly Undiscovered Asteroids than We Thought

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Tuesday, October 24
Now, at dusk, Saturn appears about 6° to the lower right of the thickening Moon, as shown here.
Wednesday, October 25
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 25th every year, Arcturus occupies a special place above your local landscape. It closely marks the spot where the Sun stood at the same time, by the clock, during hot June and July — in broad daylight, of course. So, as Halloween approaches every year, you can see Arcturus as the chilly ghost of the departed summer Sun.
Thursday, October 26
Draw a line from Altair, the brightest star very high above the Moon in the southwest after dark, to the right to brighter Vega, very high in the west. Continue the line half as far onward, and you hit the Lozenge: the pointy-nosed head of Draco, the Dragon. Its brightest star is orange Eltanin, the tip of the Dragon's nose, which points toward Vega.
Friday, October 27
First-quarter Moon (exactly first-quarter at 6:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time). At nightfall, you'll find Altair shining about 30° (three fists at arm's length) to the Moon's upper right.
This week, the big W of Cassiopeia stands almost on end high in the northeast. Below it, binoculars will show the Double Cluster of Perseus.
Sky & Telescope

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Thu Oct 26, 6:55 AM
< 1 min
12°
10° above SSE
12° above SSE
Sat Oct 28, 6:45 AM
3 min
31°
12° above SSW
31° above SE
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)
Wednesday, October 25
11 a.m. - ISS Expedition 53 In-Flight Event for America House and the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine with ISS Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA (all channels)
Thursday, October 26
9 a.m. - ISS Expedition 53 In-Flight Event for ESA with Pope Francis from the Vatican and Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency and Other Members of the Expedition 53 Crew (all channels)
Tue May 30, 9:16 PM
1 min
14°
14° above N
10° above NNE
Tue May 30, 10:53 PM
< 1 min
10°
10° above N
Wed May 31, 00:30 AM
18°
18° above N
Wed May 31, 10:01 PM
Wed May 31, 11:38 PM
2 min
15°
14° above NE
Thu Jun 1, 9:09 PM
11°
11° above N
Thu Jun 1, 10:45 PM
12°
12° above N
10° above NE
Fri Jun 2, 00:20 AM
17°
10° above NW
17° above NNW
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar Aug PSLV Launch JPL Space Calendar
Oct 24 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 UU2 Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)
Oct Frank N. Bash Symposium 2017: New Horizons in Astronomy, Austin, Texas
Oct st Annual European Space Thermal Analysis Workshop, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Oct Meeting: Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Irvine, California
Oct Meeting: Committee on Solar and Space Physics, Irvine, California
Oct Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium, Huntsville, Alabama
Oct Space Tech Expo Europe 2017, Bremen, Germany
Oct th Reinventing Space Conference, Glasgow, Scotland
Oct 25 - Comet 73P-Z/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.578 AU)
Oct 25 - Comet 73P-AO/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.580 AU)
Oct 25 - Comet 73P-AT/Schwassmann-Wachmann Closest Approach To Earth (2.437 AU)
Oct 25 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 TL4 Near-Earth Flyby (0.038 AU)
Oct 25 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 UH Near-Earth Flyby (0.039 AU)
Oct 25 - Aten Asteroid 2013 UR5 Near-Earth Flyby (0.085 AU)
Oct 25 - Apollo Asteroid 2017 FT102 Near-Earth Flyby (0.100 AU)
Oct 25 - Asteroid 9766 Bradbury Closest Approach To Earth (1.414 AU)
Oct 25 - Asteroid 4547 Massachusetts Closest Approach To Earth (1.465 AU)
Oct 25 - Asteroid 4772 Frankdrake Closest Approach To Earth (1.952 AU)
Oct 25 - Asteroid 2039 Payne-Gaposchkin Closest Approach To Earth (2.268 AU)
Oct 25 - Kuiper Belt Object (2002 TX300) At Opposition ( AU)
Oct 25 - Event: After Cassini: What's Next for the Outer Planets?, Washington DC
Oct 25 - Lecture: Pale Rainbow Dots - The Search for Other Earths, Washington DC
Oct th Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Plenary Meeting, Washington DC
Oct rd Annual Meeting American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Seattle, Washington
Oct International Training Course on Space-based Technologies for Integration of Multisource Earth Observation Data for Disaster Damage Assessment, Beijing, China
Oct 26 - Comet 73P-R/Schwassmann-Wachmann At Opposition (1.614 AU)
JPL Space Calendar

9. New NASA Study Improves Search for Habitable Worlds
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
New Technique Puts Exoplanets on the Scale
Food for Thought
New NASA Study Improves Search for Habitable Worlds

10. Credit: NASA/JPL/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo
Space Image of the Week
Sky Pointing Curiosity Captures Breathtaking Vista of Mount Sharp and Crater Rim
Credit: NASA/JPL/Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/Marco Di Lorenzo