March 2013 - OTEvents - Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

Telescopes tonight
by Morris Jones 24 Mar '13

24 Mar '13

We're going to have three telescopes set up tonight in old town Monrovia, Library Park, at the corner of Myrtle & Lime, starting about 7:00 p.m. The forecast is "mostly clear," and it looks like there might be a little marine layer fog rolling in, but we're hoping for the best. Jane and I are away from town this weekend, but wish them good luck! It should be a good night for the moon and Jupiter. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://whiteoaks.com

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A few telescopes out tonight
by Jane Houston Jones 16 Mar '13

16 Mar '13

Some of us are available tonight and some next week to do some sidewalk astronomy, so those of us available tonight will be at the corner of Myrtle and Lime Streets in Monrovia's Library Park tonight from 7 p.m. to about 9 p.m. If you are out for a stroll, stop by. We'll be looking at Jupiter and the moon through some marine layer haze, but if you are itching for some telescope viewing (like I am) come on down. Here is my first observation of Comet PanSTARRS - the current (barely) naked eye visible comet low in the west. http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2013/03/12/my-first-view-of-comet-panstarrs-31113/ About 25 minutes after sunset (at civil twilight) you may be able to spot the comet if you have good low western horizon and know where to look (not easy). It also helps to have a clear and dark sky (which we don't tonight). It is only about 10 degrees above the horizon (90 degrees is overhead). One of us may try moving a small telescope down Lime Street for a better view to the west, hoping for a little clearing between buildings and trees. I won't promise a view of the comet, but it is always fun to try! The window of viewing will be only from about 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - probably even less time without a clear horizon. There are not only trees and buildings in the way, but hazy marine layer, too. I'll bring my binoculars and try to be optimistic. :-) Meanwhile here are some images of the comet: http://spaceweather.com/gallery/index.php?title=comet It's only been visible in the Northern Hemisphere for less than a week, and hopefully, it will still be around in April and May (though faint, and only visible in a telescope). But I hear it may be breaking up according to some if the imagers. Still, comets are so cool! -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA What's Up Podcast for March: Comet PanSTARRS, how bright? On Youtube:http://youtu.be/uEqt0yE6EG0 Twitter:http://twitter.com/jhjones /CassiniSaturn /otastro My Blog:http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ Yosemite Videohttp://www.youtube.com/user/yosemitenationalpark?feature=watch

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That hard-to-find Comet PanSTARRS
by Jane Houston Jones 13 Mar '13

13 Mar '13

Have you looked up, scratched your head, and wondered where that "bright" comet is hiding? It's very challenging to see - and in binoculars it it is very small, as you can see in my sketches linked below. The circles represent the binocular field of view of either 5 or 7 degrees. The entire comet is about 1/2 of a degree long. Tonight, the 1 day old moon can be used as an arrow pointing to the comet, if you can find the slender Cheshire cat smile of a moon, that is. The moon will be found 5.6 degrees to the right of the comet tonight, and 10 degrees above the comet tomorrow night. Sunset tonight is at 6:57, and it will take about 25 minutes for the sun to set down 6 degrees, to the time called civil twilight - Evening civil twilight begins at sunset and ends when the geometric center of the sun reaches 6° below the horizon. Start scanning the sky about 8-10 degrees above the horizon at about 7:15, and keep looking until you either find the comet, or you don't. Here is my sketch of the comet from 25 miles up Angeles Crest (Chileo turnout) just before the Caltrans yard last night. This is a good spot facing west. http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2013/03/12/my-first-view-of-comet-panstarrs-31113/ and here is our Comet PanSTARRS resource page, which includes a good map and my "What's Up, PanSTARRS Edition" podcast. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2538 Happy comet hunting, everybody! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up For March? Will Comet Pan-STARRS be bright? http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube: http://bit.ly/14aXhTB 2013 At A Glance http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2013/01/07/whats-up-in-2013-at-a-glance/

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Spotting Comet PanSTARRS
by Jane Houston Jones 10 Mar '13

10 Mar '13

Mojo and I are going to our favorite observing location this afternoon, Amboy Crater, to try and view comet PanSTARRS just after sunset at 5:57 p.m. From now through the end of March, the comet should be naked-eye visible very low on the western horizon - low meaning about 10 degrees above the unobstructed horizon for those at latitude 40 (we are at 34 degrees North latitude here in the LA area), so it will be even a few degrees lower than that here throughout March. But it will be visible in April and May (through a telescope) higher and fainter in the sky. This month, use binoculars to scan the western horizon. Ten degrees can be measured by holding your clenched fist at arms-length distance, then with thumb-up, place the bottom of your fist on the horizon. The top of your fist (put your thumb back down first) will be ten degrees above the horizon. You'll see it's not very high. The comet's tail will be like your thumb up - because the tail will be pointing straight up. It's easy to see why -- comets tails point away from the sun. Any spot where you have an unobstructed view of the western horizon just at sunset is where you should look. Here in LA, looking west on the horizon generally means looking through a hazy (smoggy) or foggy layer of our atmosphere. The viewing window is just about a half hour after sunset right now - sunset until about 6:30 p.m. Longer window next week, but still very low. Watch my video for tips. Youtube: http://bit.ly/ZzW1bt You are welcome to join us - sorry for the late notice, we were waiting to see how the storm affected the deserts before deciding where and when to go. Amboy, CA 92304 is an unincorporated town in San Bernardino County, in California's Mojave Desert, west of Needles and east of Ludlow on historic Route 66. It is roughly 60 miles northeast of Twentynine Palms. Amboy Crater is a BLM landmark with a big parking lot. It takes us about 3 hours (including a sandwich stop in Barstow) to get there, and we'll arrive at about 4:30 p.m. to set up our equipment. It will be cold and windy tonight, so we plan to observe for about 4 hours then drive back home. It is not a campsite, so no tents, but you can sleep/rest in your car overnight and take a hike in the morning to the volcanic crater. There are pit toilets in the parking lot. We set up our two telescopes at the very end, next to the rest room. http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2011-10-22-amboy/Site%20Pictures/index.html If you do come, there are some universal courtesy tips to avoid blinding the observers. The San Jose Astronomical Association has a great list http://www.sjaa.net/etiquette.html To this list, most important is to arrive before sunset. It is virtually impossible to see the turnoff from Route 66 in the dark, and you will miss the comet hunt unless your are all ready to look at sunset. Park with your car lights pointed away from the telescopes closer to the entrance end of the lot. Switch your car's interior lights off if you can. We always bring some red carlight repair tape to place over very small flashlights, leave those big flashlights at home, you won't need them. No iPad, tablet, cell phones light near the (my) telescopes, please. Just step away and face your light away from the telescopes if you'd like to use them. They are fun to use, but will ruin (this) observer's dark adaption. Bring a chair, layers, binoculars, hydration. Oh there are trains with lights all night long, but I set up away from that light. You'll love to hear them in the dark. :-) Since this is short notice, you may want to consider joining us on May 11 at our campground star party at Mojave National Preserve instead. Hopefully, the comet will still be visible. The light pollution rules are a little more relaxed (except right near the telescopes) since it is a public star party. Last fall's flyer is here with directionshttp://mojavepreserve.org/index.php/site/article/star_party_in_th… If you do see the comet from LA let us know! Your chances are good if you can see the western horizon with no clouds or haze. Try with binoculars. We'll share what we see, how hard it was, tips and tricks tomorrow! Wish us luck! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA What's Up Video March 2013: Comet PanSTARRS On Youtube: http://bit.ly/ZzW1bt 2013 Preview: http://bit.ly/13NrNHy

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You're invited to the Science Expo at Monrovia High School Saturday March 2
by Jane Houston Jones 01 Mar '13

01 Mar '13

Monrovia High School has been one of six schools in the nation chosen to host a downlink from the International Space Station this year! The downlink event will take place on Tuesday, March 5^th . All the 5^th graders and all the 8^th graders in MUSD will travel to the MHS Auditorium to be part of this amazing event! As the kick -- off for this event, MHS is hosting their first Science Expo tomorrow, Saturday March 2 10-2 p.m. and a star parety 6-8 p.m. This fun, free, public family event includes demonstrations from the Santa Fe Dam RC Modelers Club, UniTek lazers, FIRST Robotics, and GAVRT Radio telescope. Other booths will include glider making, Pinewood Derby and MHS Chess Club workshops, and information from the Deep Space Network, NASA/IPAC (CalTech Infrared Processing and Analysis Center) , the Planetary Society. The Sidewalk Astronomers will be sharing views of the sun through several different solar telescopes. Food will be sold, including hot dogs, pizza, and smoothies. This event will be on Saturday, March 2^nd in the MHS Quad from 10am to 2pm. You can stay later, and there wil be a star party from dusk until 8 p.m. The school address is 845 W Colorado Blvd Monrovia, CA 91016 In other news, I talk about the appearance of Comet PanStarrs in our skies beginning about March 10 through early May in my monthly video. The comet will be naked eye visible (somewhere between the magnitude of the bright star Sirius below Orion, and the dipper stars, but also extremely low to the horizon. An unobstructed view down to the horizon will be necessary - the comet will not get above 10 degrees above the horizon in March, higher but fainter in April and May. Binoculars will help you pull the comet out of the murky horizon. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWC5xAxKTU0 Archive site with many formats http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=1424 Hope to see you Saturday for some fun with the sun! -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up For March? Will Comet Pan-STARRS be bright? http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube:http://youtu.be/jYs6Mw744VA 2013 At A Glance http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2013/01/07/whats-up-in-2013-at-a-glance/

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