1. Space News Update - April 6, 2018 - In the News Departments Story 1:
Dead star circled by light
Story 2:
Second SpaceShipTwo performs first powered test flight
Story 3: Astronomers zoom in on a supermassive black hole's jets
Departments
The Night Sky
ISS Sighting Opportunities
NASA-TV Highlights
Space Calendar
Food for Thought
Space Image of the Week

2. Dead star circled by light
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. Second SpaceShipTwo performs first powered test flight

4. Astronomers zoom in on a supermassive black hole's jets

5. The Night Sky Sky & Telescope Friday, April 6
• Right after dark, Orion remains well up in the southwest in his spring orientation: striding down to the right, with his belt roughly horizontal. The belt points left toward Sirius, and to the right toward Aldebaran and, farther on, the Pleiades.
• As dawn approaches on Saturday the 7th, you'll find the waning Moon bunching up with Mars and Saturn, as shown here.
Saturday, April 7
• At this time of year, the two Dog Stars stand vertically aligned around the end of twilight. Look southwest. Brilliant Sirius in Canis Major is below; Procyon in Canis Minor is high above.
• Last-quarter Moon tonight (exactly so at 3:18 a.m. April 8th EDT). The Moon rises around 2 or 3 a.m. your local daylight saving time, some 8° or 10° to the lower left of Mars and Saturn. By dawn on the 8th they're all well up in the south-southeast, as shown here.
Sunday, April 8
• Jupiter's moon Europa disappears into eclipse by Jupiter's shadow around 2:52 a.m. Monday morning EDT (11:52 p.m. Sunday evening PDT). A 2-inch telescope will show it gradually fading away just west of the planet.
Monday, April 9
• Vega, the bright "Summer Star," rises in the northeast around 9 or 10 p.m. these evenings. Exactly where should you watch for it? Spot the Big Dipper very high in the northeast. Look at Mizar at the bend of its handle. If you can
see Mizar's tiny, close companion Alcor (binoculars make it easy), follow a line from Mizar through Alcor all the way down to the horizon. That's where Vega will make its appearance.
Tuesday, April 10
• Capella is the bright star high in the west-northwest during and after dusk. Its pale-yellow color matches that of the Sun, meaning they're both about the same temperature. But otherwise Capella is very different. It consists of two yellow giant stars orbiting each other rather closely every 104 days.
Moreover, for telescope users, Capella is distantly accompanied by a tight pair of red dwarfs: Capella H and L, magnitudes 10 and 13. Article and finder charts.

6. ISS Sighting Opportunities
ISS For Denver:
Date
Visible
Max Height
Appears
Disappears
Fri Apr 6, 8:25 PM
4 min
17°
10° above NNW
12° above ENE
Fri Apr 6, 10:02 PM
< 1 min
19°
19° above NW
Sat Apr 7, 9:10 PM
2 min
45°
18° above NW
45° above NNE
Sun Apr 8, 8:17 PM
5 min
27°
12° above NNW
14° above E
Sun Apr 8, 9:54 PM
20°
17° above WNW
20° above W
Mon Apr 9, 9:02 PM
73°
28° above WNW
58° above SSE
Tue Apr 10, 8:10 PM
56°
22° above NW
12° above ESE
Tue Apr 10, 9:46 PM
1 min
13°
10° above W
13° above WSW
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)
4 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., Friday, April 6 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels)
10 a.m., 3 p.m., 10 p.m., Saturday, April 7 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels)
11 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m., Saturday, April 7 - Replay of Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) X- Plane Build News Conference (all channels)
8 a.m., 4 p.m., 9 p.m., Sunday, April 8 - Replay of Low Boom Flight Demonstrator (LBFD) X- Plane Build News Conference (all channels)
9 a.m., 2 p.m., 7 p.m., Sunday, April 8 - Replay of SpaceCast Weekly (all channels)
6:30 a.m., Monday, April 9 - ISS Expedition 55 In-Flight Event with Czech TV and Flight Engineer Drew Feustel of NASA (starts at 6:30 a.m.) (all channels)
9:30 a.m., Monday, April 9 - ISS Expedition 55 Educational In-Flight Event with Frostburg State University in Frostburg, Maryland and Flight Engineers Ricky Arnold and Drew Feustel of NASA (starts at 9:55 a.m.) (all channels)
Watch NASA TV online by going to the NASA website

8. Space Calendar JPL Space Calendar
Apr 06 - Comet 316P/LONEOS-Christensen At Opposition (3.535 AU)
Apr 06 - Comet P/2006 H1 (McNaught) At Opposition (3.943 AU)
Apr 06 - Asteroid Texas Closest Approach To Earth (1.490 AU)
Apr th Anniversary (2008), Berduc Meteorite Fall (Hit Building in Argentina)
Apr 06 - Franck Marchis' 45th Birthday (1973)
Apr 07 - [Mar 31] 50th Anniversary (1968), Luna 14 Launch (Soviet Moon Orbiter Mission)
Apr 07 - [Apr 06] Comet 366P/Spacewatch Closest Approach To Earth (1.410 AU)
Apr 07 - Comet P/2006 S1 (Christensen) At Opposition (3.437 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid 2511 Patterson Closest Approach To Earth (1.264 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid Atira Closest Approach To Earth (1.363 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid Howard Closest Approach To Earth (1.671 AU)
Apr 07 - Asteroid Amsterdam Closest Approach To Earth (2.280 AU)
Apr th Anniversary (1983), 1st Spacewalk from Space Shuttle (Story Musgrave, Don Peterson, STS-6)
Apr 08 - Comet 143P/Kowal-Mrkos At Opposition (1.542 AU)
Apr 08 - Comet P/2012 O2 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (2.652 AU)
Apr 08 - Comet C/2015 O1 (PANSTARRS) At Opposition (3.234 AU)
Apr 08 - Comet C/2016 T1 (Matheny) At Opposition (4.192 AU)
Apr 08 - Comet 196P/Tichy At Opposition (4.204 AU)
Apr 08 - Amor Asteroid 2018 CZ13 Near-Earth Flyby (0.072 AU)
Apr 08 - AmorAsteroid 2018 FV3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.086 AU)
Apr 08 - Asteroid 1198 Atlantis Closest Approach To Earth (1.845 AU)
Apr 08 - Kuiper Belt Object 2014 FT71 At Opposition ( AU)
Apr th Anniversary (1993), STS-56 Launch (Space Shuttle Discovery, ATLAS-2)
Apr 08 - Karl Hencke's 225th Birthday (1793)
Apr 09 - Asteroid Audubon Closest Approach To Earth (1.062 AU)
Apr 09 - Apollo Asteroid 4179 Toutatis Closest Approach To Earth (2.818 AU)
Apr 09 - Kuiper Belt Object 2013 FS28 At Opposition ( AU)
Apr 10 - Comet 222P/LINEAR At Opposition (2.922 AU)
Apr 10 - Comet 68P/Klemola At Opposition (3.857 AU)
Apr 10 - Amor Asteroid 3757 Anagolay Closest Approach To Earth (0.950 AU)
JPL Space Calendar

9. An Experimental Space Junk Collector Is On Its Way to the ISS
Food for Thought
An Experimental Space Junk Collector Is On Its Way to the ISS

10. Space Image of the Week
Gullies of Matara Crater  Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona