April 2010 - OTEvents - Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

New telescope owners ...
by Morris Jones 23 Apr '10

23 Apr '10

We often get questions from fans who have a telescope in the closet and aren't sure how to use it. We had good luck in San Francisco offering a "New Telescope Owner's Clinic" before their monthly city star party. I'd like to do that in Monrovia this Saturday. The best time to get acquainted with your telescope is during the day. We can help set it up, align the finder, and collimate a dobsonian. We can help you learn how to find objects, choose an eyepiece, and practice observing things before it actually gets dark. What we can't do is align a computerized telescope based on alignment with bright stars. If you are interested in doing this, please send me a reply to this email, and plan to join me in Library Park at Myrtle and Lime at 6:00 on Saturday. Bring your telescope and any supplies, along with an owner's manual if you have one. We'll be able to observe the moon even during the daylight. I'll bring a tool box and maybe a solar telescope. If I don't hear from you, I won't make plans to be there 'til about sunset. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

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Moon and planets this weekend
by Morris Jones 23 Apr '10

23 Apr '10

Weather looks good for sidewalk astronomy this weekend. We'll have a waxing gibbous moon, Saturn, and possibly a glimpse of Venus and Mars. We plan to be in Old Town Pasadena this evening (Friday), and Old Town Monrovia Saturday evening, 7:30 'til 9:30 p.m. In Pasadena, look for telescopes on Colorado Blvd., on the north side of the street, somewhere in the two-block stretch from Fair Oaks to Pasadena Ave. In Monrovia, we'll be on the corner of Myrtle and Lime, at Library Park. Saturn should be a treat, with the rings barely four degrees open right now. Venus is the brightest star in the west, following the sun into the horizon. It's in a gibbous phase right now, on the far side of the sun from earth. It will be fun to watch later in the year as it swings towards earth and changes to crescent phase. Mars continues moving further away from earth. While it's high in the sky, we don't expect to see more than a pumpkin-colored dot at this point. If you're up before dawn, as I usually am, look for bright Jupiter in the east, having risen just an hour or so before the sun. Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

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Clouds in the desert/great free talk Weds nite
by Jane Houston Jones 17 Apr '10

17 Apr '10

Just as I hit the send button, we looked at the Clear Sky chart for our desert observing location, and it went from "Clear" to "Cloudy" . :-( http://cleardarksky.com/c/DsrtCntrCAkey.html?1 So anyone contemplating a trip to see the stars, let's try again another time. Mojo and I are still heading out to Joshua Tree National Park for wildflowers but might do our stargazing at Disneyland tonight instead. ;-) Do look up tonight! Venus, Moon, Saturn and Mars are waiting! In addition to sidewalk astronomy next weekend, here is a great free talk: "Quest for a living World" moderated by "Bad Astronomer" Phil Plait. It's free and open to the public starting at 7:30 at the Beckman Auditorium. Here's the link http://events.caltech.edu/events/event-7421.html Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Website: www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org What's Up March 2010? Saturn & 21Lutetia! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm What's Up Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/bBUANa Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

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Have you hugged a national park? It's National Park Week!
by Jane Houston Jones 17 Apr '10

17 Apr '10

Hi everyone, we're still up on cloud nine after last weekend's awesome star party at Mojave National Preserve! It was so great to see many of you over the weekend. There were at least 4 families from our astronomy list who joined us, in addition to the 4 families worth of astronomers. There were over 50 people there, and another 15 on Friday night for our first night impromptu star party. Many staff and friends of the Mojave National Preserve. http://www.preservethemojave.org/index.php Here is a set of pictures I took. Each of us took lots of pictures on the hikes, and Mojo has some spectacular panoramas that will make their way to a blog soon. I'm busy writing up a story about the Chuckwalla lizards of Amboy Cratrer and other tales myself. One park visit, so much to learn and share! http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2010-04-11-mojavejane/index.html. We're heading to our no-frills observing site off the I-10 Red Cloud Road between Chiriaco Summit and Desert Center in a few hours. But first we'll head up into Joshua Tree National Park from the south to check out the Colorado Desert wildflowers, and to hug one of our very favorite national parks. This week is National Park Week (in addition to Earth Week and National Astronomy Week) But this means there is free admission to every one of the nations National Parks April 17-25th. http://www.nationalparks.org/explore/?fa=national-park-week I hope you make it to one of our local parks this week! Find your closest ones on this link - there are 4 national parks within 100 miles of my zip code, and we're heading to one of them! Next weekend we'll be out on the sidewalks once again. We'll be in Pasadena Friday night and Monrovia Saturday night to share moon, Venus, Saturn and Mars (and maybe Mercury) with all of you who stop by! See you under the stars!! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Website: www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org What's Up March 2010? Saturn & 21Lutetia! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm What's Up Podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/bBUANa Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

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What's Up podcast for April: How to see the Space Station
by Jones, Jane H (1862) 06 Apr '10

06 Apr '10

What's Up for April? How and when to view the Space Station and more! JPL: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm YouTube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u/0/TfMiKZi0ba4 A lot of you know how to check for local ISS passes, or go out and watch the passes, but many don't know when and where to look, or what to expect you will see. This month's podcast explains how and what you will see. I hope you share this podcast with your friends, family and networks who may be unsure how to look, where to look, and when to look. It's a good-time topic this month, especially because there is a shuttle about to dock and then undock from the ISS. That means both the shuttle and station can be seen together in the sky by some lucky people, maybe you! :-) Speaking of this week, there is a very nice and high morning ISS pass tomorrow morning here in the LA area, about 5:25 with a bonus - fainter STS-131 passes nearby 4 minutes earlier. I attached those two charts (using the familiar Heavens Above website) for us locals. Others can follow the directions and find out when and where. :-) Jane PS: Final reminder about Mohave turtles and star party this weekend, weather permitting is here: http://www.preservethemojave.org/events.html Jane Houston Jones Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program JPL - 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205 Pasadena, CA 91109 818-393-6435 jane.h.jones(a)jpl.nasa.gov What's Up For April - The International Space Station! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm

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