(Continued from previous message)

0.5-meter Schmidt telescope at Australia's Siding Spring Observatory. A
preliminary orbit issued by the Minor Planet Center puts Comet Siding
Spring (now bearing the official comet designation P/2004 TU12) between
the orbits of Earth and Mars, near the perihelion of a looping,
5.3-year-long track. At 14th magnitude, it's too faint to be seen visually
in small telescopes.

Europe's SMART 1 Orbits the Moon

The European Space Agency's (ESA) first Small Missions for Advanced
Research in Technology spacecraft (SMART 1) has reached lunar orbit after
a year in space. On November 11th, after 322 Earth orbits, the spacecraft
finally crossed the weak stability region at the L1 Lagrangian point
between the Earth and Moon. On November 15th SMART 1 came within 5,000
kilometers of the lunar surface in essentially the most loosely bound
lunar orbit ever achieved.

SMART 1's ion-propelled engine -- which provides very low thrust for very
long durations -- will gradually lower the orbital altitude and bind the
craft more tightly to the Moon. By January SMART 1 should be looping
between 300 and 3,000 km from the lunar surface, at which point its
instruments will begin examining the terrain and hunting for ice at the
poles.

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/article_1392_1.asp

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK'S SKY

* Mercury is at greatest elongation on Saturday, November 20th. Look for
it just above the southwest horizon in bright twilight.
* Full Moon on Friday, November 26th.
* Saturn (magnitude 0.0) rises in the east around 8:30 or 9 p.m., glowing
to the lower right of Pollux and Castor in Gemini.

For more details, see This Week's Sky at a Glance and Planet Roundup:

> http://SkyandTelescope.com/observing/ataglance/

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PLAN AHEAD (Advertisement)

Get ready for another great year of stargazing!

Celestial Wonders 2005 Calendar
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/campaigns.asp?id=398

SkyWatch '05
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/Skywatch

Skygazers Almanac 2005 Wall Chart
> http://SkyandTelescope.com/campaigns.asp?id=404

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